Uh oh...... well, the good news about the Dyckia bug is that it's curable. I had it several years ago but I'm over it now. Mostly, anyway. ;-) At least they're small.

I like the little Vriesea, and that's an interesting bloodline on the Aechmea. Have you seen the bloom, and how big is that plant? Ae. corymbosa usually creates smallish offspring. Is that one of Skotak's?

Yeah I've never seen that Vr. offered before and I'm a sucker for an attractive looking species plant. Something about its markings and leaf texture make me think of Vr. racinae.

I've been keeping my eyes peeled for Ae. tessmanii so I figured this cross would do for now :). I was told it stays relatively small (currently about 12-14") with a colorful multibranched bloom. It is one of Skotak's.

It looks a lot like Vr. guttata to me, I'm guessing it's a close relative. I hope it's easier to grow than guttata, I always had trouble with that one.

Hi everyone,

Nice haul Mike, I especially like the aechmea hybrid, quite an attractive looking plant even when not in flower.

Like Lisa says the vriesea does look a lot like gutatta and although she says she has trouble with gutatta, I find it grows like a weed here.

The only trouble is that the grasshoppers seem to love it. I can go months without seeing a grasshopper and as soon as the gutatta inflorescences are almost ready to flower, WHAM! the next morning they are all badly chewed, and I can never catch the culprits until after the event.

Thanks for sharing.

All the best, Nev.

Must say that for my money its one of the forms of Vr,gutata ,of wich i have several clones ,and i am with you Lisa ,its one i have trouble with in pot culture ,yet i have friends that tie it on a tree and forget about it and away it goes ,certainly it does not like being divided ,then again maybe it does'nt like me ( that i can understand )Nev, if the spikes on your gutata are chewed at night ,then its the grasshoppers close relative that comes out at night ,the Katidids ,grasshoppers are inactive at night, they close down activity when cold ,so go out at night around 9 pm and catch them in the act .Cheers , Jack

Nice haul, Mike! I must say that this recent flush of Dyckia pictures also made me wonder should I not try to get some of them.

And your Vriesea confuses me. It looks exactly like my Vr guttata. I even had pictures of it here on GardenWeb when it was in flower (can't find the link now). And nobody complained/objected that I call it Vr guttata.

Do spoil us with more pictures, please!

Japie

Hi Jack

Thanks for that tip about Katidids, I have seen the occasional one but never thought about them being the culprits.

All the best, Nev.

Hey Mike, I've got a Ae paniculigera pup for you if you want one. I can also give you an old phanerophlebia mother that has two small pups starting. That Vriesea that you gave me is doing quite well while the 'Raspberry Ripple' has been a slow grower.

Are you going to the Mounts sale this weekend? I'll be there but I don't plan on hauling away too many plants.

Now everyone's got me thinking about that Vr.!

Nick - Mounts huh? I've actually never gone. What brom vendors are usually there?

There are usually 3 or 4 major brom sellers. The Boca Raton Bromeliad Society has a big booth and that is where I'll be hanging out most of the time. Stop by and hang out with some really knowledgeable people who are selling some great broms. I don't sell anything.

Tropiflora is there as well as a few others that sell a fair number of bromeliads. The Mounts web site says: "This annual plant sale features over 80 vendors with an amazing assortment of quality plants and goods. Palms, orchids, bamboo, begonias, bromeliads, fruit trees, and many other types of plants will be for sale."

Hi Mike,
For what it's worth, my 2c worth is your Vr. is a guttata too. It looks identical to my clump I have up in a tree. Look at leaf tips of the brazil photo on FCBS of pardalina compared to yours...it seems to have much rounder neo type tips, while guttata has more of the classic Vr. "pointy" down-turned tips like yours does.
BTW..nice spinies you got there !... that unamed one certainly deserves some investigation !
Cheers
Graeme

Yeah, I really like those dyckias too, Mike. It is nice seeing so many cool terrestrials mixed in with all of the other broms lately.
-andy

The Mounts sale was pretty good. If you got there early on Saturday there was some choice plants to pick from. I have too many plants already but I couldn't resist grabbing a T. ehlersiana and a V. hieroglyphica. I'll probably kill the hieroglyphica like everybody around here seems to do. I've never seen one in person before, nobody can grow them for very long before they rot.