NEWS East London LETTER Bromeliad Society February 2018 South Africa Established: 25 July 2009 Our aim is to promote and encourage awareness and interest in Bromeliads in East London and all of South Africa! ELBS is an Affiliated Society of Bromeliad Society International A revisit to a still magical garden! What a fabulous start to another new year in the life of ELBS!! We had a really super, fun and informative meeting with 30 folks turning up including 3 new members. The meeting was hosted by Elna and Henri Smit in Gonubie who were so hospitable and opened their home and spectacular show garden to us for the afternoon. We have met here before, in 2013, and the garden was a blast of creativity. Much building and painting has taken place since then, and you know what builders do, trash everything around Henri and Elna Smit in their absolutely stunning, imaginative and creatively laid what they’re building!! So the garden has out garden in Gonubie. reaped the benefits after loads of hard work, rearranging some things and lots of personal touches that only Elna can do so beautifully, often working late in the evenings as she works all day, often out of town. The garden surrounds the house and changes through the different areas you walk through. Of course there are loads more bromeliads, some for the very sunny areas, some planted in the shady tropical nooks, all interspersed with other plantings and lots of decorative features and beautiful tree stumps and trunks collected over time. Truly lovely and a wonderful experience for all of us who did not manage to see Elna’s garden when it was on the Pam Golding Gardens of East London Show last October. I hope all the special little nooks in your garden bring you some comfort while you relax or Next Meeting: Sunday 25th February at 2 for 2.30pm. Hosted by Ester Botha at Adelsicht Farm 1337 Schafli Road Chintsa. Don’t forget to bring a chair if you want a seat. East London Bromeliad Society South Africa February 2018 Page 1 work as you get used to your daughter having flown the nest and off to university. First chick out the nest, it really is tough! She’ll be back! Thank you so much to both of you for sharing your special place and hosting us! Dudley welcomed all to the meeting, getting through the formalities trying not to deviate from the agenda too much!!! Then he gave us an interesting chat about his favourite genus, Tillandsia . I have included a few over the next pages, impossible to cover them all! Tillandsia - Dudley Reynolds Sometimes this genus is overshadowed by some of the other genera in the Bromeliad family. No other genus can beat Tillandsia when it comes to ‘remarkability’ and the interest they generate amongst collectors and the public. The largest genus in the Bromeliad family, Tillandsia can boast with over 600 species and many thousand hybrids. Dudley Reynolds with his array of They get full marks when it comes Tillandsia that he brought for to diversity ie. some living in humid discussion at the meeting. rain forests and some in dry desert- like conditions surviving on meagre resources. Xeric Tillandsia have evolved and adapted in various ways to survive in these arid conditions. There are several factors that have made them the survival machines that they are. Often found where no other plant will survive. Firstly the fine hair like structures called trichomes, which appear on the leaves assist with reflection of the sun's rays, absorbtion of nutrients and water. Many xeric Tillandsia show succulent tendencies, which allow for water storage. The CAM process ie. Crassulean Acid Metabolism, simply put is a process where the stomata under the leaves stay closed during the heat of the day and open at night when it is cooler, thus preventing water loss. Obviously the greener leaf tank type Tillandsia are those that live in shadier conditions. The ones that are really furry with trichomes are those that can survive in sunny positions. Unfortunately a lot of Tillandsia are exploited commercially. Sold as gimmicky items such as fridge magnets and in glass bottles, terrarium type containers, and the eventual result is the demise of the plant. I brought a few examples of different types of Tillandsia which I discussed individually. T. albertiana is a small plant. Leaves are T. latifolia var divaricata? There are different varieties T. streptocarpa. Grows in full sun as an distichous (grow opposite each other on of latifolia growing in different areas and conditions. epiphyte. Lovely lavender and white the plant stem). The bloom, a three petaled This one can tolerate good sun. I selected this one as scented flowers. Older leaves dry bright red/cherry colour is very large in it has an attractive orange inflorescence with pink curling around the mount for relation to the size of the plant. It prefers flowers. additional support. filtered sunlight and good air movement. East London Bromeliad Society South Africa February 2018 Page 2 T. bulbosa ‘Belize’, left, comes from Belize which borders on the north of Mexico and the west of Guatemala. T. bulb os a, right, is found growing close to rivers and streams, therefore requiring medium light, high humidity and T. leiboldiana is a soft leaf, tank type Tillandsia. The orange bracts and blue/purple flowers are pleasing to the eye. frequent watering. As with all Tillandsia good air movement is required. This is Potted and grown in much shadier conditions and enjoys a pseudobulbous myrmecophyte, (ant plant). When flowering, the upper reasonable amounts of water. leaves and inflorescence turn cherry with lavender colour flowers. Right, T. ‘ Kacey’ is a hybrid. T. caput-medusae, tolerates hot T. rectangular. Parents being T. bulbosa and sun. It roots well on to a mount Interesting curly leaf. T. butzii . I grow this plant in the being epiphytic. From the sub genus T. neglecta forms a nice clump. Grows same conditions as its parent Diaphoranthema. epiphytically and is similar to T. tenuifolia T. bulbosa and T. araujei . Develops red bracts and blue flowers. Grows in filtered light away from hot afternoon sun. T. tricholepis . One of themoss type T. remota has needle type leaves, grown in Tillandsia. Needs good filtered light. From filtered light with good air movement. Gets T. filifolia, this is a mesic (moderate water) species which grows in low light. The needle the subgenus Diaphoranthema. an overspray of fertilizer from time to time resulting in a nice clump of plants over a type leaves signify that it requires good air period of time. movement. Interesting pin cushion shape. Left, T . butzii, the weirdo of the Tillandsia genus. Grows in filtered light with good air movement. Grows prolifically here In East London self seeding itself. I grow mine hanging under 40 percent shade cloth with my orchids. Right, T. tenuifolia surinamensis . I brought this one to show the lovely amethyst colour leaves. It gets full afternoon sun. The inflorescence is pink and the flowers lilac. East London Bromeliad Society South Africa February 2018 Page 3 Show and Tell Members were asked to bring any of their blooming Tillandsia to the meeting for Show and Tell. Dr Pete Pfister brought a stunner that he had grown, Tillandsia capitata ‘Peach’ and Elna chose it as her hostess plant!!! What an awesome example of this lovely Tillandsia , sooooo big!!!! Robert Moss brought along his seeds, below, that have been quietly growing away in his shade house. I asked him to bring them to show us before he started planting them out into larger containers. The first ones are Dyckia ‘Men in Grey’ grown from seed that was very kindly sent to us by Rob Murray in Australia. Not all the seed Rob received germinated. They are nearly ready to be planted out separately into small single trays. The middle photo is of more seed from Rob Murray, Alcantarea ‘Green Giant, these are due to be separated out, they have done very well. The next container has tiny seedlings of a Vriesea cross that Robert is experimenting with. These will still Elna and Pete with her choice of be kept under cover in a warm spot for a long time. Slow growers. plant, a magnificent Tillandsia capitata ‘Peach’. Lyn Wegner showed Tillandsia 'Antonio', left. A beautiful Andre Eybers brought a Tillandsia which is now re- Tillandsia for ID, which is classified as Wallisia . I Googled Tillandsia juncea. for information, always so frustrating when you can't find any! The Bird Rock Tropical site mentioned 'A Chester Skotak hybrid produces a beautiful multi- branched hybrid (Lyn: I think this should say inflorescence) with lavender purple flowers'. Mine is growing in morning sun and I am excited to have 2 flower spikes. I am still eagerly waiting for the flowers. I decided to email Chester for more info and he has advised it is a branched form of cyanea x wagneriana . Lyn also showed a Vriesea ‘Tasman’ hybrid. I have a variety of beautiful pattern-leaf Vriesea ‘Tasman’ hybrids which I imported from Andrew Maloy of New Zealand in 2013. They grow in the garden in a sunny spot and are all doing very well. Just 2 which are similar in appearance are doing something strange. They seem a little muddled! Both have a pup that looks like it started off as a flower spike. One of the plants has a normal pup developing as well! I emailed Andrew for his comments and this is what he has to say: “We did see this in some ‘Tasman’ Vriesea but only very rarely and I have no real idea what causes it.