Whats the height of the stump? Some of your plants will get fairly large...they may not make good mounting material

what about air plants? there are some that are quite rare like the harris' tilandsia

Will the Nids and vrieseas appreciate growing under the conditions that are necessary to color up the neos and aechmeas?

HDD, the stump is about 3' high, around 18" diameter at the top. Regarding the size of the plants, I was thinking of maybe mixing a bark/potting mix in a stocking - I could tie that in nicely into the three way fork.

Anthro, Tils would be good but I have to use the plants I've currently got.

Ozvon, the area should get reasonable light levels, a bit of morning sun, a glimce of afternoon sun - I thought I could position the Nids on the shady side and I expect the top will be bright enough to colour up a Neo or the Blanchetiana. If I get it wrong I can always start over again.

Rick

Blanch gets big 4 ft X 4ft so I wouldnt use that one

I agree with HDD, Blanchettiana can get huge. It will dwarf your stump. I have one that is 5 feet wide by 4 feet high and has yet to flower. It has one pup (that I can see) on a 18" stolen that I plan on removing soon. Do I dare mount that on a tree? If my avocado tree was bigger, I could mount some big stuff on that, but it's 4 years old now and not in a very wet spot so it's growing rather slowly.

Rick,
I like your instant living sculpture idea! I reckon the aechmea pup would work best in the fork - looks like Aechmea 'Little Harv'? In fact I think your original plan is the best - sounds good. All those broms would suit epiphytic culture, i.e. they don't need soil.

BUT....here's the glitch.....and maybe this will cause some more money spent on a few more beers! That gum stump looks very smooth, as many gums tend to be. Broms prefer to attach themselves to rough-barked trees, where their roots can firmly adhere to the uneven ridges, nooks and crannies. The supports you use to initially attach them will need to be very strong. I find the ribbing actually helps them root as the roots like getting into the moist material near the base, and the ribbing is tight against the wood - more likely to root to the stump. But if you use spag moss or similar at the base, the roots will only grow in it and not attach to the smooth bark.....

Enjoy your beers! - and good luck :)

Cheers,
Kerry

I've had good luck with getting orchids to attach to smooth surfaces and then putting a brom into the orchid root cluster such that the orchid holds itself and the bromeliad to the smooth surface and supports the brom with a strong hold. I've done this twice on palm trees and I'll be doing it more.

First I buy a cheap orchid and then secure that to the shady side of a palm with some big pine bark chunks and stretchy tape. Once the orchid grabs the palm and the pine bark (6-8 weeks) I remove the stretchy tape and use the same tape to secure a small brom with the stolen sticking into the orchid roots. Within a few months, the orchid will be holding the bromeliad to the plam and you can again remove the tape. A few months after that you can cut out the orchid or leave it. The first one I did I was a little slow in removing the tape and the orchid had grabbed the tape and there was no way to remove it. It's still there somewhere under all those orchid roots.

This works because the orchid will grab the smooth side of a palm tree much faster and better than a bromeliad will. I can get cheap potted orchids at Home Despot for $7-8 and then tape them to a palm and they grap pretty quickly. That gives me a great way to attach broms that don't have enough stolen to glue to the palm. If I have a small brom with plenty of stolen then I just use Liquid Nails.

You could probably just tape the brom to the palm and then tape the orchid root ball around the base of the brom and wait 6-8 weeks and it will all be held in place by orchid roots. I'm going to try that technique next week on a small palm in my yard.

You could buy some cheap gutterguard, cut it into strips as wide as you want, form it into a pocket and bash it onto the stump. Fill the pocket with mulch - bark chips - pebbles or whatever and plant in that. Broms will eventually hid the gutterguard.

Great ideas all round,
I must admit I thought Kerrie would have voted for mounting the Blanchetiana based on some of the large plants that I have seen in previous posts that Kerrie has strapped to trees.

Winterlager,
Good tips about the orchids, I am aware that they like rough bark to mount to, I plan to start off small but I have a couple of rough barked stringy mango trees that are just screaming out to be covered in Broms.

Ozvon,
good idea about the gutter gaurd.

To cap off I'm sad to report that the project looks like running over budget, Kerrie clearly had the foresight to realise that there are 24 beers in a carton/case and it would be a shame to only invest six beers into such a worthy project.

Updated pictures to follow shortly.

Rick

The job is done!

Front View
{{gwi:455821}}

Rear View
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Finished View
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I was going to use Ozvon's idea about the Electrical Clips but couldn't find any in the garage so I used Galvenised Staples/Hook Nails instead.

I ended up covering the Neos with Shadecloth over a mixture of bark/potting mix and attaching with Galvenised nails.

Anthro,
I lied to you I had some Tils, I forgot that Old Man's Beard is a Til of some sort.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the result, I didn't end up using the Nids because it gets a little more sun that I anticipated.

Rick

Now that belongs in an art gallery, Rick - well done!
Good choice of form and colour. The A. blanchetiana would have quickly dominated the space if you'd used it as you thought I would vote.
In those first two pics, looks like the medicinal liquid, necessary for such a job, had been dribbled onto the sculpture in your creative excitement.....oh! maybe that's just water, not beer?
Your system of attaching looks strong and effective.
Onya!

Cheers,
Kerry

Hi Rick,

What a masterpiece! You have been a busy boy :-)

Kerry,
It is amazing that you could correctly identify Ach. LittleHarv with an out of focus shot and no flower but the Mother plant has flowered and proven you correct.
Thanks,
Rick
{{gwi:455824}}

You're welcome Rick :)

How is your living sculpture going now?

Cheers,
Kerry

Kerry,

None of the plants have died which is a good thing, it is starting to look quite good. I can't seem to take a descent photo of it though, it is overcast, the sun is in the wrong place and I'm a crappy photographer.

Rick

{{gwi:455825}}

Final photo attempt.

{{gwi:455826}}

Looking good, Rick!

The strong light obviously agrees with your choice of attachments. That variegated neo is a lot pinker now than when you first attached it.

But look at all that bare space you have around it - she looks a bit lonely. More sun-loving broms are just itching to accompany your sculpture.....or perhaps you could find some more hardwood pieces to make it a sculpture garden?
If so, you'll just have to budget and include some allowance for the liquid refreshments necessary for further inspiration and creativity!

On ya!

Cheers,
Kerry.

My toughest problem is finding good quality broms for sale. If I find a spot for plants, I can't just run out at pick up some broms. I think the demand far exceeds the supply, at least when the quality is good.

Hey Rick,
Your creation looks wonderful - the Old Man's Beard does a terrific job of melding all the broms together (and hides the mounts) - great job!

I just scored a slab from an old pittosporum ( much of the centre has rotted out) but it will be perfect as a mount for either mini neos or any of the smaller species vrieseas. My problem is finding a spot that gets the 'right' amount of light/sun. I still havent worked that out yet!! I also scored 2 x 4ft tree fern trunks that i am going to plant with Ae. Mirlo and Ae. Royal Wine. Eventually, I'll underplant with some other Vrieseas and maybe some Nids.

That is really cool. BTW how can you tell a good brom from a bad one?

the leaves tell all from color to healthy looking. Quality
is easy to spot as is a crappy plant

I think judging plant quality is rather complex. There is all kinds of different quality that can be judged. In the end it has to be personal preferences. If you like pristine plants that are grown in a shade house where the plant has never had a drop of rain hit it then you're probably limiting yourself.

Kerry,

Good advice about the liquid refreshment, I might have to turn to port as our warm weather moves to the northern part of the world.

Ozvon,

I'm not too sure how big pittosporum is but I do like Miniture Broms mounted on display, your tree fern trunks will make great mounts - why not put them in a pot then you can move them around as the season changes and they are a lot lighter than gum. Please post some pics when you are finished.

dd50,

I think all broms are good but I'll say a good brom is one that you like, I've even got a couple of pineapples growing that I like but don't tell anyone I don't want to get labelled a pineapple snob.

Rick