Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Cyber Eye: The Bromeliad Rescue Society

gary said...

great job bucko!

it all looks good and no biggie about the donkey tail...you can either leave it as is or there's plan B...

Plan B: instead of trying to work the hina hina in to plug the hole, try laying some really long strands on top of the whole thing and drape it over the donkey tail...see how the hina hina's hanging down/growing over the other side of the basket? not too thick...you want the donkey tail underneath to still get the light.

Hey buddy! For now ... I think I better leave these guys alone. They might not survive a Plan B from me.

the lauwa'i around the pond looks great. if they escape onto the ground, that's fine. at least it doesn't look like an above ground pool in san bernardino anymore...lol.

And you know, I had to look up San Bernardino on Wikipedia to understand the connotations here.

the wreaths as they are? sorry, there is no way to work those into a tropical garden.

you know what we do? gently take all of the bromeliads off of the wreaths and put them to the side in groups...all the similar

ones together. take a picture of them for me.

Check. and ... those poor bromeliads. G, they did not look good. Only the ones that looked like mini-silverswords had any root structure at all. Most were dry and brittle and bravely hanging on. I even found a few carcasses mingled among the survivors.

I don't know if this is because they weren't watered [although the hina looked healthy and it came from the same yard] or because the twigs don't provide a healthy growing environment.

we'll try this: make one cut on each wreath, then see if you can twist the wreaths into two much smaller ones...sort of like twisting a two stranded circular braid...try to get em each about 12" to 15" across...i think if you got some wire or something you could tie the ends together somehow...tie em in the back so you won't see the wire.

The twigs are tough but not very pliant. I think I'd have to soak it awhile, or completely reweave them, to get one down to 12".

if you do that, we could probably fill each wreath full with the bromeliads that look sparce on them now and then i think they'd both fit onto the storage closet gate next to the orchid ladder, one over the other.

once you get em smaller, take a picture with them hanging on the storage gate so i can see if the scale is right, k?

then we'll tackle how to arrange the bromeliads on the wreaths. i guess you're gonna get your year round christmas decorations after all!

g

I haven't tried to reweave the wreaths yet, 'cause I'm not sure this is a nice thing to do to helpless little bromie-keiki. I'll reweave the wreaths if you still think there's a use, but I'm thinking the bromeliads will either need help surviving on the wreath, or a new home.

I've had this piece of driftwood out in the yard for awhile [let's see if they have these in San Bernardino] .. think it'll work as a home for the orphans?

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