Modern technology annoys me. Firstly, the electronics industries are what destroyed the idyllic culture of the Santa Clara Valley. Secondly, it complicates things. If I try to rely on it as the rest of society does, it does not function. It is a long story, so to be brief, I could not download pictures that I sent from the telephone. These six are random, but became available
1. Monstera deliciosa, Swiss cheese plant is in Brent’s garden, four hundred miles away. He wanted to get it into the Canyon News, but sent me this uselessly shabby image of it.
2. Billbergia nutans, queen’s tears was blooming well enough for ‘Six on Saturday’ three weeks ago and is blooming a bit more now. Perhaps I should have taken a better picture.
3. Olea europaea ‘Arbequina’, olive trees were gifts for participants at a conference here. This is one of several surplus that we acquired. It is a little but exemplary rooted cutting.
4. Viola tricolor, Johnny jump up demonstrates that some plants that enjoy more wintry weather than they typically experience here perform well after the atypically wild winter.
5. Tulipa X gesneriana, tulip is not reliably perennial here. I therefore would not bother to grow it. This one came with my iris from the old garden, and got planted only because I could not bear to discard it while it was still alive. It somehow survived and bloomed! As if that were not impressive enough, It bloomed again this year! I will take better care of it now, and I hope that it establishes. I have no idea what it is, or where it came from.
6. Crazy weather finally relinquished spring to more appropriate weather this last week. This was the last hail. I can not remember so much incessant rain within a single season.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Tony Tomeo 
The Billbergia is really pretty and such an intricate flower too. And I love that golden tulip! I am looking forward to tulip season as my first early ones are starting to flower now. 😃
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Billbergia nutans bloom is striking, but the foliage is shabby. I used to plant it in tree stumps to accelerate decay, but found that the foliage was less appealing than the stumps. I find it to be prettiest as potted small clumps that can be groomed. If it gets too big to groom, it can just be split into smaller clumps.
Tulips perform better where they can bloom later, after a long and cool winter. That is why I do not grow them. However, I hope to grow this one, even if it does not multiply much. I am impressed by its tolerance to minimal chill.
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For someone who was struggling to get photos, you certainly came up with some beauties. What a fabulous monstera!
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Thank you. They were all just . . . available at the time. The allure of the monstera escapes me, and even if it did not, I still need a better picture of it.
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Lovely. Your Billbergia flower is amazing!
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Thank you. Billbergia nutans bloom is striking, but the foliage is shabby. I suspect that is why it is not more popular than it is.
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Times certainly are strange. Thanks for including The Queen’s Tears again.
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You are welcome. There were not many pictures to choose from.
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Those bilbergia are impressive – all those colours!
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Billbergia nutans seems to be the most popular of my Six this week. It seems more impressive than it is because it is a closeup.
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I like the Monstera.. Tulips are weird, I wonder if that is a variety of Cottage Tulip, the only kind that returned in the South?
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Brent regularly brags about that Monstera. I am not impressed, particularly by this shabby picture. It is rare. I can see why. I have no idea what the tulip is. That is the long story. It is not a color that would have been selected for the garden from which it came. I suspect that it was a gift, either from Filoli, or from a garden club that I wrote an article about, or something such as that.
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Have you seen the prices on some of the variegated tropicals out of Malaysia? Yikes
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That is why Brent brangs about this Monstera, as if the expense makes it desirable.
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Well I get the appeal..but not that much.
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I find banana trees to be more appealing.
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I think there’s a variegated!
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Well, . . . yes, but . . . oh, nevermind.
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What an interesting plant (great colors), tht billbergia nutans. I doubt it would be comfortable in my prealpine climate, but it’s always great to discover new things on SoS.
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It is typically grown in pots. It is epiphytic, so does no better in the ground. Also, it needs frequent grooming, which is easier within pots. Potted specimens are easy to protect from frost through winter, although they need a bit of cool weather in autumn or early winter to bloom.
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