Planting DesignDiscover the right plants for your garden.
Tillandsiasmay absolve you from the constraints of deal and soil , but that leaves the question of how to expose them . With suggestions from breederPaul Isley , who has grown air works for more than 30 years , we extend three alternative :
1 . Mounting : Use floral conducting wire to fix the plant onto a branch , fence slat , or division of tree barque . Hold the base of the tillandsia against the object and assure it there by weaving the wire through the plant leafage and around the base several times .
2 . hang : Take wire that ’s pliant but sturdy and custom design your own plantation owner . Make a loose basket or whorled shape to hold the plant life , and at the other end of the wire , create a hook shot for hanging it .
3 . Velcro : With a blistering - mucilage gun that has cooled briefly , attach one half of a Velcro dose to the industrial plant ’s Qaeda and the other half to the rampart . This makes it easy to dispatch the plant for lacrimation .
Tillandsias — an epiphytic genus normally known as zephyr plants — are no ordinary flora . bulb-shaped , feathery , or spiky — the poet Hart Crane called one an “ inverted octopus with heavenward arms”—they make their home above ground , suspended in the air among trees , cacti , and rough outcrops . Found throughout the Americas , tillandsias comprise the largest genus of thebromeliadfamily , with more than 450 recognized species , admit the ethereal Spanish moss(Tillandsia usneoides ) , which drape from the branches of springy oak in the Southern United States . Theyput down no rootsin the filth andreceive nutrients and moisture through their leaves . The plants range in size of it from three centimeters to five meters , and have leaves of silver , fleeceable , and even hoary red . They make spectacular inflorescences in shades of imperial , red , pinkish , light-green , and yellow . Many are fragrant , such asT. crocata , a lowly , clumping mintage with a coast banksia - comparable scent , andT. duratii , which flaunts exceptionally fragrant and long - lasting purple blossom . Once it blossom , a tillandsia start produce branch telephone pups that become new works in one to two years .
While tillandsia bet over-the-top , their charge is anything but . Paul Isley III finds them highly adaptable : “ They are low maintenance , ” he say , “ andthrive under a broader range of conditionsthan almost any other type of plant . ” They can tolerate temperature extreme and will live a long time without any tending at all but are happiest in fix of70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheitwith good air circulation andbright indirect light . go the plants under the spigot a few times a week ( if you have hard water system , use filtered ) . Let the leaves be your templet . If they ’re draw in more than usual , the industrial plant need water : submerge them in a roll of water overnight . Isley also propose using epiphyte fertilizers since other types are designed to eject their atomic number 7 nutrient only after interacting with soil .
Tillandsias brandish both indoors and out , and landscape painting architect Joseph Marek is so smitten with the genus that he has placed it throughout his Santa Monica , California , garden . “ I guess of them as garden ornament , ” he says . “ I put them on mesa in place of cut flowers or potted plants . They ’re almost like jewelry . ” Despite having head for the hills out of earth quad , Marek actualise he did n’t have to stop total new plants : he could just go up . He mimics the plants ’ natural surround bytucking them into the crooks of tree , mounting them on walls , and hang them by wires , creating striking keep Mobile . Since they ’re not planted in the primer , air plants offer design flexibility and can be moved around . “ They ’re the originalvertical garden , ” Marek says . Onward and upwards !
Photo by : José Picayo .
T. fuchsiiis an exquisite and svelte species that looks fragile but is quite hardy . The silvery leaves of the plant arc outwards from the base .
T.‘Eric Knobloch’grows to only eight inches , and its leaves turn a frosty rose just before the plant flower .
T. mallemontiiis a miniature species with fragrant blue bloom and a clumping wont . It prefer the open .
T. tenuifolia‘Silver Comb’has leaves that grow along a stem that can reach two feet before the plant starts to shape a thump . This cultivar tends to dry out out quickly .
T.‘Curly Slim’can grow to more than two feet . It has a wonderful form , with panoptic leaf that resemble banana peels . Offsets will occasionally branch off from the independent plant .
T.‘Showtime’is prized for its chummy stem and symmetrical clumps .
T. xerographicais the Martin Luther King of all air plant with its silver gray leaves . It grows slowly but eventually will contact 18 inches in height and 15 inches in diameter .
T. tenuifolia ‘ racy Flower’has beautiful pink bract behave very blue flowers with pine needle - like foliation . The plant make minuscule clusters of five to eight inches in diameter .
T. neglectahas thick , succulent leave and is known for bring on many offsets from its principal stem .
T. intermediais unusual in that it produces pups at both ends of the plant . T. crocatais easy to grow and produces tiny yellow flowers with the most delightful fragrance of any Tillandsia .
you may purchase Tillandsia ( $ 1 to $ 35 per plant ; $ 150 minimal domestic order ) fromTillandsia International(559 - 683 - 7097 ) . We also confer expert at Rainforest Flora ( 1921 Hawthorne Boulevard , Torrance , California ; 310 - 370 - 8044 ) andJoseph Marek Landscape Architecture . You may also want to read Paul Isley’sTillandsia II($72 ) andGenus Tillandsia($5 ) fromExotic Plant Books .
ABOUT PAUL ISLEY IIIPaul Isley III is a man in honey with a works . In Brazil , he risk his life for tillandsia , he has trek across Argentina , Mexico , Costa Rica , Guatemala , and Ecuador to collect it , and has expend decennary in the United States propagate it from seed . The co - owner ofRainforest Floranow possesses millions of them , wander from seedling the size of pencil eraser to full - grown plants . When asked what fuels this passion , Isley answer , “ They are like nothing else . ”
Melissa Ozawa is a author in New York City who also works for the Garden Conservancy .
