VOLUME XLVIII Second Quarter 2014
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(I:1C RR`VV7VR1 Q`G`QI_%VVJC:JR8HQI8:% ]`V1RVJ G`QI_%VVJC:JR8HQI8:% ]%GC1H1 7G`QI_%VVJC:JR8HQI8:% ,(-(. /0((-, QH1V 7:`V.VCRQJ .V `R .%`*R:7Q`V:H.IQJ .V6HV] `Q` VHVIGV`5: .VJ1 1J$:CC5 V` .7`Q:R5 V1:`I5`1*G:JV5HQIIVJH1J$ 7]I8 -- /,(-(. /0((-, 1*.VCR1IIVR1: VC7GV`Q`V .VVG`%:`75VJV`:CVV 1J$ `QJ 2Q0V`7 Billbergia Hallelujah ]`1C .Q1HQI]V 1 Q` .V:`2Q0V`7 Cryptanthus Silver Zone ]`1C .Q12.V`7C:1H .V`QIVC1:R QH1V 7Q`%VVJ*C:JRJH85$10V*]V`I1**1QJ Q:CC`QIVC1:R QH1V 1V* Q`V]`1J :` 1HCV*1J .V1`=Q%`J:C* ]`Q01RVR]`Q]V`:H@JQ1CVR$VIVJ 1*$10VJ Q .VQ`1$1J:C:% .Q`:JR`QIVC1:HV:V8 .1*]V`I1**1QJRQV*JQ :]]C7 Q :J7Q .V`]V`*QJQ`Q`$:J1*: 1QJ11 .Q% .V]`1Q`]V`I1**1QJQ` .V:% .Q`8 ]1J1QJV6]`VVR1J .1]%GC1H: 1QJ:`V .QVQ` .V1JR101R%:CHQJ `1G% Q`:JRI:7JQ JVHV:`1C7`V`CVH .VQ]1J1QJQ` .V`QIVC1:RQH1V 7Q`%VVJC:JRQ` Q` .VR1 Q`8% .Q`:`V`V]QJ1GCV`Q` .V:HH%`:H7Q` .V1J`Q`I: 1QJ1J .V1`:` 1HCV8 Committee Details 2 Vertical Gardening – John Olsen 4 John Arden, Hybridizer – Robert Kopfstein 10 Billbergia Buchholtzii – Derek Butcher 14 Family Pseudococcidae Unarmoured Scale Pests 17 of Bromeliads - Mealybug – Les Higgins Growing Tips – Bob Reilly 20 A Note from the Co-editors – Chris & Jennifer Coulthard 21 Society Tales, Facts, Successes, and Fun Tit Bits 21 The Basic Needs of Cryptanthus – Harry Luther 26 Competition Schedule for 2014 27 Back Page 28 Tillandsia Study Group Sunday 13 July ( email [email protected] for info) July Meeting 17 th July, Uniting Church, Merthyr Road, New Farm August Meeting 21 st Aug, Uniting Church, Merthyr Road, New Farm The Ekka 8 th – 17 th August, RNA Brisbane Display September Meeting 18 th Sept, Uniting Church, Merthyr Road, New Farm October 18 th – 19 th - The Spring Show Set up Friday 17 th Oct December – Xmas Party 11 th December ( 2 nd Thursday) Australasian Conference 16 to 19 April 2015 For those who like to plan a fair distance ahead, the next Australasian Conference (Bromsmatta) will be held in Parramatta. By John Olsen Space is always an issue for plant enthusiasts. We can’t leave an attractive plant sit on the sales table. Sometimes it is simply a plant we don’t have in our collection we have to add. The other motivation for architects and home gardeners is “the blank wall” which needs softening. There is a big range of vertical gardening for us to consider. Options with growing media At one end are the vertical gardens which involve structure and a growing medium for the plants these are “Green Walls” as seen at Toombul on Airport Link and various buildings around the world. These structural elements have more rigid requirements than the home garden. The media has to be enduring so organic materials which break down over time are unsuitable. Watering systems need to be automatic and provide the necessary plant nutrients. Green walls typically use a variety of epiphytes. The Airport Link example seems to incorporate terrestrial plants as well, and among the bromeliads, the large alcantareas stand out with their tall inflorescences. The structural support for such large plants is mostly beyond reach of domestic gardens and not usually adopted for Green Walls. Photo 1 shows plants and structural elements at Airport Link during the construction and provides evidence of the scale of exercise and equipment beyond home gardeners. Photo 2 shows a section of a green wall within the Qantas building in Sydney. A web search reveals lots of proprietary systems for architectural green walls. Roma St Parklands has examples of frames made from aluminium screen door panelling with sphagnum moss inside as the growing medium for orchids and smaller bromeliads. Some gardeners have taken this approach as well using two weldmesh panels and shadecloth inside the panels to form a narrow vertical box filled with suitable growing media. While this won’t have the life of the structural systems it is a lower cost approach suitable for domestic situations. A web search or a visit to the nursery section of major outlets also evidences lots of proprietary systems of stacking pots in a vertical arrangement. YouTube also offers many DIY approaches using mesh, old pallets, old furniture etc. At the simplest end, wire and plastic hangers are available at our meetings and from garden supplies shops. When I visited Koehres Nursery in autumn in Germany, many plants were in small pots of bark and hung using standard plastic 3 or 4 pronged pot hangers simply attached to vertical weldmesh frames. See Photo 3. In late autumn and winter, the pots are crowded into a glasshouse and summer the pots are hung outside from simple vertical mesh frames. Photo 1a. Airport Link Green Wall under construction Photo 1b. Photo of a small part of Airport Link Green Wall showing variety of planting and supporting structure On the right: Photo 2 - Part of Mark Paul’s Green Wall at Qantas Sydney Above: Photo 3 - German Glasshouse stacked with pots and cacti Below: Photo 4 - Tillandsia leiboldiana pendant form Hanging baskets have long been adopted as a form of vertical garden. With large green walls and suspended pots, there is a huge range of plant choice. My preference in hanging baskets is to select bromeliads with pendant forms of inflorescences such as Aechmeas – contracta, filifolia, and weilbachii; Vrieseas – guttata, scalaris, and simplex ; Tillandsia – leiboldiana . See Photo 4 Options without growing media This is largely the approach to vertical gardening I have adopted in my garden. I differentiate between my “garden” which I want others to also enjoy, and my “shadehouse” which I see as my collection more than a garden. I have 4 basic approaches to the vertical garden all without growing media. While my collection is strongly oriented to tillandsias, the need for variety and colour variation necessitates a wider range of plants in the garden. One aspect of growing without media is that the plants do need nutrition and this is supplied as foliar fertiliser. Our block is steep and we have a walkway which is 2-4m above the natural surface from the laundry to the levelled back lawn. The balustrade for the walkway consists of a timber top rail and – you guessed it – weldmesh panels below the rail. This is the first of my vertical gardening approaches. I simply attach plants to the mesh using wire ties, cable zip ties, or mount the plants on timber and hook them on. Photo 5 shows one section of the wall. Along with tillandsias I have others for colour and shapes: • Billbergia Afterglow and Hallelujah for strong colour • Neoregelia Fireball, Fire Pixie • Vriesea vagans, and V ospinae • Other epiphytes include elkhorns, staghorn, and a few orchids. The second approach I use is to suspend plants (tillandsias in this case) on fishing line. Photo 6 shows some examples. These plants are allowed to form substantial clumps. Tillandsias I have in this form include species ( funckiana, crocata, ionantha, juncea, duratii, butzii, scheideana, araujei, filifolia, and recurvifolia v subsecundifolia ) and some cultivars/hybrids (stricta x ixioides, Houston, Cotton Candy, Rio Hondo). This list is largely comprised of common and lower cost plants. Those plants which reproduce well are good candidates for forming clumps and this feature makes them readily available and lower cost. You will be able to afford to buy a few plants and give the clump a good start. Clumps can be started by mounting plants on good hardwood timber pieces. Coolite shapes can also be used as starters. Craft outlets have a range of cones, bells and rings which make useful starters. I paint the coolite with wood glue and attach cork sawdust which I collect when cutting up cork for mounts. This gives roots some grip and avoids white coolite showing. Above: Photo 5 – Plants on balustrade wall. Photo 6 - suspended Tillandsia clumps Right Photo 7 - T tectorum Photo 8 Right - Tillandsias on on driftwood tree fern trunk With some species there is a limit on the size of clumps which are self-supporting. Keeping the plants well aerated helps keep the inside of the clump from softening up and rotting. The inside of the clump is often a twisted mat of roots intertwining and holding it together. In other cases (eg T funckiana ), it is wise to support the clump. I construct a wire frame in the form of a grappling hook, ie a central spine with 4 arms coming out and bending up from the bottom. This is pushed through the clump from the bottom and the clump suspended off the top of the wire frame. Fishing monofilament of suitable strength is preferred for suspending plants. Wire alone or wire with swivels does not provide the flexibility for the plants to rotate and form somewhat symmetric clumps.