The Florida East Coast Bromeliad Society Next meeting Sunday, April 12th – 1:30p.m. Wm. A. Finney Memorial Garden Center 837 N. Oleander Ave., Daytona Beach

April, 2009

President – Joan Campbell – 672-7382

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…starting with the Master Gardener’s sale at the Volusia County Fairgrounds on the 4^th. If you haven’t been there before, the address is 3100 E. New York Ave. in Deland (on State Road 44). If you are travelling from the East – take I-4 to the State Road 44 exit in Deland. Head East on SR44 and you will see the fairgrounds on your right.

This is a half-day sale, from 8:30am to Noon only so don’t be late! We’ll be looking for everyone to pitch in and help out – we need your spare plants to sell and we need help staffing the sales booth. This is our one fund-raiser for the year, so let’s make it success. Plants need to be priced to the nearest whole dollar (for example: no $4.49 plants – they’re either $4 or $5) clean, free of scale, clearly labeled and, if you wish to sell your plants – include your name on the price tag. As in past years, if you would like to make a little money to offset the cost of buying plants, mix, and pots (and this is an easy way to do it), 80% of the proceeds go to the owner of the plant and 20% to the club…or, if you are feeling charitable – donate the total amount of the proceeds to the club. It will be gratefully accepted! For those of you helping in the sales area – take the price tag

only from each plant that a customer wishes to buy. Add the total amount from the tags for each customer – this is the total that they need to pay. Give the customer a receipt indicating the total number of bromeliads purchased – they will need this to take the plants out the exit gate. It’s all pretty simple, but things have a way of getting very hectic when the booth is full of customers buying plants, so don’t be afraid to ask for help from the more seasoned sales people in our club!

This is also a month for judged bromeliad shows across the state. Check the upcoming events portion of this newsletter for the details, but for now let me just say that there is a bromeliad show and sale going on somewhere in Florida nearly every weekend in April. Check one out – you’ll be glad you did!

Everyone has their favorites among bromeliads. Some people, like last month’s speaker Steven Hoppin enjoy the many Cryptanthus varieties. Others favor the Tillandsias and still others are attracted to the spiky terrestrials like Dyckias or Puyas. What is your favorite group? Tell us about it this month at our Show and Tell and show us your favorite in that group. That’s right – bring one or more representatives from your collection from your favorite bromeliad Genus and let us have a look at it! This should make for some interesting discussion. Do we all like the same group? Do we all like different Genera? This could shape the direction that we take in future programs.

While you are at the meeting, be sure to look over the garden area. Alan Bennett headed up a group of us to transform the "secret garden" into a secret bromeliad garden and it looks terrific. Many, many thanks to Alan for his hard work and to Blossom World Gardens for the donation of so many plants! Finally, let’s not forget the hardy band of volunteers who spent their Saturdays transforming the gardens into a real showpiece. I think they all deserve a round of applause!

If you missed last month’s meeting, you missed a good one! Steven Hoppin of Ft. Myers brought a number of his Cryptanthus for sale and proceeded to give us a fascinating program on how to succeed in growing Cryptanthus. His demonstration plants served to show the dramatic differences in the many varieties available. Many thanks also to Steve for his donation of plants for the garden at our meeting place. Our Secretary reports that she has been following Steve’s recommendations on fertilizing Crypts and already is seeing the benefits from it!

…and did anyone have the opportunity to visit the Spring sales at Leu Gardens and/or at Kanapaha in Gainesville? Calandra and I spent a very pleasant afternoon at the Leu Gardens Spring sale and it could not have been nicer! The weather was cooperating, the flowering trees in the gardens were at the peak of their bloom and the many plant vendors there had some very interesting plants for sale. We visited with Brian at Tropiflora’s booth and were asked if we knew why people were buying bromeliads as quickly as he could unpack them. Business was very good indeed! The Central Florida Bromeliad Society was well represented and they had a very nice selection of bromeliads for sale at their booth. All in all, a great way to spend an afternoon – mark you calendars now for next year. This event just seems to get better and better!

People who don’t live in Florida tend to have a mental picture of a lush, tropical jungle landscape where it rains every day. The truth of the matter is that we may go for several months in the Daytona Beach area without a drop of rain during the Springtime and that landscape of lush, tropical jungle-like growth can quickly wilt and die unless some supplemental water is applied…at least until the Summer rains return.What does this mean for your bromeliad collection? It means that you need to pay a little closer attention to your watering practices than you do at other times of the year. You will need to be careful to not water too often or for too long since these plants are not yet in their most active period of growth and are not utilizing as much water as they will in the Summer months. It is very easy now to overwater and lose plants to rot and fungal disorders as a result. On the other hand, you shouldn’t allow the potting mix to become too dry during this time or you will find that it is very hard to rehydrate – with a result of severly dessicated plants that may take months to recover. It’s a balancing act…and by the time you strike the perfect balance it will be Summer and the rainy season will be back – changing our growing conditions again!

Upcoming Events:

Blossom World Gardens open house 9am to 4 pm. Seminars at 11 and 1:00 Call Bud Martin at 321-363-7351 for directions.

Tropiflora’s 10^th annual Spring Festival – open house and sale. 8 – 5 Fri. and Sat. 10 – 3 on Sunday. Hourly raffles to benefit Selby Gardens.

Broward County Bromeliad Society annual show and sale at the Plantations Women’s Club – more details to follow as they become available.

Volusia County Master Gardener’s Spring Sale. Half day only – at the Volusia County Fairgrounds. 8:30am-noon

Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies quarterly meeting – to be hosted by the Central Florida Bromeliad Society at the site of this year’s Extravaganza: Renaissance Orlando Hotel Airport-5445 Forbes Place, Orlando

(This will be a good opportunity to visit a Florida Council meeting and also to have a look at the hotel where this year’s Extravaganza will be held.)

Seminole Bromeliad and Tropical Plant Society Spring sale at the Sanford Garden Club on highway 17-92. Saturday and Sunday 9am to 4pm

April 25, 26, 2009 –

Sarasota Bromeliad Society show and sale at Selby Gardens in Sarasota

Volusia County Orchid Society 14^th annual show and sale at the Volusia County Fairgrounds. Each day 9am – 4 pm. $4 admission

Central Florida Bromeliad Society annual Mother’s Day show and sale at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando.

November 13^th – 15^th , 2009

Bromeliad Extravaganza, hosted by the Central Fl. Bromeliad Society at the Orlando Renaissance Hotel.

FREE PARKING!! FREE ADMISSION!!

× Butterfly and Hummingbird plants×

Camellias × Herbs × Native Plants

× Perennials × Roses ×

× Trees × and much, much more ×