Margaret Butcher
Margaret Butcher |
English by birth; Australian by choice! I have been growing plants for 34 years in between raising three children and keeping husband Derek in line. I started off with South African succulents including Lithops and Conophytums from seed. Just a few hundred. In 1977 when the South Australian Bromeliad Society was formed I was fully converted to Bromeliads. Our ¼ acre block is full of Derek's tillandsias on frames and walls of our house with my neoregelias and billbergias fighting for space under them. I have about 2000 bromeliads in pots. Recently became interested in Vriesea. Aechmea nudicaulis and its many forms intrigue me, as do all the shapes and colours of Tillandsia ionantha. So I have a fairly wide interest. I judge at our Shows and I am Derek's re-minder. I have recently been appointed "Inspector of Plants" so I can answer Derek's eternal question "Is there anything in flower at the moment to photograph?" |
I do get particularly concerned when a plant that has come from seed from the BSI Seed Fund turns out to be wrongly named or a hybrid. I also feel that when we find something odd we should share this information with others. I know that seed raising is exciting especially when the first plant flowers. The disappointment comes when the plant is not the same as the name on the packet. Regrettably, Bromeliads are very promiscuous and hybridise easily whether we like it or not. This part of a hybridist's job is easy . The hard part is trying to "improve" on nature. We don't want hybrid seed from the BSI seed Fund or even wrongly named seed but we won't know until we have flowered the seedling. This is the time we should check against the description.
Over the years thousands of packets of seed have been distributed by the BSI and only on the odd occasion do we get problems. Various Seed Fund Chairmen in the past have urged people to supply them with seed and their work has ensured that Bromeliad enthusiasts around the World have obtained something new. The Seed Fund Chairmen can only use the name on the seed supplied to them. I strongly support the work of both suppliers and distributors because without them we would have NO new plants, NO new challenges, and NO Auntie Margaret queries.
ANYONE can participate. All we need is a photograph of the plant in flower and the month and year when the seed was released. Either Michael Andreas, 617 Fifth Street, Merritt Island, Florida 32953 USA, or myself can scan the photo so that it becomes part of Auntie Margaret queries. My address is Margaret Butcher 25 Crace Rd., Fulham 5024, South Australia, Australia. If your photo is already digitized you can email it to webmaster@fcbs.org