What a year this has been! I imagine I can hear the garden breathing a sigh of relief at the cooler temperatures and the little bit of rain we had. I know the gardener is enjoying the difference. I hope you have a magnificent fall flush. I love the bigger blooms and brighter colors the roses have in fall. Carol

- 6:22 PM: The Poolside Reception was already in high gear by the time I arrived. As I was following a group on over I took a view of as many people as I could. Many more attendees arrived throughout the evening, as some had just flew in or checked in at the hotel. The two bars set up at opposite sides of the area slowly began to see lines. With the flow of alcohol at an even rate, the levels of laughter got louder as time went by. The hors d'oeuvres flew in on large platters held by curtious hotel staff and they never seemed to run out. - Adjacent to the pool area was a short flight of stairs which came in handy with taking slightly elevated group shots. Everyone was in a great mood. Some attendees had spoken about how long they had waited to attend the Bromeliad Extravaganza. The weather for the reception was flawless, with the only irritation coming from a low flying aircraft or two, but many didn't seem to mind. - The first of many photos featuring the Keynote Speaker of the 2007 Bromeliad Extravaganza, Chester Skotak. He is standing next to his wife and they are with Vendor Eloise Beach and Attendee Jim Pearce. - During the Poolside Reception, a small silent auction took place and it featured some hard-to-find books and other interesting items. - Live music was provided and the musician performed just about non-stop and did an excellent job. Everyone enjoyed listening to him and some broke out into a dance or two, or three. - Three of the busiest people at the Extravaganza. The entire event would not have gone as smoothly without the efforts of Extravaganza Chairmain and Bromeliad Society of Broward County Past-President Jose Donayre, Society President Colleen Hendrix, and Society Vice-President Tim Hendrix. - The silent auction table gets worked over quite well by just about everyone, including myself. In the center wearing the gloves is Extravaganza Speaker Dr. Theresa Bert and she gives a rare book a good look over. - 7:02PM: Extravaganza Chairman Jose Donayre gives a welcoming speech to everyone at the Reception. He thanked everyone who traveled to be there and all the volunteers who collaborated to make the Extravaganza a reality. - A few minutes later, Jose gave the mic on over to Society President Colleen Hendrix. She welcomed everyone again and gave a brief run-down on the following days events. - A brief moment to capture two of the Extravaganza's Speakers a day before each of their seminars. Director of the Mulford B. Foster Bromeliad Identification Center Harry Luther and Dr. Theresa Bert. - 7:20PM: The sun begins to go down as the group shots continue, music plays in the background and the bars seldom see a quiet moment. Vendor Eloise Beach poses next to Keynote Speaker Chester Skotak, his wife and veteran collector and Society member Maureen Frazel. - The music became too powerful to resist so Extravaganza Chairman Jose Donayre begins to dance with attendee Sandy Roth. - They continue to dance for several minutes and neither seemed to get tired. - Members Maureen & Bill Frazel spent the night talking with everyone. They are very friendly and have a wealth of knowledge and experience. Ryan

Very pretty, Pat! I have some that color with daisy-like flowers which have just started opening. The darker ones look soon to follow. I could easily get addicted to these easy-to-grow autumn beauties! Brenda

'Willy' and 'Rosy' are 6-8 years old, can't remember, closer to 8, I think. I did not hard prune them the first few years. I wish I did. They were scraggly specimens that I brought home from work as unsaleable and I was afraid to kill them. I now know how wrong that thinking it would hurt them was. I put up with a few scraggly long vines for so many years with no coverage of the lattice which we needed for privacy. I pruned them hard last spring as a last resort before ripping them out and they responded by growing many more stems and having hundreds of blooms this year, rather than a dozen or so. They are much lusher than before. Although I'm not really crazy about either one of them. The color is really washed out on both of them, though they do get afternoon shade. 'Helsingborg' was planted last fall and was hard pruned. It will be hard pruned again after it finishes flowering. As will 'Willy' as it is still a bit scraggly.