Club Activities & Around the Members

Bromelcairns May: Our meeting was at the Smith family new residence at Brinsmead. As with most unfamiliar trips, it seemed a long way there and it was good to see the Newsletter - Cairns Bromeliad Society Inc. 2008 # 3 society sign on the footpath. Suddenly we were very aware of special P.O.Box 28 Cairns. Queensland 4870 surroundings – Australian bushland and there before us was an oasis. To our left was a concrete driveway leading upwards and then turning toward a pole home. President Bob Hudson 0740533913 There were new terraced gardens, there were new , there were birds V-President Thomas Jones unlisted singing, there were two Smith boys who had grown since we last saw them - and Secretary Lynn Hudson 0740533913 there were bromeliads. We were amazed and enthralled and were not sure Treasurer Sharron Miller 0740322283 where to look next. Congratulations Sarah & Craig, you have a special spot of Librarian Stuart Howe 0402832354 Editor Lynn Hudson 0740533913 paradise to raise those two growing boys. Editor Assist. With the bush sounds, new to us, I thought no one could concentrate for the OIC Raffles Karen Stevens 0740361086 meeting but most managed very well. Member Concierge Barry Osborne 0740532047 * The meeting had a lot of information about the WBC but I gave a short talk Popular Vote Steward Karen Cross 0740545497 on scale and Bob managed to give a good talk on the varied growth habits of *Honorary Life Member - Grace Goode O.A.M.* Life Member - Lynn Hudson some . ******************************************** * When Bob showed capitata did I hear mutterings of “sacrilege, sacrilege” when Del said she had scored one from the raffle and produced an Aims of the Society Aechmea recurvata! There was no shortage of information about the different To Promote and Develop Interest in Bromeliads through Friendship characteristics of each – loudest being “no spines”. Del, do not be deterred, keep To Co-operate with similar Clubs throughout the World asking questions so we can gage who is asleep! ********************************************************** * The Tillandsia mini show entries were sparse and no entries in Novice Popular Membership Fee: $15 single, $25 family, $7.50 junior Country Member $25 Vote – shame, shame! The Open section had good plants. Meetings start at 1pm sharp first Saturday of the month. Please bring a cup and a * Harrison’s Dyckia platyphylla was a beaut, congratulations Harry. chair. Library: All books & magazines borrowed are to be returned in good order to the POPULAR VOTE: following meeting. If not on wait list, they may be rebooked. JUNIOR: Dyckia platyphilla! Grower: Harrison Smith Display/Sales: To participate, a member must be financial and circumstances NOVICE: Nil entries permitting, have attended at least three meetings in the past six months. Where the OPEN: Tillandsia ehlersiana lge fm Grower: Gail Taifalos society is charged a stall fee - 20% of sales are deducted for club funds. No charge Guzmania ‘Lyndal’ Grower: Darryl Lister venue & meetings - 10% of sales is deducted. All plants to be clean, free of disease, Crytanthus ‘It’! Grower: Gail Taifalos named and price tagged. TILLANDSIA MINI SHOW: Show Plants: Must be the property of and in the custody of the entrant for the past three Flowering – 1st. Till. ‘Roma’! Grower - Karen Stevens months. For Society Shows the entrant must be financial and have attended at least three 2nd. Till. rothii ! Grower - Bob Hudson meetings during the past six months. st Non-flowering 1 Till tectorum ! Grower - Bob Hudson Pens, Plant Tags & Pots: available at each meeting. 2nd Till ehlersiana lge form Grower - Gail Taifalos If reprinting article, wholly or in part, please acknowledge Author & Newsletter. Any article will be emailed on request to [email protected] Club Activities & Around the Members June: We met at Karen Cross’ garden and saw how busy she has been. Karen does almost the entire gardening as Barry works away. It was always a lovely garden but preparations for the WBC bus trip has really fired Karen and her imagination and decorative ability has had a happy marriage. The My Bromeliad Story - Robert Raabe result is very peaceful yet very interesting - it suggests that a closer look ! In late August 2005 I moved to Cairns from north eastern New South would be rewarding, and it is. Wales. I had a horticultural background in both iris and daylilies, having Little nooks with surprises like mosaic tiled plaques of plants & birds made hybridised and introduced cultivars of both these perennials. Before coming to by her sister Gail and statues. Delegates will love it Karen, you have done a Cairns I worked as a propagator at two wholesale production nurseries. wonderful job and I know it has taken many hours and sore muscles. It is ! It was time to retire (ha!) so I moved 2000km to escape. It didn’t take an absolute credit to your ability and perseverance. long to realize I still had chlorophyll in my veins and it took but a few days to discover I lived a short walk from Lynn & Bob Hudson’s tillandsia & bromeliad * New Member: Welcome to Christine Stonnell. We hope you enjoy collection. I knew they were not “real plants” but I thought I would pretend so I learning with us and get plenty of laughs along the way. could have a new love affair with Zanita, the loveliest German Shepherd I’d ever * There was lots of WBC talk, requests for members to assist at the met. Wot a trap! I wasn’t even aware of what was happening until I realised the conference in varied jobs and a packing Welcome Bags afternoon for the attractiveness and enchantment of bromeliads had me ensnared. The hooks had following Saturday. very sharp barbs (no pun intended) and there was no escaping. * Members were encouraged to enter the WBC Plant Show and compete for ! If one appreciates the beauty of colour and form, look no further than WBC ribbons. Lynn explained the show schedule and told members the bromeliads - these plants freely display these attributes in their amazing classification persons would help them with their section entries. diversity. The claim that there is a bromeliad for every location in the garden is * Lynn also spoke about the Cairns Show; just two weeks after the WBC valid, be it sunny or shady, wet or dry. and suggested members prepare their plants well ahead of time. ! Due to the limitations of unit living my interests have concentrated on * We drew the Monster Raffle and were amazed how the winners were tillandsias as their requirements are more modest than other bromeliads yet they spread throughout Oz. Local winners were grinners and happy with their are amazingly diverse in so many ways. I have never encountered plants with win, especially Greg Oldano who scored the cackling witch! such a small demand for attention that reward with such spectacular beauty and Popular Vote interest. OPEN: !Guzmania ‘Lyndal’ ! Grower: Darryl Lister I have found that the more I learn about bromeliads and tillandsias the Crytanthus zonatus ! Grower: Gail Taifalos more I realize there is so much more to absorb and it is a very satisfying !!Tillandsia (rothii x abdita) Grower: Bob Hudson journey. I am very wary of “experts” in any horticultural field since these are ill-fitting titles and like crowns, can clatter to the floor unexpectedly … and embarrassingly. I would like to think we are all student, learning all the time and Lynn’s Confession - dated 28/7/08: I have been a bit busy lately!! I have moving towards an unattainable goal – what an enjoyable trip it is! looked throughout my society suitcase & cannot find any papers on a mini show for June or any entrants except the Open Section. I have tried to keep all society stuff in there! I have asked 2 other “reliable persons” (Pres Bob & Raffle Karen) & they cannot remember what, if anything, happened! I am certain I cannot recall this part of the meeting - so here is your big chance to sack me! Go for it! If I have left anyone out I will include it in the next Bromelcairns & arrange public apology & obeisance! June 2008 - The WBC is here! Monster Raffle Results 2 years work is about to be enjoyed by over 300 Delegates. Drawn 7th June 2008 Cairns Society meeting 1 - blanchetiana red form!Viv Duncan – Qld Soc. The Local Gardens Trip 2 - blanchetiana red form! Bromeliad Soc of Sth Aust Thank you Karen Cross & Dave & Brendan for agreeing to open your 3 - "Blooming Bromeliads" J Crawford - Gold Coast gardens to the delegates. I am sure they will enjoy wandering 4 - $100 Olive Branch bromeliads - Dale Stevens - Townsville among your hard work. 5 - $50 Bob Hudson Tillandsias - Cheryl Weaver - Gold Coast Working out this route has been a nightmare; I couldn’t get 5 buses 6 - $50 Bunnings - Brian Surman - Jeffrey James - Cairns Soc. right without overlapping too much. When I finally had it almost 7 - De Bortoli wine pack - Bromeliad Soc of Sth Aust Soc. right I doubted myself but we will see how it works. 8 - CD Bromeliad Encyclopaedia - Dave Weston – Cairns Soc. 9 - Pineapple Pack lge - Elaine Asher – Cairns Soc. th 10 - 6 WBC18 mugs - Paul Collins - Hunter District Soc. The 18 Conference Bloom 11 - Towel Set (Margaret Draddy) - Viv Duncan Qld Soc. The 18th World Bromeliad Conference is about to bloom, 12 - Towel Set(Margaret Draddy) - Bromeliad Soc of Sth Aust Just like a treasured, well cared for bromeliad. 13 - Gardening pack - Elizabeth Gill - Gladstone 14 - Pineapple pack - Dawn Williams - Fraser Coast Soc. The axis is the original idea of having biennial conferences. 15 - Port + 2 glasses - Leslie Willis - Cairns The adventitious roots are our societies and others who feed the plant. 16 - WBC item pack - Cherie Thurston - Fraser Coast Soc. The foliage leafage is the work and preparation for the ultimate flowering. 17 - 2 bottles wine - Pat Robertson - Sunshine Coast Soc. The scape is all the persons involved with bromeliads. 18 - Garden Books - Marguerite Sexton – Cairns Soc. 19 - Carol Sims - Blender - Gold Coast Soc. The scape bracts are the new ideas that colour our interest. 20 - Cackling Witch - Greg Oldano - Innisfail The flower bracts are the delegates who attend the conference. Then there are the Flowers and these are truly magical and colour our lives Thank you to the sellers & buyers. Special thanks to Sunshine Coast Sellers who outsold the rest!! forever – Lynn The Flowers represent the Friendships, Fun and Knowledge we share. Finally the offshoot, the next conference and we look forward to that growth And plan to be part of the blooming of that wonderful bromeliad.

The different growth habits & flowering of some tillandsias. Tillandsia ionantha group of plants are a favourite of tillandsia growers. When !!!May talk notes provided by speaker Bob Hudson blooming the leaf colour can go from very pale amber to pink, to a beautiful red of ‘Fuego’ and buttercup yellow of ‘Druid’. The sizes vary from 25mm to 120mm. You could just grow the varieties of Tillandsia ionantha and have a great tillandsia collection.

Tillandsia ehlersiana has a very bulbous base and tapers to the top. The leaves are grey and scurfy and the outer leaves bend at nearly right angles from Till. stricta Till. ionantha the body of the plant. This interesting tillandsia can grow a 100mm base and grow to a height of 200-250mm. Tillandsia stricta is available in several forms – green, silver, nigra, hard leaf and large form. In flower was the dark leaf form with very bright pink Tillandsia streptocarpa is very like duratii in the young growing stage but it does flower bracts and blue flowers. This form grows to about 100mm and not grow near as large. The flower spike is slender with blue flowers that readily offset. have white centres and are perfumed.

Tillandsia gardneri – a grey leafed plant with charcoal tinged edges and Tillandsia geminiflora has two forms – one has plain green leaves with orange/ grows to 200mm. This plant does not produce many offsets, mainly just pink flowers, the other has charcoal tinged leaves, the flower bracts and replaces itself but sets oodles of seed. The seed is distinctive, having two flowers are pink. They grow to about 150mm high and wide. parachutes. The flower spike is orange/pink, as are the flowers. Tillandsia chiapensis has a beautiful pink spike and purple flowers. The leaves var. rubra has stiff burgundy coloured leaves that turn red have a fleshy texture, have a pink blush throughout its life and grow to a at flowering, grows to 300mm and the flower spike rises above the leaves. height of 250mm.

Tillandsia duratii has 2 forms – duratii var. duratii and duratii var. saxatilis, both Tillandsia bulbosa has a spider like appearance and grows from 75mm up to the forms have blue flowers and are perfumed. These plants only replace giant forms of 250mm. At flowering time the leaves range from mauve, red themselves after flowering unless the new growth is removed, then another and orange. It is a very popular plant. will grow. If left intact they can grow to over a metre in length. ! We are very lucky up here in the far north as we can grow most Tillandsia intermedia grows long and slender but is not grown for its flowers. tillandsias but some do not flower, as it does not get cold enough. It has an unusual habit of offsetting on the flower spike as well as the base ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ and if left to grow on and on, it will make a very tangled mess.

Tillandsia brachycaulos is a smallish green plant that grows 100-150mm across and blushes brilliant red when coming into bloom. The flowers are deep in the centre of the leaves. When someone shares something of value with you,

Tillandsia tectorum from Ecuador looks very fluffy as the leaves are covered You have a moral obligation to share it with others in white trichomes and is very showy. As the trichomes hold fluid, they cannot be left in tropical rains as they cannot respire and will choke. They do not readily flower in the tropics.

My Bromeliad Story – Craig Smith

! I grew up in Perth, then moved to New South Wales and have always loved gardening. I grew what grew best at the places I lived, so I have grown a varied range of plants. When I moved to Cairns I was enthralled with the colours of My Bromeliad Story – Karen Cross tropical plants. In Cairns I happily grew crotons then saw bromeliads at the society stall at !!! Carnival on Collins. I was impressed by the colours, varieties and forms and was ! I love my garden, it is a very important part of my life. This amazed when I visited Lynn & Bob’s garden. Tillandsias are OK but I enjoy the garden had lots of tall palm trees until Cyclone Larry felled them. I larger and colourful bromeliads. was lucky that they just missed the house, the fence and my favourite Since moving to here twelve months ago my bromeliads are not as happy as plants. Before that I coped with the masses of roots by growing plants they were. The tall native trees and seasonal movement of the sun, has taught me up the trunks and using the root mat as drainage for my bromeliads. that I really have “summer & winter” growing spots. The alcantareas cope well but I first wandered into Lynn & Bob’s garden in 1999 and was smitten other genera lose their colour or burn but I hope to sort it out over the next with the colour and range of bromeliads and then began my collecting twelve months. frenzy. With a big yard, I opted for big plants so I now have some My seed growing has taken a plunge as grasshoppers have devoured the clumps of the larger varieties, and I enjoy the multiple flowerings. new shoots but I am persevering as I do enjoy the challenge and intrigue of what I really enjoy working among my plants but do not consider my will emerge as the final plant. I find aechmeas the easiest to grow, especially Aechmeas luddemanniana, bracteata and blanchetiana garden worthy of the WBC Bus Trip but Lynn & Bob insist it is. With this . We all love living here, it is great to ‘come home’, the boys love exploring, as a good excuse, I have added more plants and features and there are and there is no shortage of fauna in the area. yet more to be done. Plants are very forgiving, especially bromeliads, and it amazed me how the plants damaged in the cyclone still produced beautiful flowering heads. I am attracted to a plant mainly by its shape, then out comes an inflorescence and that is a big bonus they are so intricate they fascinate me.

I work full time and Cairns Bromeliad Society is my social life. I enjoy the friendships of this happy group; look forward to the meetings ********************************************************************** to see my friends, to reinspire me and I just love the field and sale days. Top Ten things only women understand Gardens are like our lives - they are always evolving. Both have 10. Cat’s facial expressions ups and downs and some days appear better than others. Change is 9. The need for the same style of shoes in different colours good. Just like our lives, we can do some rearranging and have a whole 8. Why bean sprouts are not just weeds. 7. Fat clothes new outlook. 6. Taking a car trip without trying to beat your best time. 5. The difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white and eggshell. 4. Cutting your bangs to make them grow. 3. Eyelash curlers. 2. The inaccuracy of every bathroom scale ever made … & the number one thing only women understand- OTHER WOMEN

GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED: 1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptise cats 2) When your Mum is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair 3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person. 4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato. 5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food. 6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair. 7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time. 8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk. Megan & John Welch 9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts. 10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap. FERtLIZERS * FUNGICIDES * WATERING SYSTEMS POLYPIPES * POLY FILMS * SPRAYING EQUIPMENT GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED: SHADECLOTH * PLANTER BAGS * PLASTIC POTS 1) Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree. Cnr. Brown & Little Spence Sts. Cairns 2) Wrinkles don't hurt. Phone: 07 4035 2670 3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground. 5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside. ABN 66 951 932 976 6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fibre, not the toy. BROMELIADS & LOGS GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD Bromeliads & Tillandsias 1) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. 2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get. Bob & Lynn Hudson 47 Boden St. Edge Hill Cairns 3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there. Phone: (07) 40533 913 email: [email protected] 4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ you once got from a roller coaster. 5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you ‘ th the questions. Bromeliads XV Bromadelaide’ 10-13 April 2009 6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician. www.bromeliad.org.au/BROMADELAIDE2009.htm for details & Registration Form. 7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 18th World Bromeliad Conference

Come to our conference. Learn from the experts. See new plants. Buy plants. Sell plants. Swap plants. Make new friends. Enter the Plant Show. Buy rare plants at auction. Ask questions. Have fun Store lots of memories to brighten your quiet moments. www.bromeliadsdownunder.com