Tillandsia Display for Fun and Creativity

Tillies don't need dirt, and that makes them soooo versatile when it comes to indoor display. As long as they have good air circulation and decent light, they're good. You need to be able to water them properly (mistings and soaks), so I don't recommend gluing them or pinning them to objects that cannot also be misted or soaked. My favorite way to display Tillandsias is on a CD rack. Now that CDs are virtually obsolete (very sad) you can find used CD racks of all kinds, cheap as chips.

The Tillies rest on handmade ceramic trays. I make my own, but they are easy to find. Not many people smoke anymore, so you can collect ashtrays (again, cheap as chips) and repurpose them for Tillie display. Here are some of my handmades:

Bowls can also work as long as they are fairly shallow. Tillandsia bases need to get good air circulation to avoid rot.
At any rate, it's impossible not to have creative fun displaying your Tillandsia collection, so get going! Who's got some other creative ideas?

Weekend Projects: Garden Sculptures, Tilly Pots, and a Monster!

Anyone who reads this blog knows I am seriously into making anything and everything for my garden out of clay. I used to make things out of our local creek clay when I was a kid, and I still think messing around with mud is a lot of fun. I've made dozens of pots for Tillandsias, cacti, and mesembs, but I've been enjoying some sculpting, too. I'm no Rodin, and I wouldn't even make the cut as a house-mouse in Rodin's workshop. But I am very enthusiastic.  Here are two Tilly pots from the first batch of sculpture-pots:

"Abuela"- Tillandsia Sculpture 2013 MR

I made this one for a particularly delicate Tillandsia argentea fineleaf. It gets crumpled by any neighbors, and to look good, needs to be displayed on its own.

"Il Vecchio"- Tillandsia Sculpture 2013 MR

Here, a Tillandsia filifolia makes a funky hat for an old dude!

Then there are some sculptures to just put near the plants. They look like they could be plant spirits, or garden sprites, so they fit in.

"Plant Sprites" - MR 2012 and 2013

This one looks a little like a bird:

Finally, you don't need clay and a kiln to make garden sculptures. Papier mache' works very well, particularly if you coat it with waterproof acrylic glaze, or some such thing. Most hardware stores and artists' supplies will have a number of waterproof clear coats to choose from.  This sculpture is Pudge. I wish I had given him a bowl to hold a Tilly, but that will have to wait for Pudge II. Pudge I has no arms...maybe he will grow them.

"Pudge" by MR 2012, papier mache'

Have a fun and creative weekend, and enjoy your gardens!

Tillandsia Care Part One- No Dirt, Please!

I had a lot of fun this weekend at our local nursery. The garden staff really know their stuff, and take good care of a huge array of tropical, subtropical, and desert plants. They have a large section devoted to Tillandsias, and customers are starting to cotton to them. But most of us have no idea what to do with an air plant. I didn't either until a couple of years ago.

What do most people do with air plants (Tillandsias) when they get them home? Stick 'em in a pot of dirt.

Years ago, I brought a nice Tilly home, stuck it in a pot of dirt, watered it every day (because it was from the tropics) and watched it rot. Never again! This weekend I was speaking with a small group about Tillandsia care, and thought it was a good time to do a series on the basics. We all want our Tillies to grow and thrive, and it's not always obvious what to do to make that happen. There's not a lot on the Web, either.

Tillies Not In Dirt

These Tillandsias are in homemade pots, but there's no dirt involved, and I don't water them in the pots. They get watered in a bucket, then drained, then stuck back in the pots. The pots can have some orchid mix, or some rocks, in the bottom, and there should be air around the base of the plant so they don't rot. That's all you need. Here's a closeup of a Tillandsia caput medusae in its dish:

T. caput medusae

Plenty of air circulation keeps the base of the plant healthy. They have little roots, but those are only for gripping tree trunks, telephone wires, and small children (OK, not the latter). And some have no roots at all, like this T. argentea fineleaf:

T. argentea fineleaf

All water and nutrition is absorbed through the trichomes on the leaves, but more about that later. For right now, Tillandsias belong in a dish, or a glass globe, or hanging off of something. It's fun to figure out what to do with each one.

The next Tillie post will be about light, then there will be one on water and nutrition. Enjoy your Tillies!