Thanks, HDD.

Not the greatest photos, but I swear they didn't look that bleached out when I sent them!

It took so long to register the photo's they faded out LOL

Good stuff, congatulations. Now that's worth registering!

Looks like they tried to adjust the contrast of the photo's and went overboard on Darth Vader.
They should correct that, now it looks like you photoshopped it to look more black than it actually is.

Sander

Lisa, I love your Aechmeas - your 'Haiku' is stunning! I also like 'Hula Auwana' and 'Alaka'i'. Is it just me, or is the shape of your 'Alaka'i' somewhat unusual for a Billbergia? It looks broad and barrel-like the way some Hohenbergias can be. Is 'Bravo' a smaller Bill? It looks compact, so I wondered if it might also be less tall than average.

And it's nice to finally see Darth Vader up there. FCBS needs to reload those images, but I don't think they look 'photoshopped'. I noticed in the FCBS image of DV that the tall, inner leaves do not have as much white banding as the outer leaves, and this is true of my DV as well. Is there a relationship between the occurrence of white spots, and the existence of scurf on Bill leaves? They seem to be "mutually exclusive". Is that so?

Anyway, great work!

Mike

I'll admit my digital photography skills need work, and also that I do some tinkering in Photoshop, but it's always to try to make the picture look more like what my eye sees, never to falsify it. If it starts looking fakey I undo it. I do sometimes juice up the contrast and sharpen the edges though, as well as remove ugly insect droppings and little blemishes if I can do it without being too obvious.

The problem is finding a background in my shadehouse that is not too cluttered with other plants to see what's going on. With Neos it's easier because you can shoot down on the rosette. With Bills, though, you've got to do a side shot, so sometimes I'll bring them into the potting area and put them on either the stainless steel or wood table, but the stainless reads very bright and even the wood is distracting with all the knots. I really need to just construct myself a plain portable backdrop, but it hasn't happened yet.

I think they must have lightened a couple of those pictures up to try to show the foliage, though. This is exactly what I sent them for Darth Vader and Kumu Hula-- not great, but looks a little better than what got posted.

{{gwi:444330}}

{{gwi:444332}}

I can see where they might want to lighten DV, as it's pretty hard to see what's going on with the one on the right, but it really is very black. Derek asked for a flower pic but it's never bloomed for me, so if any of you ever get it to bloom, send me a photo! Same with Alaka'i.

Mike, Alaka'i is somewhat broader and more open than most Bills. It gets that mostly from the sanderiana side, along with the big black spines, but Las Manchas is not super tubular either. Kumu Hula is its sibling, so if it ever did bloom I would espect a similar flower. Oddly enough, KH blooms its head off every year, but its brother never has. I have other sets of siblings like that too. Go figure.

Bravo and Hana Hou are both fairly small, taking after the Poquito Blanco side of the family. The other half, of course, is DM. As to white spots and scurf being mutually exclusive, no, not necessarily. I have some with plenty of both, like Pipeline.

There's more they haven't posted yet, and more that I haven't sent in yet too. Some just refuse to take good photos. My purples tend to turn into reds in the camera's eye, and any attempt to correct it gives everything a weird blue cast and makes it look fake. Any helpful hints?

Very nice Lisa! If I have to put one on my wishlist, it would be Alaka'i'. DV is exquisite. I will wait untill I get the hang of growing bills real well, then I'll add DV to my list!

Now, judging by the name of this thread, I gather that they all named after Hawaiian dances (except for the Star Wars one)- have you got a translation for us that have no relatives in Hawaii?

Japie

Japie, many of these are part of my hula series. They are not all related, but I keep the theme going whenever something seems to fit. In Hawai'i we have what are known as "halau", which can be described as hula troops or schools. The teacher is the kumu hula, kumu meaning source or font (of knowledge, etc.). Hula is not just dancing around, it comes from deep tradition and is a visual means of storytelling, so there is much training and extensive knowledge of Hawaiian culture that goes with it.

I wanted to use the name Kumu for the one in the picture because it has some dark banding (more visible in another photo on FCBS) which seems to have come out of nowhere, but which it passes on to many of its offspring, hence it is "the source". Since I already had one named Miss Aloha Hula, I decided to continue with that theme.

The kumu hula's second in command is called the alaka'i, which means "leader". This is usually a former student who has mastered the art of hula and acts as a teaching assistant. Every year many of the halau compete in the Merrie Monach Festival, held in Hilo. The three nights of competition are Miss Aloha Hula (for solo female dancers), Hula Kahiko (ancient style of hula and chanting), and Hula Auwana (more modern, ie. Victorian style). I have Bills named for each of those three, as well as Merrie Monarch. MM and MAH have not been submitted for registration yet.

As for Pipeline and 'Ehukai, those are both names of surfing spots on the North Shore. 'Ehukai means "ocean spray". It just looks like it wash splashed with mist, whereas Pipeline is more... well, pipe-shaped! I have one called Surfrider too.

Hana Hou is the Hawaiian equivalent of Bravo, something you yell when you want another song. Those two are siblings and there's a third called Encore, which I haven't registered yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Merrie Monarch Festival

Thanks Lisa! And now they all look much better! But I think I got another favourite now : Ehukai. The one that 'wash splashed' with the mist on the beach after a lazy afternoon with a bottle of wine watching the Surfriders!

Heh heh, that was a typo, should be WAS splashed! ;-)

You like that one better than Pipeline? Good, it pups like mad! You can get a big clump in no time and it blooms often too.

You should know by now, that a name is equally important to me as the appearance and Ehukai will forever now be the tipsy one for me! Pipeline is very nice and I am sure one of it's off-springs will find it's way to my garden eventually when it becomes available. I am just getting more and more amazed by plants you match up. I would NEVER, EVER have dreamed to put Domingos Martins' pollen on Windii!

Really, Japie? Why not? One has a great flower, the other great foliage! Seems entirely logical to me to try for both, and I'm not the first to make that cross either.

Now if you'd said that about this one, I could understand it:

{{gwi:444334}}

Not registered yet, but soon. See if you can guess the parents!

Seems bigeneric. Got a flower? Bill.XAe. or Neo.XBill.?

Yup, bigeneric. Nope, no flower. Your second guess is right, Mike, but which Neo and which Bill? ;-)

Hi Lisa...is Shelldance a parent?
im not good at knowing broms very well but im learning all the time...hehee
But shelldance looked like it was in that X
Have no idea on the parent Bill though?
What will the flower turn out like Lisa?

Diffently not Shelldance..If I had to guess maybe Lamberts pride

Tropogem, this was one of my earliest crosses, from back when I would try any two things in bloom just to see what would happen. That means I've had it for somewhere between ten to fifteen years and it has never shown any inclination to bloom. If it ever does, the flower won't be much. Neos pull the flower of whatever you cross them with back down into the cup.

This one I'm calling xNeobergia Beelzebub. I don't see it as having any particular commercial potential, it's just a novelty. I doubt anyone will guess the cross, but I'll let a few more try before telling you. Here's another picture showing what kind of markings it gets.

{{gwi:444336}}

Those are some nice Billbergias Lisa! I did notice one thing while looking at the photos. I use a laptop most of the time in the morning, and move downstairs after lunch but when I looked at the photos again on my desktop in the basement, the photos looked a lot better.

O.K. Lisa - we give up! Please tell us the parents of your xNeobergia Beezlebub (Beelzebub? Beezelbub?).

I much appreciated learning the history/tradition and meaning of the named billbergias. Great choice of names - and distinctively yours.

Cheers,
Kerry

Lisa, what is the size of pot DV is in? I keep thinking either the pot looks small, or DV looks big. It looks great when the pups get going.
Mike

Okay, I don't blame everyone for not wanting to guess. Too many possibilities. Beelzebub (pronounced bee-ELL-zi-bub) had Bill. leptopoda for a mommy and Neo. Scarlet Fever for a daddy. I've tried other Bill/Neo combinations but none of them took. SF actually came through surprisingly strong here.

Mike, now that you mention it that pot does look really small. I thought it was a 6", as that's the size I'd normally use for a medium sized Bill, but maybe it was a 5". I suspect the camera angle might have something to do with it too. My notes say that DV gets to be @16" tall.

lisa i have come across some were that you made the brom called NEOREGELIA BLUSHING TIGER and am wondering if this brom here is the one here yours

Here is a link that might be useful: NEOREGELIA BLUSHING TIGER

Yes, that is my hybrid, Phil. It's been on eBay quite a bit but I'm not the seller.