Contents of Newsletter

• Notices
• Report on the February Meeting.
• MiniShow Competition Winners.
• Upcoming Events.
• 2022 Meeting Information.

Editor: Maxim Wilson maxim.wilson@internode.on.net.

President Pam Butler opened the meeting.

This month we have the AGM.
Positions to be filled include sales coordinator, hall setup person(s), lockup person, and committee members.

Prizes for our Show in April:
First prize $100, second prize $50, for Novice, Intermediate and Advanced classes.
Champion of Show gets $250, 
Reserve Champion gets $150, and 
other plants on the head table get $100. 

Bus Trip is on Sunday 20th March. Cost is $20 which was paid at the February meeting, and is refundable to members once they board the bus. Guests are welcome, and cost is $20, not refunded. If you have paid for the trip, you should have received an email with details of pickup locations and times.

Spring Show is at Belmont Shooting Complex,
1485 Old Cleveland Road, Belmont.
Saturday/Sunday 2nd and 3rd April.
Sunday 8am to 4pm.
Sunday 8am to 1pm.
Competition entries must be entered by 12midday Friday.
Consult the Competition Schedule on our website.
https://bromsqueensland.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amended-schedule-31082021.pdf

Presentation of awards to winners at 11am Saturday morning

COVID advice:
If you are unwell and you think you may have Covid, don’t attend.
Social distancing where possible (have plenty of room between your tables to allow for this)
Sanitisation
If anyone is more comfortable, they can certainly wear a mask, but not a requirement.

March/April Meetings

Meeting 17th March 2022	Meeting April 21st 2022.
Info Session – How to complete paperwork for shows with Greg Macleod	Info Session – Potting, Pupping and Mix with John Williamson.
Plant of the Month – Alcantareas by Stan Walkley	Plant of the Month – Cryptanthus John Williamson
Guest Speaker – Amanda Meads	Guest Speaker – George Stamatis on Zoom.
Topic – Floral Arrangements	Topic – TBA
Raffle Plants – Amanda Meads	Raffle Plants –
Dutch Auction – Stan Walkley	Dutch Auction –
Plant Commentary -	Plant Commentary -
Popular Vote (see below).	Competition - MiniShow (see below)

Information Session.
John Olsen on Shade houses and General Irrigation.
John introduced some time-saving devices that improve watering and fertilising
Bromelaids in our shade houses.
Timers made by Holman offer a variety of functions, controlling watering for duration,
hour and day of week. Settings can be controlled wirelessly from your smart phone:

Foggers deliver a fine mist, good for seedlings:

Drippers and Drip Line is used for potted plants or garden beds:

Fertigation adds fertiliser to your watering system, and saves you hours:

Thanks for sharing these labour-saving devices.

Plant of the Month: Tillandsias by Bruce Dunstan.


Bruce brought a whole table of flowering Tillandsias to share.

T multicaulus grows above 1,500m, is native to Central America,
and produces many spikes through the axils of the leaves:

T complanata also grows at high elevation.
Bruce has a clone acclimatized to low elevation:

It has multiple axillary spikes. It’s an unusual bromeliad in that it flowers yearly and does not die after blooming. It needs another unrelated clone to effect pollination, and offsets are rare. 
So most specimens are grown from seed. (see plant in the competition).
There are several subgroups within the genus Tillandsia, and one group includes
the green flowering Mexicans. These include T ionantha.
T ionantha 'Fuego' forms a tight clump, which turns red as blooming approaches:

T chiapensis is a popular beautiful plant that is costly, and not easy to obtain.

Bruce grows them in 50mm orchid bark, shoves the pup into that,
and tops up with smaller bark, and fertilizer.
T edithae exists in two forms, one with more scurf and has a whiter appearance,
and a green form with much less scurf:

T tectorums grow well in full sun, and might rot with all this recent rain. Bruce pointed to varieties within the species. The Peruvian filiform form has blue flowers, different from the Ecuador form:

T lotteae has a beautiful lanceolate yellow spike, and is endemic to Bolivia:

T ramellae on show had three spikes, and comes from Paraguay.

T duratii var. saxitilis has a lovely scent, and grows upward staying above the canopy, seeking the sun. They attach to the canopy with their very curly leaves. Bruce has difficulty harvesting pups- they tend to die!  

One group of similar Tillandsias include cacticola, straminea, and purpureae. They are similar and can be confused. All thrive in the dry climate of coastal Peru and Ecuador, have tall spikes, rich in trichomes, purpurea is fragrant.

Thanks Bruce for sharing some interesting blooming Tillandsias.

 They typically form a clump growing from an underground rhizome, and can climb up high into a tree. 

They are pollinated by hummingbirds, and seed is dispersed by the wind. Seed is very fine, a pinch contains several hundred seeds. 
Most are evergreen, except P heterophylla and pungens which are deciduous.
Bruce came across many species while exploring Colombia to Peru, ie., both sides of the Andes.
P hitchcockiana is found on the Amazon side of Ecuador, and shows variation in the bloom:

and

P nigra has red bracts 12-18” tall, with black flowers.

P squarossa var concolor is found in the Valle de Cauca, in western Colombia, by the Pacific Ocean:

P funkiae grows a meter tall, has mid red flowers, and is from Panama:

P pungens grows in a very dry arid region, 2,000 to 3,000m:

P luteynii is from Colombia. When hummingbirds feed on the nectar, a load of pollen collects on its beak and head, and this is carried to the next bloom, when pollination takes place:

P elongata is found in Colombia in a region which receives 8m rain annually. It climbs up a tree, and the inflorescence hangs down. It secretes a slimy mucilage which deters bugs from eating it:

and closeup:

P stevensoniana has a spectacular pendant 1m inflorescence which is bright red with yellow flowers:

P spectabilis has a beautiful creamy green and white bloom. Leaves are red underneath:

P lyman-smithii is found in Fortuna, Panama, close to the Costa Rican border. It’s blooms emerge from an apparently dead spike:

P barrigae has an unusual spike:

P lehmanii has a bright red branched spike, and comes from Colombia:
P bakeri

P maidenfolia: Its yellow-green flower spike consists of a 20 cm long elongated cluster of flowers, located on top of a 30 to 60 cm long stalk. The flowers have white petals.

P archeri 
P atrorubens var. pallidobracteata, showsattractive elongate pale yellow petals.
P lehmanii has a bright red branched spike, and comes from Colombia. 
P dolichopetala, from Colombia.
P hooveri from Ecuador 
P arcuata 
P arcuata variegata with Chester Skotak in cultivation:

P echinata 
P ferrel-ingramiae 
P susanniae 
P trianiae:

P species in Choco, Colombia 


Thanks Bruce for a visit to the wonderful world of Pitcairnias.

For further reading: 
https://bromsqueensland.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/GROWING-PITCAIRNIAS-AND-PEPINIAS.pdf.

Winners of February MiniShow:

Advanced:
Class 1:
1st Aechmea ‘Pacifica’ by Maxim Wilson.

Class 4:
1st Tillandsia filiform tectorum by Pam Butler.

2nd Tillandsia tectorum caulescent by Pam Butler.

Class 5:
1st Guzmania sanguinea by Maxim Wilson.

2nd Goudaea ospinae by Maxim Wilson.

3rd Tillandsia funckiana by Pam Butler.

Intermediate:
Class 1:
1st Aechmea orlandiana by Denise Ball.

2nd Aechmea ‘Red Ribbon’ by Sue Hall.

3rd Aechmea ‘Gold Tone’ by Sue Hall.


Class 2:
1st Vriesea platynema x (platynema x fenestralis) x ‘Martian Red’
by Narelle Aizelwood.

2nd Vriesea Dillings hybrid by Peter Ball.

3rd Vriesea ‘Chanel’ by Sue Hall.

Class 3:
1st Dyckia Talbot hybrid by Sue Hall.

Class 4:
1st Wallisia ‘Sandy’ by Sue Hall.

2nd xNeomea ‘Caribbean Queen’ by Sue Hall.

Class 5:
1st Tillandsia complanata by Peter Ball.

Novice:
Class 1:
1st Aechmea ‘Bronze Age’ by John Williamson.

Class 3:
1st Dyckia ‘Yellow Glow’ by John Williamson.

2nd Dyckia ‘Silver Devil’ x ‘White Lighting’ by  John Williamson.

Class 4:
1st Tillandsia rothii hybrid by Robert Reitano.

2nd Tillandsia stricta by Eddie Macedonski.

3rd Ananas by Eddie Macedonski

Class 5:
1st Tillandsia xerographica by Robert Reitano.

• The revised edition of Starting with Bromeliads is now available for purchase at $20 per copy.