Yes, You've Seen it Before, But....

I only get to post this photo once a year!

Happy Tilloween!

This is a great way to foster public appreciation of Tillandsia xerographica. Let's all wear our Tillies with pride tonight! ;-)

It's a Bromeliad Festival!

Last weekend, I spent the morning at our local university's Botanical Festival. I'm happy to report that bromeliads (including Tillies!), smelly plants, succulents, and gorgeous tropical flowers were abundant and reasonably priced. I was admirably restrained; I bought a patchouli plant, some rue, three Tillies, and a tree frog (that hitched a ride on the patchouli- I set him free when I discovered him).  I had fun taking pictures of the gorgeous blooming bromeliads. Here's a Guzmania:

And here's a gorgeous "Mystery Bromeliad". No one knew what this was; the nursery manager actually just called it "The Microphone Plant". I'm thinking it could be a Pseudoananas?? At any rate, it sold very quickly, and I wonder if the new owner knows these plants only bloom once?

The Tillandsia xerographicas went very fast. I already have one, but I did find a T. seleriana! (The weird plant they used in the movie "Avatar".) I'll post separately on that one, it's a lovely find.

T. xerographica, lower center, T. seleriana, lower right.

It was hard not to return home with a carful of new plants, and I'm patting myself on the back for my restraint!

Happy Till-O-Ween!

With a big shout-out to Gardener Gail, who proposed the Tillandsia xerographica as a fashion accessory. I hope she'll soon be wearing one, also! I suspect she will look far more glamorous and beautiful than I do with a Tilly on her head, but I just couldn't resist....

Tilly of the Month: Tillandsia xerographica

The King of Tillies! Woohaha! I have been looking for a good specimen of this species for more than a year, and I finally found one this week at our locally owned nursery, and at a good price, too.




Tillandsia xerographica, with inflorescence.

 Tillandsia xerographica is a showy beast, true. The name means "dry writing"--how on earth do they come up with these names? I can only imagine the poor, thirst-mad botanist who discovered this was not in his right mind when he named it. Or he had abominably curlicued handwriting and saw a resemblance.

Among gardeners, it's known as the "King of Tillandsias", and this seems appropriate. They grow slowly, but majestically, to about a third to a half-meter in diameter, and occasionally, up to a meter. The inflorescence, as you can see, is quite remarkable. Tilly xerographica is native to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The leaves are silvery-white with pinkish highlights. And of course, the leaves are delightfully curly!

One reason it's hard to find good specimens in nurseries is that T. xerographica needs some special watering. In nature, they are often found at a diagonal. In nurseries, they are upright. Why is this a problem? Because if water stays trapped at the top of the plant (meristem) and does not drain out, the plant drowns and rots rather quickly. So if you are a proud owner of a T. xerographica, all you need to do is tip the plant upside down to drain the water after you soak it.  A once-a-week soak of about 15 minutes to an hour, and occasional mistings, should do fine. The water should be about 5.5-6pH, and have some bromeliad fertilizer in it about twice a month during the growing season, at about half strength.

T. xerographica needs a fair bit of light, also. These tillies grow on only the highest branches in their native environment. It should be near a sunny window, but not in direct sunlight.  It blooms once, then pups, like all Tillandsias. But the inflorescence and flowers can last for months!

Speaking of showy inflorescence, my T. concolor, now an outdoor Tilly, is looking pretty bloomy.

I can't wait to see the flowers on this one!