Specialist Growers Marc & Stephanie Grubski at Glenorie have been well known to me over many years for beautifully cultured bromeliads and impeccable facilities in Harrisons Lane. Bromeliad Garden Nursery stock always distinguished itself in the market place with plants that were well hardened to garden conditions. Marc & Stephanie have always worked with this in mind, now the time has come to sell their bromeliad business, its stock offer maintains a broad fit across most outdoor growing conditions.
Guzmania hybrids beautifully grown
Now focusing available time and resources on year round production rose growing, an opportunity exists for new interest to take over the reins.
Stock comprises of variety of 20 000 plants including Guzmanias, Vrieseas, Neoregelias and Alcantareas as main lines.
All infrastructure and equipment will be included.
Marc & Stephanie are prepared to provide extensive training to new owners. Favourable leasing agreement can be negotiated and will include substantial free of lease period.
Huge tax benefits because this is primary production and the business will have very high depreciation.
At Islands in the Stream, compost worms feed microbes that new gardens need for plant growth. Vermiculturist Lee Fieldhouse has confirmed a deep suspicion I’ve always had, that my gardens were missing somethingduring their early establishment. Some plant families like Rutacea (citrus, murraya) and Acanthacea (mackaya bella, ruellia) seemed especially affected showing persistent chlorosis well into the second year.
Cow paunch, you know you’re standing in it
Turns out the humble earth worm has a lot more to do with this than I ever knew. It appears their castings and spit are colonised by very specific microbes that contain chemical signatures unlocking nutrient gates to plant root systems. So no worms, no castings/spit, equals no or low microbes, means limited or no nutrient availability to plants.
Designers necessarily import rather large quantities of “soil-less” component parts (sand, spent mushroom compost, ash, recycled sewerage waste and composted wood chip in one form or another) comprising imported mixes that pass for “dead” top soil, devoid of beneficial soil bacterium and fungus.
This means nutrient is locked up from plants in new gardens, while we wonder why they sometimes fail to thrive despite slow release, organic nitrogen like manures and other goodies used at planting time.
Having used Lee’s odourless, fairly light weight worm processed, microbe enriched paunch with all new planting here at the “Sea-Changer”, I can attest the new garden has been far more robust and pest resistant than usual. The sterile mix I brought in to correct levels and plant in over underlying estuarine silt, is now bulging with worms where there were none and has lost the nasty anaerobic “stink” it had .. Used in another new garden at MacMasters Beach for Tania Wilson to equal effect, I’m now sold, BIGTIME.
Lee grinning into microbe enriched worm processed finished product
Aside from bagged product, Lee also has a liquid form available soon, that I used at planting to bring root systems into instant contact with nutrient and as a foliar drench without a single loss to “plant shock” during heat wave conditions. This combination resulted in far less time for plants to “bite” into top soil at planting.
Vriesea continues to evolve into larger plants that pull focus in garden designs like few alcantarea can in the shade.
Bob & Gleness Lanarch together with their son Jamie at Bromeliads Australia on the Central Coast, have made great strides in hybridising V. fosteriana patturns with the larger V. seideliana species. “Snake skins” of rich ruby claret colours have brought plants the size of most Alcantarea imperialis without a tendency to “shade stretch” out of shape and loose condition.
Snake Skin Vriesea
Bob says the sun hardiness of his beautiful hybrids would withstand all but the harsh west sans scorch, so its wrong to tar them the “shade only brush”. Best time to introduce these excellent hero plants into your north facing design would be now until end October.
Bob & Gleness and Jamie Lanarch, Bromeliads Australia 4359 3356 & 0416 188 812 sales@bromeliads-australia.com.au
Kevin Kilsby for years been associated with beautiful ceramics in New Zealand, as homewares and for use as art in the garden.
A visit there last month with Garden Photographer Gil Hanly, revealed a lot more than Kevin’s home studio and showroom. Adjacent garden space has evolved into a jewel box cornucopia of horticultural delights, blended with his own glossy ceramic treasures FOR YOUR GARDEN OR OTHERS. Catching the eye on entry is a patio wall encrusted with mini neo’s and orchids and a nearby ceramic leaf wreath.
Leaf Wreath
One of the New Zealand Toetoe Beach Grass (Cortaderia spp.) has also been ingeniously formed in ceramic … as bright dragon flies flit
