Nice looking plants. What is the one in the second picture in the red/brown pot, second from the right?

HAZEL QUILHOLT

Hey Bambi, are those chopsticks that supporting your new lovely plants?
Good idea (^_~)

Bamboo skewers.

Bambi, you could start with 'Takemura Princeps'. That's available and inexpensive.

Frankly, I'm not really into what I consider the "concentrica types" that much. Some are very nice, but there are so many of them they all start to look alike to me after a while. What I would do, though, is use the search engine on FCBS and search hybrids using the words "concentrica", "Takemura", "Grande" etc. Make note of the parents of the ones you like and search those too.

Or........ email Michael and show him pics of things you like and ask him to recommend some similar items that he has. There are probably a number of unnamed crosses on his list that would qualify, but I can't tell without actually seeing them.

LOL!!! Lisa, I already did exactly that! I did seed and pollen parent searches (I finally figured out how to do that) for concentrica, Takemura Princeps, and Takemura Grande. I have a couple of concenticas, I'm planning on ordering the Takemuras.

If Michael is that busy, I'll wait a little bit. I am glad to hear he is doing well. I know its his business, but I've been there he doesn't need the extra work right now.

The only plant I have that is not doing well is Neo smithii. it is in the first photo second from left, all kind of folded up. I really can't figure out whats wrong with it, it has been cared for exactly as the others. I'll take a close up of it and post it later.

I'll also have to take some photos of my old plants too.

Gee, I guess I have to do *everything* around here.... ;-)

Okay, just looking over Michael's list, here's some that may or may not interest you. Check them out and see what you think:

After Dark
America cv. Stars 'n' Bars
Bianca
Big Mac
Black Out
Gee Whiz
Grande cv. Fantastic Gardens
Hawaiian Rainforest
Mel's European
Moonshine
Ninja
Painted Delight
Painted Delight x Painted Lady
Pitch Black
Prince Kuhio
Silver Chalice
Touch the Heart
Two Tone
Vulkan

If I had to vote for 2, I would choose....

1. Gee Whiz

2. Melanodonta

Gee Whiz is a fantastic large Neo, very tough, will handle full sun with no problem. The leaves are very wide, giving the plant great form. Centre colour is a little sort lived, but the leaves take on the concentrica style dark markings as the plant comes into flower, and these markings just get better & better as the plant matures. It is good with production of pups as well. You will see Gee Whiz has been used by AF in many of his recently registered hybrids.

Now, melanodonta (said to be a variety of concentrica) has very nice dark blotches, with dark leaf edges & tips. It can develop nice form, and is a medium size plant. In my opinion, this is one of the best "concentrica" style plants.

Bambi, if you like the concentrica types, why not add a couple of princesses?

Princess Di
Princess Grace

I am sure they will create beautifull offspring. Princess Di was one of the parents for Tropical Twist that Sharon Peterson created!

Lisa,
Thank you, not all of those are in the database. Some of those are already on the list. Thanks again for your help.

Avane,
Princess Di is on the list.

JOhn

John, looks like "six small plants" is "Mission Impossible" LOL! If your considering larger plants, I would second the recommendation of 'Takemura Princeps'. One of my favorites (not too large) is 'Royal Cordovan'. Here's a photo of mine in bloom from just a couple of weeks ago.

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I've had a lot of fun experimenting with it as a parent, too. I've registered a couple of crosses that I've been quite pleased with.
Here are a couple more which are showing some promise. First is a cross using N. cyanea as seed parent and 'Royal Cordovan' as the pollen parent. These should bloom next year. For sure, the color did not come from the seed parent!
For scale, the plants are in 4" pots.

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The next two are just in bud now, so I'm excited to see how they develop in the next few weeks! These are selections from a grex using 'Royal Cordovan' as seed parent, and a cross between 'Takemura Princeps' x concentrica as pollen parent. Paul

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Paul, I'm only seeing your fist pic of Royal Cordovan. The last three are just red Xs, and I'd like to see your crosses. I've been wondering if I should do anything with RC.

Lisa, I'm seeing them on my browser. The link to my Photobucket album site is listed below. The first three pics are what you're not seeing on GW. The other two RC hybrids that I've registered so far are N.'Royal Velvet' (a cross with 'Perfect Harmony' as seed parent) and Niduregelia 'Heart Afire' (a cross with Nidularium rutilans as pollen parent)

Here is a link that might be useful: Paul's Brom hybrids

Nice stuff Paul! I just fell in love with Smokey Amethyst! The last one in your post is nice also.

Paul, you crossings look stunning! I particularly like Royal Cordovan x Sunscortch, and B.B.'s Beauty! Did you do BB the entire way or just the last crossing. The entire way must have taken years to do!

And John, have you got anything yet that you did or are you also just planning to do them now? I can't wait for summer to arrive so I can also try my luck, or shall I say 'calculated possibilities'?

I've been keeping Broms since the 70's, but not very seriously. Some have come and gone, but there were always a few around. I began hybridizing Daylilys about 10 years ago and decided this past winter to try some Neoregelias since I like the foliage so much. I had been out of the loop for awhile so there are some nice new plants. This forum helped spark the interest again. I have made some crosses already, and have quite a few plants coming into flower so it will be a busy summer.

A friend that I met here on te GW that was recently in Cleveland on business also got me interested in Clivias.

Japie, The parents for 'B.B.'s Beauty' are N.'Pemiento' (seed parent) and N. [(carolinae x 'Painted Lady')x ('Takemura Princeps' x 'Meyendorffii')]. N. 'Pemiento' is a cross by Chester Skotak. I managed to twist Dennis Cathcart's arm for a pup a couple of years before the plant got its name registered. The pollen parent I'm pretty sure is also attributable to Chester. I got that plant from Michael Kiehl sight unseen, based on his recommendation of it. I made the cross between the two in the summer of 1998. Only one seedling developed the variegation, and that's the only one that turned out to be worth keeping. Of course, it was also the very last of the grex to bloom! As is typical with many variegated plants, it grew slower than its siblings in the grex.
I'm glad you like the 'Royal Cordovan' cross, too! I'll post a follow up photo when flowers start opening in a couple of weeks. Paul

Thanks Paul, nice to know all that. Just show you if you willing to try and willing to wait, then (almost) anything is possible. Has BB made some pups for you yet? And are they a bit faster growing seeing they would get a boost from mum while the seedling had to fend for itself right from the start?

And John, since this is your thread, I'm sure you will fogive me if I show you something off the topic! It always interests me a lot if I hear about people far away from South Africa that is into Clivia's. And I am proud of that. I also have a lot of them in my garden. A lot of diffirent shades of orange but not any fancy crosses like pink, white and green flowers.. I do have one very special one though - only got it recently, 2 babies that should flower in a year or two. Please excuse the quality of the picture, I took it years ago with my very first digital camera and the resolution was still very bad. If you want to chat more about Clivia's, I will send you my e-mail address. I can't manage to get it shown on Garden Web. Japie
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Japie,Seed to first flower took 7 1/2 years. I would imagine it will take anywhere from 2-4 years to get pups to flowering size, depending on growing conditions, and how soon I remove them from the mother plant. I've taken 4 pups off so far. A couple more are coming, but one of them may be too variegated (nearly albino) to sustain itself.

Interresting, Paul, thank you. So apart from the tricky buisiness to GET a variegated seedling, (if you havn't humming birds in your garden! :-)! ) it is a much longer process. Maybe we must all try to create one or two - it will keep us alive much longer!!

Thanks for the link, Paul. I don't know why my browser likes the first picture but not the rest.

Cherry Brandy and Magenta Mist both caught my eye, and I was surprised to see they both came from the same grex. The burle-marxii sure came through loud and clear on the second one!

Has Sunny Delight gotten into the trade? I really like the dark edges and compact size of that one.

John, a couple of others I neglected to put on my list are Earth Rose and Hal Ellis. The pictures on FCBS don't do them justice at all, particularly the one of Hal Ellis, which in real life is very glossy with prominent dark spines. Both nice plants, both fairly large.

Japie, those Clivias are very cool! I'd love to grow them but they just don't do well here.

Lisa, I cannot think why Clivia's won't grow there. As long as you plant them in in sandy soil with some well decomposed compst - they don't like fertiliser - in FULL SHADE and keep them on the dry side, they should grow and multiply like rabbits!
The photo I have taken in the botanical garden years ago, and my plants will hopefully give me some seed in a year or two. Then we can make a plan to get you some!

Japie, that is a stunning plant! I just got some variegated plants from China, that are nice, but they are just seedlings. I also think Clivias would grow well in Hawii, as long as they are in the shade. It was a South African that got me interested in Clivias.

Japie, they'd probably do okay in some of the higher elevation locations where there is more of a temperature drop than what we get, but they just don't bloom for us. Amaryllis and Agapanthus do slightly better, but not much.

Just add those to the long list of things that seem like they'd do well in the tropics, but don't. Among others on the list are Epiphyllums, Brugmansia, Cymbidiums, Kangaroo Paw, Cordyline australis, Alstromeria, Tuberous Begonias, Crassulas and the larger Aloes. Even Kahili Ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum) only grows well in the higher elevations, like Kula on Maui or Puna on the Big Island. It's a real pest up there, but you hardly ever see it down in the flats, even if it's just a couple of miles away.

I choose not to bang my head against the wall trying to grow things that are marginal in our climate. We do pretty well with most heliconias and bromeliads, and a lot of the gingers, so I'm not complaining!

Lisa, I've got a plant from the reverse cross of 'Magenta Mist' and 'Cherry Brandy' coming into flower now. I'll post a photo in a couple of days.
I gave Michael one of my 'Sunny Delight' pups a couple of years ago. It must have bloomed and pupped, because HDD got a pup on a recent shopping spree there. I sold a couple of pups at the Chicago conference, so they should be starting to get around. I recently took three more pups from my plant that bloomed last year, and should still get one or two more before end of summer.

John, I think the problem with growing Clivias in HI has to do with the relatively warm year round conditions there- unless you live on the slopes of Mauna Kea! LOL

LOL... well, HDD has ways of getting things before any of us mere mortals, Paul!