Hi Guys Hmmm politics, I'm not sure if I understand what the problem is here other than the fact that we (BSI members) elected Delegates, but the Delegates elected not to discuss such an important issue with it's members. I have had contact at various times over the last six months or so with each of our Delegates (Aus) but at no time did they elect to ask an opinion of a member, therefore I shall elect not to elect either of these Delegates again until such time as they realize that they were in office for the members, not for their own personal opinions, or self importance. I feel disappointed for all the hard work done by Derek & others over the years & now people seem to think it's all falling apart. Well no it doesn't have to, don't just complain offer suggestions to help fix the situation instead, for one the way I see it, the BSI is only taking control of Administration of the BCR, as it is we register our hybrids with the BSI now & that goes into the BCR, then the photo's get posted on FCBS, so what is going to change, you don't register hybrids with FCBS it is only a photo index for you to look at pictures to aid in ID's. If this is correct it means you register with the BSI, you send a pretty picture to FCBS for all to see, or any other photo index around the world for that matter, as any site can post your picture, but only the BSI can register your hybrid name, therefore not much is changing as FCBS was & still is only a photo index (I believe that's what's on it's Title page) not FCBS Bromeliad Registry. I do feel it is time in this day & age of computers that all BSI members should get a copy of the minutes in one form or another so that we know what is happening in our Society, as our Delegates don't seem terribly interested in keeping us informed here at home after the meetings. "Lets be Heard" Hmmm $25.00 bucks is not going to fix the problem of so many "Neo. Binalotatrash's it's only going to help keep the great load of Neo. Ulanfils out there instead of in land fill. (sorry those names are already taken) My hat goes off to Lisa for acknowledging in an earlier thread that her little white variegate (as nice as it is) is one of so many like that out there now, so it's not worth adding another one, there's a hybridiser setting a good example worth following, congrats Lisa for self policing, only the best will do. Back in the early 1900's the Plant World had Expo's where new plants/hybrids were presented & given Awards of Merit etc, so where did this system go, Derek suggested a Certificate of Merit system but nobody was overly excited about this, so it seems to have fallen away ?? Offer a constructive suggestion don't just complain. My suggestion to Derek & others recently has been to include in local Society Show Competition Schedules, is a section for Best New Hybrid Award (locally produced not imported) with a respectable reward/incentive offered, some of our Societies are pretty well cashed up, so how about the Societies stepping-up & remembering what they are here for, THE PLANTS. Another section that should be high on the agenda is "Best Species, Seed Grown", forget the hybrids we need to save Species, I thought that's what Societies were, partly, all about. I don't know that printing this thread in a news letter is the way to go as most Society members aren't members of the BSI, & it probably wouldn't interest most of them anyway as most are just sit on the fencers anyway. I feel it should be sent in it's entireity to all members of the Board with notice, it is our Society not just the elected Delegates & we are interested in what's going on. I know I will be asking our next intending Delegate a few questions before I cast a vote, "where do you stand on the above matters ??". NO I'm not offering to do this as a Board member has been involved in this discussion, he should step-up & do it, as an elected Delegate it is his position to act on members requests & show the Board we're not happy with the way things are going. Pinkbroms

Shilpa, I love Australian plants! Such an amazing variety of textures and colors; I don't see why any gardener would not want to use them. Especially Eucalyptus and Grevillea. I'm glad your folks have kept the Aussie natives in their yard. Even though I like rare plants from other parts of the world, I have kept quite a few northwest native plants in my garden as well (though I don't bother to take photos of them much). Brian, I planted the E. parvula in summer 1997; it was a little 6" tall plant in a tiny pot. I like it a lot too, but I think its growth form is better when it approaches maturity and starts getting rounded off at the top. That Callistemon is very upright, but I can never get a good pic of the flowers because it is in too much shade and I have to use the flash (with my camera anyways).

mominthe dubc - as I posted above, our Miele Diamante is very quiet - other family members were amazed how quiet it is after it was first installed. FWIW, the appliance dealer I trust (where we bought our original appliances when we built our house 17 years ago and where we bought everything for our recent kitchen remodel) very much favored Miele over Bosch or Asko (and they sell them all). This dealer hasn't steered us wrong (all the 17 year old appliances were still working) in their recommendations. I had planned to go with a Bosch becuase of the budget - but when they had the Miele Diamante at a special Home Show price, I couldn't pass it up. Very glad I did. Besides being extremely quiet, Miele manages all their service requests which helps them become aware of problems which in turns helps them continue to improve their product. If you can get the Miele, do so and don't look back

Yes and no. The Bloomsweet trees planted here have regularly produced good loads of lemon-flavored fruit over the years. It seems to be a g/f that thinks it's role in life is to package lemon juice into easily-separated segments filled with individual cells that don't easily give up the enclosed juice w/o being chewed. It is pretty hard to get any juice to drip when eating them, unlike the Meyer lemon which is more like a water balloon when punctured. You peel them by hand like a thick-peeled Satsuma. The Bloomsweet flavor starts out mildly sweet when eating but does have a subsequent sour aftertaste a minute or so later. Mature trees do have good cold hardiness. The bonus is when fruit are pulled off the tree and left inside that the incredibly sweet/fruity aroma will make the whole area smell SO GOOD as the fruit peeling dehydrates slowly over weeks. I have parked a box of them in the unheated garage for a couple months during Winter and the fruit kept very well as well as made the garage smell wonderful.