Contents of Newsletter

• Report of May Meeting
• Program for June and July meetings
• Results of May Popular Vote
• Upcoming Events
• 2018 Meeting Information

Editors: Rob Murray and Maxim Wilson maxim.wilson@internode.on.net

May Meeting Notes
The information Q&A session consisted of a panel with Barry Kable, John Olsen and Tom Isaac fielding questions from the audience. Questions covered a wide range of topics from potting media and growing techniques through to general plant information.

At 7.30pm, President Barry opened the meeting.

Barry highlighted that the Autumn Show at Genesis College had been quite successful, and the Committee was now preparing for the Spring Show to be held at the new venue of the Belmont Rifle Range Complex. This site is close to the Gateway Arterial and should provide easy access for everyone. Plenty of parking will be available.

The Committee also recognised the work done by volunteers at the Spring Show with a lucky draw for two helpers. Each was given a $50 voucher.

Winners of major prizes at the show were presented with their prize money.

Barry reported that the Patron’s Day was very successful with over 60 members joining Len and Olive for a day of laughter and friendship. A guest speaker provided an insight into life at Bribie Island in the 50s while Len covered some of the early years of growing bromeliads. Becky entertained us with a quiz. Tours of the garden were given and lunch was provided for all. Finally, all attendees were given a plant to take home as a memory of the event. Thank you, Len and Olive.

Plant of the Month
This was Alcantarea. Barry brought along a selection of his own crosses to demonstrate the variety that could be achieved.

Crosses he had were Alc. ‘Divine Plum’ x Alc. vinicolor; Alc. vinicolor ‘Hawaiian Red’ x Alc. ‘Divine Plum’. The crosses produced plentiful seed. These crosses had a range of colours from greens through to reds. The age of the plant did show colour differences as well. Barry noted that some of his plants were flowering early. After some discussion this was thought to be related to them still being in small pots.

Next, he had a variety of green Alcantareas. Alc. nahoumii had good leaf structure which could colour up with more red on the back of the leaf when grown in full sun.

Barry and Arno King both mentioned the need to provide plenty of water to the roots to grow well. Fertiliser was also important.

Many Alcantareas suffer from sunburn/bleaching during our hot summers – especially when grown in full sun.

These plants look great when grown in the ground or in large pots (50cm or larger), and this helps them  reach their full potential.

Guest Presenter
Steve Flood addressed the topic of Plants that Complement Bromeliads.

Steve highlighted the following points:

• There are many plants that are suitable
• Select plants that enjoy similar growing conditions
• Light, moisture and substrate soil needs to be taken into account
• Consider the colour combinations.

• Plant background plants
• Use green or variegated plants to highlight dark coloured plants or accent green or light plants
• Larger broms make good feature plants
• Mass plant smaller broms.

Steve highlighted how colours should be selected:
Green                   restful and tranquil
Red                       a physical colour, excellent for drawing the eye to a certain area (put in a corner)
White                   fresh, luminous in evening light
Yellow                  cheerful colour that calms the mind
Blue                     used for borders creates a sedative effect; overuse which can be gloomy.
Purple                  sumptuous and restful; use with white, blue, pink
Pink                       warm, draws people to it
Orange                 a rich warm happy colour; best used against a dark green background
Follow the harmony colour wheel for guidance- see below.

EKKA RNA  Show
friday 10th to 19th, August.
We need volunteers to host our display, greet people, answer questions about our Society.
Choose one of two shifts:
9 to 1pm, and 1pm to 5pm.
Remember the Potted Plant Competition
Entry is $15 per person, with no limit on entries, and free entry to the EKKA.
Here is the schedule:
https://www.ekka.com.au/media/1622/2018-potted-plants-schedule.pdf

Popular Vote Competition 

Novice
1      Tillandsia riohondoensis             Alphonso Trudu
2      Neoregelia ‘Heat Wave’              Gilda Trudu
2      Neoregelia ‘Tiger Head’              Alphonso Trudu

Intermediate
1       Ursulaea macvaughii                 Graeme Stay
2       Vriesea ‘Spitfire’                         Jenny Ittensohn
3       Neoregelia ‘Tunisia’              Charmaine Rooney
3       Tillandsia bulbosa                       Fred Thomson

Advanced
1       Tillandsia ehlersiana x streptophylla      Ron Jell
2       Dyckia Talbot                          Barbara McCune
3      Tillandsia intermedia x caput-medusae   Ron Jell

Decorated
1       'Cryptonight'                            Barbara McCune
2       Ionantha clump                       Ron Jell
3       Underwater Airium                 Alphonso Trudu.