Hi Japie ,very nice piccies ,dont they allways look nice after a shower or two ? and the 'blue' Vanda is nice also and adds a nice colour contrast , good show, cheers, Jack

Hi Japie,

Great colours, beautiful plants, and your garden is always such an inspiration. Thanks for showing it. Cheers, Paul

Ya know Japie, I think you just might be getting the hang of this, uh...bromeliad thing.
Goes without saying...

Japie, I love your little man-made stream. It makes it such a tranquil oasis. Who else would have thought to do that?

Thanks for the visual treat, Japie. Glistening rain and a beautiful garden - no better combination.
I too love your little Japie-made meandering stream. I assume it not only looks great, but would raise the humidity?
And you've achieved wonderful colour in your first Neo hybrids - well done!

K :)

Awesome shots Japie. Your garden is an absolute beauty and I love viewing your photos.

Japie,

You don't mind a rainy day when the plants come up looking that good.

Thanks for the tour.

Rick

Hi Japie,

What a magnificent collection you have. There's nothing as good as a shower of rain to make the Neo's sparkle and enhance the colours.

Thanks for sharing your wondeful garden with us.

All the best, Nev.

Hi again Japie, just admiring your pics again and noticed the yellow & reddish one in pic 6, bottom right hand corner behind the row of 'Fireball'. Is that Neo. kautskyi? If it is, great color and form - does it get much of a cook? Cheers, Paul

Wow Japie! Always a great show. What is the large palm trunk in the 4th pic (bismarkia? if so I am droooooling and extremely jealous) and the wide-leaf variegate on the bottom left of that pic? Do you have a 'work' area or growing area for smaller pups and stuff? Not only is your yard beautiful and beautifully arranged, but over such a large area. I hope your neighbors appreciate your garden as much as all of us.
-andy

Andy, I'm sure the neighbors do enjoy the view of Japie's garden, particularly when he has to dash out of the house early in the morning wearing nothing but a smile, in order to keep a sudden downpour from filling the cup of a Neo he plans to pollinate!

A little bird must've told me that, but don't believe everything you hear..... ;-)

Lol! Yes that's correct - I saw it on Youtube, didn't everybody?

K

Ha ha ha...well if he was running out to save a pollinated-to-be plant I'm not sure if he would be wearing a smile...unless he was smiling about the freedom of it all.

I'm in awe. The plants are gorgeous but the layout is spectacular. I don't know if I could ever go inside - even in the pouring rain :-) thanks for sharing Janine

Japie had to stop his nekid pollinating antics-the cops came knocking cause a little old lady complained (she is secretly jealous of his vast collection, but that story is for another day!) Anyway Jap had to bribe the officials with Bakkie (UTE) load of broms! He is not happy!

Jokes aside. Its looking great Japie!!!

I was in the Kaap last week, arrived at 7PM and left the next day, I didnÂt even get a gap to come and see the garden firsthand!!! Oh well...

My neighbour accross the road, is forever telling her Facebook friends about me working in my garden with my shorts on. And she spends a lot of time in her kitchen looking out the window, so I guess I'll have her to blame if I made it to YouTube!

Paul, yes, it is a kautskyi. It took a long time to start showing me that look, almost 2 years. That spot gets direct sun from the moment the sun gets up untill the Jelly palm starts shading it. When Summer really arrives, those Fireballs will cook almost to death. A very difficult spot but for those who can handle full sun, stunning!

It is a Bismarckia Andy. I wish I had the space to grow more of them! I also trim it heavily in order to get enough light in for the broms underneath to get enough light. But although skinny, I still love the look of it. I'll try to get a picture to give you the full view. The brom bottom left, is an old flowered out sibbling of Baby Skotak (carolinae x Faichild) x Bobbie Hull. Sadly almost all of it's pups developes some kind of a virus infection. Out of the 7 I removed, only 2 of them look like they are going to make it.

Lisa, I like the sound of running water, so I have 3 water features in various places in the garden. That one has a 'source' where the water is running out, then follows the little 'stream' to a pond a little way away.

And all of you, thanks for the nice comments!

Japie

It is really beautiful and very well kept.

The one thing we share is the rain ;-( and I am terribly missing these lovely broms here.

Is that a Neo Royal Cordovan on Picture 8, on the left of the photo to the right of the palm trunk? I mean the dark red in bloom with a light red cup. It is very pretty.
On the same picture, in the first row, I am looking at the two Neos to the right. What are those two? Both are very nice and complement one another well.

Thanks for sharing.

Did anybody notice ..the caption of the fist photos reads 'Eden'. Rightly so.

Noid, yes is a Royal Cordovan.

I'm not sure which other 2 you meant. To the right of Royal Cordovan are Purple Star and then 2 Meyendorffii's. Front row from left to right are: Neo carolinae hybrid, Big Pink, Black Knight and a Tangerine gone wrong.

The 'Eden' caption is a story told here already - here is the short version. When I started doing garden maintenance work, I needed a name for my business. Being madly in love with plants, I tried to create a paradise for myself (Eden). Then the guy that lived in Eden (Adam - after the first Eden) started doing other gardens. So I called myself Adam van Eden ('van' an Afrikaans word that means 'from'). That's also where my screen name came from : A van E : avane!

And talking about captions, did you spot the wrong one? The Amazing Grace pops up as Grace Darling - sorry about that!

Dennis, pitty you were in such a hurry - I'll try and remember to phone you tonight, otherwise give me a call if you remember and have the time. I really need to talk about that box with you now!

Japie

Hi again Japie, thanks a lot for the info on your Neo. kautskyi. You've encouraged me to continue giving mine the treatment - that one of yours has just the look that I've been hoping for. Cheers, Paul.

Yes, I have noticed the name AG i/o Grace Darling, hm, after all I have just initiated a thread on it not too long ago, and just did not want to bring it up. I dis not want to be the skunk at the garden party.

I did read lots of old posts but not the one in which the story of Eden was told. Thanks for capturing the essence of it here for me. It is a good story and a well selected alias.

I guessed it is Neo Black Knight but have never thought it to be Neo Tangerine, it looks interesting though. And as mentioned already, the two contrast well. One is dark, with broader leaves and having a well rounded form, the other is bright, with narrower leaves and has a not so tight and upright form.

Thanks again.

Hi Japie

Ja I was with my managers and we headed up to George from there, otherwise I would have stayed a day longer. We were at a B+B in Parklands-not sure how far from you that is?

OK 100%....I should have a gap tomorrow or later today to give you a call from the office.

Cheers

Dennis

Andy, here's the Bismarckia:
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Paul, and here's kautskyi up close with the Fireballs that already starting to complain about too much sun.
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And the view from accross the road. This is also from where the morning sun hits my garden
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Lisa, here's the source of that little stream:
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And then it empties in a pond, barely visible behind the plants, but this blue pot also sits on the edge of the pond overflowing back into the pond
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And Noid, here's that Tangerine up close. It first started to give some very narrow leaves, almost grass-like. And then they started widening up and now it almost looks as if it wants to form a rosette, like what King's Ransom does occasionally. I was disappointed that it would not want to colour up, but I think it can look very nice if it keeps on doing what it is doing now - a green plant with smaller red rosette in the center!
{{gwi:511613}}

Japie

Japie, I just love the water features! If you lived in Hawaii you would have more business than you could handle, I guarantee you. In fact if someone had showed me those pictures I would have guessed they were from here, you've captured the local style so perfectly, down to the Mondo Grass!

Japie, the garden is very nice and well set up. I like the stream that meander in the garden. However, do you feel save for the brom to grow in fenceless area?

Japie, when that bismarkia gets bigger, the not-so-smooth trunk is a great host for orchids and a good place to put Tillandsia seeds.

Japie if i was to walk my dog past your place you would want to frisk me for consealed plant life in my pockets.

Love the water features and the trunk of your Bismarckia.

Wow Japie. I know I've seen your Bismarckia before, but color me silvery-green with envy. I am looking to put one in my front yard, but I will be starting with a very, very small one compared to yours. Both that and the Butia are such a great silvery color. I always enjoy a tour through your Eden.
-andy

Wow! Japie

Breath-taking!
Love your Neo. Blood Plum and Neo. Amazing Grace.
I suspect your Neo. Tangerine may be pupping at the top.

Hi Japie, thanks for the extra extra onfo on your kautskyi. That picture from across the road says it all. I'll keep mine just where it is (similar exposure but without the stunning backdrop) and hope it ends up the same!

By the way, I love the way you managed to get the path in from the road to meander off into the distance over just a few metres. Great stuff. The whole thing is a work of art. Cheers, Paul

I searched 'you tube' for hours but couldn't find the naked pollinator!
I really enjoyed looking at your garden. I enjoy all the garden pics that you all post! Keep em coming.
BA

I can't believe I missed this one the first time! Always inspiring to see broms/gardens as beautiful as this!!

thanks for sharing!
Kristan

Beautiful Neo's japie and your garden is a paradise as always. Really great color in your hybrids to. Can't say my first hybrids looked that good. Never had any luck with Kings Ransom my self but looks like yours is going to pop.
Best Bob