planted my last load of neem seeds, and a few are showing radicals :) so with any luck i'm sorted. (germ notes..) i received them from india last autumn.. some germed then but didn't survive the winter. had slow germs and issues with fungus gnats in early spring. 24 hour soak, husked them.. i like to germinate in a tupperware with a 1/2" of perlite on the bottom and a 1/4" of water, occasionally dropping some h2o2 if there's a fungus outbreak. they go in soil when they've got a nice radical.

Just returned from a family trip, so adding belated comments here. Gordon - I must agree that the bare trunks of your old Frangipani are an attractive contrast to the colourful, varied textures below. It's just such a wonderful would-be host for some epiphytes - not often available. Thanks to Matt and Rick for their compliments. Watch out, I might use you two as living examples on which to attach broms - in a demonstration at that next meeting in Brisbane. 'Tis a bit hard to bring in real tree branches to demonstrate with. Trouble is, you're both spring chickens, and broms attach better to old, gnarly surfaces...so I will have to coerce some of the elderly, wrinkly members into volunteering! But we'll keep that a secret, so as not to scare them off from offering to assist. Regards Vriesea vagans - by all accounts it does seem to be a "shy" flowerer. I have two substantial clumps growing epiphytically in my garden. One clump is supposed to be the (slightly) larger form of vagans. It did flower for me once, a while back, when it was an established clump. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos. I would have been more diligent had I realised the scarcity of such an event. From memory, the inflorescence was similar to that of V. philippo-coburgii, of which it is closely related. Like its cousin, vagans' inflo is quite large in comparison to its leaves, but not quite as colourful as V. p-c. BTW - when writing names of plants, species names (always Latin) are written in all lower-case lettering (typed formally in italics), versus named cultivars written with upper-case beginning letters, usually with Anglicised names, and formally in single inverted commas. If this rule is followed, additional explanation of the type of plant - be it a species, or species/hybrid cultivar - is unnecessary. e.g. Vriesea vagans, Aechmea caudata, Billbergia rosea - all species. Vriesea 'Sunset', Aechmea 'Little Harv', Tillandsia 'Silver Queen' - all distinctive cultivars. All official plant publications use this consistent rule, as do most gardenwebbers. O.K. - lesson over...you may all go out and play now. :) K

Fenius....Wow, good for you pal! I am about to go on a shopping spree too..lol. You should see how many Hoya's I have added to my collection within the past mnonth.lol Robert: How's the plant looking these days? Thanks for ths info on that book. Very thoughtful of you:-) Who would of thought there was that many night fragrant blooms?! Some of which I never thought to smell at night. I know why now certain plants didn't smell good by day. By the way, I remember standing in my neighbors driveway one night smelling the most intense sweetness I ever smelled. Do you know what I followed the scent to? A humungus Hoya! That triggered something in me that night. Greengirl..We are all with you on your journey! I hope it's a fun ride for you. Rosey..You are not kidding! I even have bukllfrogs there the size of cats. It is very easy to accidently step on one of them and take a good fall! The bats, I did not enjoy for sure. Getting ready for the Orchid Show? God knows we could use some sunshine and flowers in our lives lately, something that reminds us of spring! Mike:-)

Hi Plumienewbiesd, .. Never never cheating to buy a plant with inflos.. Its glorious!!! I have bought two I just bought with inflo's, have no idea what they are, I want flowers!! ha When I came on this forum last year, I bought a couple plants with inflos, think playful and pacific pearl, Per Tony he advised me to buy them, bought them.... When they bloomed I was so excited, I had a flower! I instantly showed it just like you, kept looking at it.. so neat. ..I had jut a few blooms last year, was so hot. So this year am waiting for blooms to come too. So CONGRATS!!! Its such a pretty flower, where did you get it? Yes hope someone can identify it. What is your name? Tony, my plant from mainly seconds has red buds coming, hope like yours, newbals rainbow. Karen B.