Hi Gonzer, great pics and really interesting to see what's around. I'll have one each of the variegated Vriesea's thanks (I wish!) Cheers, Paul

Hi Gonzer,
What a treat for Easter morning.Much better than chocolate.
Those x vrieslandsias are extraordinally beautiful and tilandsias are now on my wish list.
Thanks for another visual feast.
Cheers Fran

Gonzer,

What amazing plants, I want a T.australis cross!!.

Thanks for taking the time to share.

Rick

Hope you left some goodies there for me Gonzer! I think our club is going next weekend (hmmm, better check those dates). I've been scrimping and saving up since we started talking about making the trip several months ago. We'll see what kind of haul I can come back with!

I visited there for the world conference. that guy is great. I bought a hybrid of his. T. Aristocrat. it looks like a giant ionantha. I would love to get another one.

Hi Gonzer
Needless to say love all of above!!, particularly like that T. australis x Vriesea 'purple clone'. The 3 pics you have shown of plants from the same batch of seed, are they more Till. x Vr or from a Vr cross ??, like that splatery red one in the first pic (middle bottom) and the deep maroon one in the center of the second pic, some amazing diversity. Any more pics??

The plants from the "seed batch" photos are all straight Vriesea crosses. My apologies for not writing down all the names as I should have. It's pretty crowded in his houses and elbow room is at a premium.
Bryan, here's an old photo of one of John's "Arisocrat". I was lucky enough to get a plant 3 years ago.

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I'll post these old photos for those who missed out before.

a rare Vr. appariciana
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Vrieslandsia "Cascading Flame"

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Great pics, Gonz! I like the red spotty one from the first of 3 same-grex shots too. Sure wish I knew the parents. ;-)

Looking up Arden's hybrids on FCBS, I'm thinking the "unknown" in pic #5 may be Vr. Concerto, and the cascading inflorescence in pic #8 may belong to Vr. Symphonie. Something similar, at any rate. He does some really interesting work.

Ok, so I took my first turn walking around his place with my mouth open, drooling. Wow! I can solve a couple of the mysteries...

Sorry the pics are large, but I just couldn't shrink some of them.

#1-The big dazzler: Vrieslandia 'Heavenly Wings' (V. Sunshine x Redondo Beach) x T. superinsignis
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#2
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#3
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#4-(V. hieroglyphica x flammea) x V. Midnight Splendor:
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#5
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#6
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#7
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#8-V. White Chestnut
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#9- V. Arden Amour x V. Golden Radiance (Top) and V. Sunburst x V. Tigress (Bottom)
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#10- V. Evening Shadow x V. hieroglyphica (there were two next to each other that I assumed were the same, maybe not...
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#11
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#12
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Unbelievable..."Sometimes thereÂs so much beauty in the world I feel like I canÂt take it and my heart is going to cave in." (American Beauty)

What a wonderful man to create such beauty.

I see why he is one of Kerry's favourite breeders.

Simply Stunning...

Oooh.... thanks Gonz and Andy! What a treat! Mr Arden is my hero. In which state does he live?
Is #7 V. Jungle Jade or...?

Did you go home with a full boot, Andy? Are his broms understandably expensive? Do tell!

Yep, yep Shane - call the ambulance!

Cheers,
Kerry

Hi Kerry, I think it may be Jungle Jade, but honestly I didn't look at the tag on this one specifically. I was getting dizzy by that point from running around in circles trying to see everything (asking if it was for sale...) and get pictures. It was quite an overwhelming experience. However, I did happen to find that the one Jungle Jade that was for sale made it into my hands and they look quite similar. All of his magic happens in California.

If I get home when there is enough light tonight, I'll try to get pictures of the beauties I was lucky enough to get.

Today I have a hangover from all of the excitement and am regretting that I am on my way to work instead of playing with my goodies. Everyone left trying to figure out how to squeeze everything into our cars...this is probably less than half of what we left with:
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Ok Kerry, sorry it took me so long to get my act together here...

First are some more pictures from Mr. Arden's greenhouses and I'll end with some of what I brought home.

#1c. I'm pretty sure I have the right name for this one. VL. (V. Charles x bleherii)x T. superinsignis. It appeared there were a couple of winners crossed with the T. superinsignis...
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#2c. Assuming another cross with the T. superinsignis. Unfortunately I didn't get to the tag.
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#3c.
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#4c.
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#5c. The one on the left is possibly a mix-up hybrid (likely a V. x with Alc.), middle is V. Voodoo Magic (the picture doesn't do justice to the color), and on the right is ((V. Sunshine x Redondo Beach)x hieroglyphica)x Sunburst.
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#6c. A stunner, V. Jungle Jade
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#7c. V. fosteriana x Sunspot hybrid
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#8c.
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#9c.
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I picked up some very cool stuff too and left my name on a couple more that aren't quite ready. Great pics sdandy.

Thanks Andy - you sure scored well! All your newbies look a good size too. I love those dark purple ones, especially with the glyphs coming through.
Gonz - wanna share photos of your haul, as well? And how are your previous purchases from Mr Arden developing?

Hmmm...California is looking like my ideal travel destination (in my dreams)....sigh!

Cheers,
Kerry

Hey Kerry, you are always welcome here. Easy drive to the beaches and up to John Arden's. All I ask is for you to smuggle some good stuff in and I'll do all I can to help smuggle better stuff out...ha ha. Nothing like conspiring on an open forum!

And the plants ARE spectacular. The smallest one I was lucky enough to get was a Golden Chestnut (bottom left in 8c). I broke down and got a beat up 'Purple Haze' last fall as my first test on taking care of big foliage vrieseas (very bottom right of 9c) and it seems to be improving with good growth, so I figured I could splurge and get some gems. I'm crossing my fingers that I can grow them to their potential.

So let's see them Gonz! It was interesting to see the different people in our group gravitating toward different tastes/styles of plants.

Great idea, Andy - you're on! (but don't tell anyone...)