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| PERSONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY REPRODUCTIONS--TWENTYTWO |
27. Krulik, Gerald, "The Traveling Bromoholic", PUP TALK (Saddleback Valley Bromeliad Society), 12 (7), p. 3, July 2005. Just before my digital camera days, about the year 2000, I was in Bangkok. I saw in the newspaper a notice of the Bangkok Bromeliad Society, where they were having an exhibition at the Shangri-La Hotel. I thought it was worth the trip. There was no-one there that I could talk to, in this tent set up in the front parking area of the hotel. The plants though, were spectacular and extremely well grown. I took only two photos--this was the pre-digital age--but the plants show up well. 28. Krulik, Gerald, "Broms in Thailand", PUP TALK (Saddleback Valley Bromeliad Society), 12(8), p. 4, August 2005. There are three seasons in Thailand. About October to January is hot and dry. About February to May is hot and wet and humid. About June to October is hot and very wet and very humid. This is why a favorite decoration, even in the cities, is an old woman’s stocking wrapped about a tree, holding a handful of bark and an orchid, most often a Dendrobium or Vanda. You would think that they would be using Tillandsias and Neoregelias and Vriesias the same way, but I have never seen them in trees. Even in the markets, the Tillandsias I have seen seem to have been ones like T. ionantha which love the humidity and grow in big clusters. I have not seen a significant number of the white tomentose coating Tillandsias, the ones that grow in dry areas. I suspect that since the humidity rarely seems to get below 50% in Bangkok, and often is over 90%, that they don’t thrive. I have been observing quite a number of large terrestrial plantings of bromeliads around the hotels and some public buildings. These are mostly medium sized Vriesias and Tillandsias, a few Bromelias and such. They cluster nicely and have great color. I wonder why they are not used more, but maybe because they have so many other beautiful tropical plants to choose from. I have seen massive beds of deep purple-leaved, purple flowering Tradescantia, and huge clusters of the Tillandsia look-alike Tradescantia dracenoides, plus of course so many different Heliconias and Gingers and lots of other unusual colored foliage and flower plants. I especially like the ornamental trees they use, which have flowers popping right out of the bare trunk, called caulifery. Cacao does this too, but the tree near my hotel seems to flower every month of the year. It has thumb sized red/pink flowers that appear to last one night and part of the day, covered with big bee visitors. Then they fall off and the next night new flowers appear from the same node. Some of the nurseries at the weekend market show nice Vriesia hybrids, just like from Kent’s nursery. 29. Krulik, Gerald, " Broms in Mindanao", PUP TALK (Saddleback Valley Bromeliad Society), 12(9)p. 6, September 2005. The last article, Broms in Thailand, eventually reminded me of others. In 2002 Terry and I were in Manila to visit her sons, and i decided to take a quick trip to visit her home town, 600+ miles away on the biggest island, Mindanao. We flew down and found a very rural laid back area. I had good tours of Terry's home city and the surrounding area. I found lots of bromeliads in the private gardens, and was allowed to freely take photos. Most of what i saw were Tillandsias--not the desert white colored kind, but the foliose water-loving kinds, Vriesias, Aechmeas, and Cryptanthus. All were nicely potted and taken care of and were in great color. Most plants were covered with some kind of overhead protection against the near-equatorial sun. I did not see any modern Vriesia hybrids, like sold by Kent Nurseries, so maybe there is a market niche here? I have attached a few of the better photos, to show some of the collections. One or two of these were taken in the yard of Leyte, Terry's sister. I guess a love of plants can be genetic, right? And also caught as a plant virus? |
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