I brought some Spanish Moss home last year from Gainesville, FL and while it was fine during summer, it died in our winter here in Richmond.

Spanish Moss won't survive a winter in Northern VA. Spanish moss needs constant high humidity and generally temperatures that don't regularly dip below 20. It is found in far Southeast Virginia because they are the only part of the state that have the natural swampy humid area with temperatures that are just warm enough. If you visit the Wildlife refuges in Virginia Beach along the ocean you will find that Spanish moss thrives there, and even though D.C. area is humid in two seasons, throughout the winter it will not survive.

On the flip side of the coin Spanish moss here in far South Florida must be in a very shady and sheltered space that has many pockets for water or the dry season, winter, sun will bake them to death.

Aaron

spanish moss is terrible i think. i purchased a flat of it last year and it was a giant waste of $us. i planted it all in a spot and it looked terrible, it turned brown looking and parts died while other parts tried to hang on to life. i have heard a lot of people say spanish moss is terrible. i will not try to grow it again unless i find out something dramatic about how i planted it in the wrong soil or something.

Wild Garden,

The Spanish moss that the others on this site are posting about is named Tillandsia usenoides. This plant is a plant that lives on trees and absorbs moisture from the air and nutrients from rotting tree bark. It does not grow in soil, and many people say it is terible because it can be infested with bugs and can cause tree limbs to break off.

Aaron

oh ok that is not what i thought they were talking about you are right lol. thank you!

epiphyte (sp?),grows on trees,if you MUST have it consider hanging a wicker basket on the watt in the bathroom and overwiter it there,good luck.

Hey,
I live in Middle Tennessee. The summers are always humid with lots of rain but with an occasional dry spell. So, I was wondering when I should plant it if I took a trip farther down to one of our neighboring southern states.

Most of the Spanish moss-covered trees in Florida are dead or dying. And don't ask me to believe they were dead before the moss got to them. Do you really want this invasive nuisance in Virginia? We've already got imported Kudzu here, and imported fire ants are making their way up from the South. There are so many good native plants here--why mess with the balance?

If you are in VA and more than 20 miles from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, you can forget about Spanish Moss surviving your winters. I remember many a winter day in Va. Beach, listening with envy to the radio broadcasting that Williamsburg schools were closed due to snow, ice, etc. Williamsburg is considered southeastern VA, but the farthest north that I know of Spanish moss surviving year-round is Newport News (the farthest north that it is truly native is Va. Beach-zone 8).

All of the Spanish moss around here is in swampy or marshy areas minimally affected by development, ie federal, state or municipal parks or wildlife refuges. It is illegal to remove plants from these sites. I suspect that any nursery-propagated Spanish moss would be from SC or GA (assuming that anyone actually sells it alive).

I collected sone tillandsia from a roadside in VA Beach last summer. I put it in a magnolia in my backyard in Montgomery Co. MD. It didn't even survive the summer. Dry air seemed to kill it slowly.

Jeff W

Spanish moss will kill trees, which while it is beautiful, you sure don't want it killing your oak trees. I lived in FL from 85 to 01 and I don't know how many people down there struggled with getting the stuff out of their trees trying to save the trees.

I read today the Spanish moss grows naturally along the Pocomoke River on the Eastern Shore of MD. When y'all talk about your summers being humid, you're not considering that the drier days have relative humidities below 20%. Near the coast, the RH doesn't drop that low, so the Spanish moss doesn't get exposed to the super dryness that No VA does. If you really want the Spanish moss to survive, try planting it over something that collects rainwater or near a pond. Spanish moss also grows a bit further from the coast in NC. I was tempted to pick some up a few days ago, but I might try to see how far inland it grows before I do.

Sorry,

Forget about that tour book's claim that Spanich moss grows in Maryland. I checked it out, and it seems the author doesn't know the difference between Spanish moss and spaghnum moss.

Jeff

for get about any spanish moss north of the fall line. The northest I have seen extends from a line from Beaumont, TX to Monroe, La to Jackson, MS to Montgomery, AL to Macon, GA even a little north to Augusta, GA a zone 7b to about where Columbia, SC. Check your elevation and your amount of freezing days. Plant in a coastal Plain where you have atleast a zone 7b prefarrably a zone 8.

I read some more about Spanish moss. A historical article in Maryland mentioned that the colonists of the Eastern Shore of MD used Spanish moss in their homes, but currently it is no longer found there. Another article listed it as growing in Northampton Co. Virginia, on the Eastern Shore. Northampton Co. has never gotten down below 0 in recorded history, if you discount a reading from a remote meter that was malfunctioning on other readings at the time. VA Beach has gotten down to -3 F, and had lower rel. humidity than Northampton Co..

Another note is that some of the Spanish moss from Pungo (VA Beach) that I collected last year is still alive, even after a miserable winter this year. It was left in the worst sited part of my yard, until around February. It may have been saved during dry periods by sitting on soil from a plant pot. The whole point of this long message is that this winter resembled a semi-typical zone 6b, yet the Spansh moss survived in its surroundings.

Wrong! your forgetting Jan. 21, 1985 VA beach recorded -11. Check it out at the weather channels website. One chilly day huh!

I've seen record temp reports on the weatherchannel site, but I don't trust them as much as the national weather service. The national weather service lists -3 F as the record. The disparity may be due to where the recording was made, but most nearby recordings were -3 on that day, unless you get further inland. The washington post has better weather records, but sometimes you need to click back and forth to access sites that read dns. They go by the official records, unlike the weatherchannel.

Forget your records. Look at your snowfall and months that are freeze free. Virginia Beach has about the same Frost free days as Greeneville, SC according to the national weather service. Greeneville is a zone7b but no spanish moss can grow there. Live Oaks are used as ornamentals, but being in south carolina you know that the residents can grow lots of Palmetto's no matter what the temp. Spanish Moss is not gonna grow anywhere north of Va Beach. SImply to cold and out of place.

Relatively humidity is the key. the Lower Eastern Shore is quite humid, moreso than VA Beach even. Greenville, SC has much lower RH than VA Beach or the Eastern Shore.

Check out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/weather/historical/historical.htm

And besides, a small amount of mine DID survive this winter outside, in an exposed pot next to a small sabal Birmingham that appears dead. The soil was not drained well enough for the palm, probably. This must have raised the rel. humidity for the tillandsia. I currently live an hour west of DC. Not subtropical here.

Well. we could lets look at Montgomery, AL, probally the same RH as Greeneville but spanish moss is abundant in Montgomery.

Look at this Spanish Moss in Maietta, GA a northen suburb of Atlanta. According to the new USDA zone map a zone 8a old one state zone 7a.

I have a weather station. I live in the Toronto area. Humidity is always high. Summer is very humid here. We also get alot of rain It's not gonna happen. But with the summers, it is kind of convincing. Normally in the winter, the daily hgh is about 34f or 1c. Summer is about 85f or 29c and lows of about 69f or 20c

FYI - see map - I just found this post by accident and got curious and looked around. Of course, it could be wrong. I was thinking it grew in the cypress swamps near Calvert.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA listing for spanish moss

The record low temp for VB was indeed -3 F not -11 F. I just thought I'd clear that up. I remember that cold snap very well, because it was our first and only recorded temperature below zero F. It was a few days after my 15th birthday, and we had had temps in the fifties or sixties on my birthday (some of my friends came to the party without their winter coats).

The old record was 3 degrees ABOVE zero, and I imagine that the tourism officials had a heart attack when they realized they could no longer say that Va Beach NEVER went below zero.

Old books showed most of VA east of Richmond as zone 8, but now Norfolk and Virginia Beach are the only cities left in that zone. I wonder if the -11 degrees F mentioned above was recorded at Patrick Henry Airport (PHF) in northern Newport News (now Newport News-Williamsburg Airport), rather than Norfolk International (ORF). There are often major differences between the weather at "PHF" and "ORF" (about 30+ miles southeast from "PHF" to "ORF", and another 9 miles east to the oceanfront in Va Beach). The Norfolk airport is near the VB city line, so it does provide good info for inland areas in VB near the airport. I already mentioned the huge diff between VB and Williamsburg weather in my other posting. I've even noticed big differences in the weather from southeastern Hampton (Old Phoebus) to PHF, about 12+ miles northwest.

We used to go through Northampton Co. on US 13 from Va. Beach to visit family up north when I was a kid. I haven't been that way since 1998, but I don't recall seeing any Spanish Moss up there. On the other hand, the climate is probably humid enough. The folks at Seashore State Park (now First Landing State Park) in VB have always been emphatic that the Spanish Moss on their bald cypress trees is the farthest north that it grows (in the wild).

In South Carolina, it grows on live oaks in non-swamp areas near the coast. If you live farther inland or farther north you need a swamp for it to thrive. Most gardeners do not live in swamps, so one would have to create a "swamp garden". People have bog gardens and tall grass prairie gardens, so why not make a mini swamp (complete with skeeters and water moccassins, lol)?

I agree Phoebus regarding the difference in temps between areas on the penisula (virginia) and the southside. I commute from Williamsburg to N.N. and Hampton every day and the temp difference is remarkable. Regarding Spanish moss my transplants in my back yard are doing well still growing even now so with the mild weather still going I hope to have my own seashore state park at some point. Side note many palms in the saltpond area of Hampton and even palmetto's of good size. Have you seen the large palms on the boardwalk of VA beach very impressive, let's see how they do over the winter!

You all are making me homesick for Va Beach. Now I dwell in traffic choked Atlanta. The big freeze I remember in Va Beach was in 1977, when it went down to about 5 or so degrees. When did they change the name of one of my favorite places in the world to "First Landing" State Park?

When I was a little boy I brought back a pice of spanish moss about 3 feet long from the costal area and put it in a tree in my yard in Winston-Salem, N.C..
It stayed a live for a few years but I could not tell if it grew any. Ater a few years it was gone. Maybe the birds got it a little at a time are maybe somebody got it. That was about 40 years ago. I thinking about trying to grown some in a biger way in a country area near where I grow up by filling up one big tree that is in a part time samp area and having a big misting system. Anybody know where I can buy spanish moss my pick-up truck loads? Has anybody try this?

Does anyone know if spanish moss grows in the Great Dismal Swamp? In that area, the farthest inland that I know spanish moss growing naturally, is Merchants Millpond State Park in Gates County, NC. Gates County is west of the Dismal Swamp and borders VA. I would think it would grow in the Dismal Swamp if it grows further inland, yet i can't find any information that it does.

I know that the subject on spanish moss is old news! virginia is too far north to consider it its more of a pest than a beauty anyways while kudzu all over the place here in tennessee looks pretty nice its costly in tree damage covers everything within spring and summer and doesnt take much time its more of a pest was introduced throughout the south a long time ago to prevent soil erosion and it backfired it basically covers everything in the forest it is like having mounds of fire ants in your back yard you cant enjoy anything till there gone!! But I think that are govt is up to introducing pests not the people govt knows more than we do I wouldnt be surprised

Hi,
i have something that i think is spanish moss starting in four of my trees in central Al...sylacauga to be exact. I have NEVER seen this any closer than Montgomery to me. Does this mean global warming is doing it? Its green clusters of wirey sorts, and seems to be attached in one spot. The bark of the crepe myrtel is getting scaley in places as well. Im sorry if the spellings are not exact but i think you can tell what i am saying. Do we need to be concerned that its making its way north. Or is this something else i have never seen this way.

thanks!

breezy, Spanish moss does not kill trees.

Harper

Here is a link that might be useful: Spanish moss

I remember thinking kudzu was pretty because it flowers sometimes in the spring or summer. While it is an invasive pest, it can be kind of pretty.

I live in Northern Middle TN. We have some Spanish Moss that my father brought back from Southern Georgia last year. I left a little of it outside this winter to see if it would survive. It did!! Even though we had a mild winter, we still saw temperatures in the low teens, and in one instance we went to nine degrees here at the house. We also live near Old Hickory Lake. I believe the lake helped with the moisture issue. From what I saw our Spanish Moss did very well on the eastern side of our trees. It remains to be seen how well it will grow this spring and summer, but whenever it rains the Spanish Moss is as green as can be. I'll update periodically, and answer question pertaining to how I care for my moss.

My dad says that in a swamp on his familiys property there was spanish moss growing from the trees. He lived in Trappe, which is only twenty miles south of me. So I guess in Easton, MD there could be spanish moss growing

I would love to know where spanish moss is growing in newport news

I have had Spanish moss in Northern Virginia for 4 years and most of it makes it through the winter. The big problem is the birds in the Spring, they use it for nesting and I have to add more each year.

the virginian: What part of northern Virginia are you from? I know Spanish moss does well all along the Virginia coast line because of the relatively mild climate there. We are forcast to have the coldest weather in 5 years here. The forcasters are sayin we could reach 0 degrees here so i think I am gonna leave a little bit of my spanish moss outside to see how it does.

I grew up in southside Virginia but I have lived in Mobile Co., Al. since 1976. I came here for work and never left. I have always been interested in southern plants in Virginia since it is a natural crossroads of northern and southern plants, reaching their range limits in the state. Southside and tidewater Virginia have alot of southern plants at their northern limit. Spanish moss has always captivated me,especially since it is so elusive in the state outside of Virginia Beach. The 'Digital Atlas of Virginia Flora' list the following places has having natural populations of Spanish Moss: Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Isle of Wight Co., Southampton Co., York Co., and Northampton Co. I don't know if this is documented or just hearsay. Outside of Va. Beach or the Lake Drummond area of the Great Dismal Swamp does any one know where I could see natural populations of this plant growing in any of these other locations. I come back to Virginia every summer to visit family and would like to look for this plant while I am there. I have seen what I think are transplanted by homeowner growths of moss in three other places. One spot east of Windsor on Rt. 460 but I think it is now gone, another planting of moss growing in a yard on the Chesapeake Bay on Gwynn's Island (but that was nearly 40 years ago and I doubt it is still there), and recently quite a bit behind a residence just south of the Blackwater River in Zuni. If it caught on and started to populate the cypress trees on the river as it goes under Rt.460 it would look fabulous.
If any one has any info as to where I can go to see this plant and maybe some simple directions I would appreciate it. I've always heard that "hobbies are hell".

Spanish moss is a epiphyte not a parasite, it is a bromeliad native to the southeastern portion of North American into Central America. It does not kill trees nor does it receive any nourishment from the tree, including rotting bark.
For you people who have the power of the internet at your fingers and are foolish enough not to research what you say with the whole wide world web at your finger tips, well you won't step into my garden to give me any advice! You don't even have to leave your bathrobe to go to the library to do a simple elementary search to learn something you just want to keep on posting stupid wise tales and remain uneducated on topics you boldly discuss with such authority, lazy as can be.
Because one has a opinion does not make that opinion correct in view of proven fact.
It grows on certain trees that offer a symbiotic relationship. This means both living things offer the other a benefit.
Some oaks, like the southern live oak or the Bald Cypress produce gases that offer nourishment into the air that benefits the bromeliad (Spanish moss). As well the branching is more sparse allowing airflow and light to get through the moss.
Spanish moss prefers trees with open, spreading canopies and not dense thick forest. Using this example you will not find Spanish moss on trees with thick canopy where light is retarded and airflow is restricted but on trees in decline where more light is getting in the moss will survive.
The preferred trees of Spanish moss often support other type of native southeastern epiphytes such as orchids and ferns, like the resurrection fern.
A example of a parasite to a broadleaf tree would be mistletoe.
Spanish Moss can harbor chiggers and other bugs. It is excellent for wildlife cover, nesting material, & foraging due to hiding insects/small animals.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spanish moss

Sometimes I like searching on topics and seeing what old threads come up from GW. I found this one when doing a search for "Live Oaks in Virginia Beach".

This thread is now 7 years old, and honestly it really astounds me at the amount of misinformation that that is contained in this thread. The final poster, directly above me has it pretty much as right as right can be.

Spanish Moss is a NATIVE, NON invasive plant in Virginia, and, does NOT kill trees. I know a few on here might beg to differ, but as the previous poster points out, a little bit of research goes a long way.

Also, having visited First Landing State Park just last week, I can assure you that the native Spanish Moss in that park, is every bit as "bodacious" as that found anywhere else in the south. It is not as wide spread all over the area no, but in the areas where it does grow, there is ALOT of it, and it is thick / dense, and very healthy forming long "beards" sometimes 10+ feet long.

I also did see it in several places outside of the immediate coastal areas in Va Beach, including Norfolk/ Portsmouth, and in Isle of Weight co near water, and along the James river. Not as much of it as along the ocean / southern Chesapeake, but it is there.

Being from Northern VA, and having attempted Spanish Moss outdoors a few times here I can say that I only successfully got it to survive for 2-3 winters, and that is along the immediate tidal Potomac River. I can not speak to the success of it in other areas here in the northern part of the state, nor Maryland, however I have traveled extensively in the lower eastern shore of MD, and into many swampy areas along rivers and the Chesapeake, and have never seen it anywhere.

If you have not been to Va Beach lately, it has changed alot in many ways in the last 10-15 years, including seeing much more southern vegetation, including many palms. Sabal Palmetto trees are a common site there now, almost as common as Myrtle Beach, SC, and many of which are left unprotected now. There are also numerous mature Pindo Palms, Windmill Palms, Sago Palms (Cycas Revoluta) Oleander, many southern Yucca species... etc.

Fun thread, great read, and a few great laughs at all the misinformation found in here.

Interesting reading. In reference to whether it kills trees, I found this article called FSM Theory on the Florida Spanish Moss site informative and very funny (http://www.floridaspanishmoss.com/fsmtheory.html)

They also sell it. I purchased some moss. Very helpful and provided good service.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Spanish Moss

There are several live oaks with Spanish Moss growing in Washington DC. 15th and Constutution Ave NW. Next to the African American Museum

Spanish Moss at night and one photo of it in the rain on the day the Storm of the Ismailis hit. This is the Islamic Sultanate of Qarsherskiy, a self-proclaimed Islamic microstate on the Virginia Peninsula, way further inland and way north of Virginia Beach.

Spanish Moss in Qarsherabad as well as Kampen Pasha Province, Qarsherskiy , an area of the Virginia Peninsula on the border of 8a and 7b.

More Spanish Moss in Kampen Pasha Province, Qarsherskiy. To find this place, good “Friendly Forest Pet & Pedestrian Trail”.

Plenty of Spanish Moss in Hampton, Virginia, USA where it grows wild and is beloved by the Ethnic Qarsherskiyans, including separatist movement supportsupporters in this comment thread. I left the separatists movement since.

Hello, I'm not sure how Ethnic Qarsherskiyan separatists found this thread. I can tell you that Spanish Moss is native on the coastal plains in swampy areas in southern Delaware and eastern Maryland. The first Spanish Moss holotype was collected in Maryland near the Pocomoke River. Since then, it has been pushed back by White settlers logging the primordial forests, much to the dismay of the Qarsherskiyan Tribe who consider Spanish Moss to be sacred. It's northernmost part of it's range today extends into the woods between Newport News and Yorktown. The only reason that it is still there and has survived poachers, that take it out of trees and used it to stuff couches, and as insulation, and as mulch for potted plants, is because of the Ethnic Qarsherskiyan Tribe defending it. One time a woman with Quebec license plates tried to steal a bunch of it and load them into trash bags full of Spanish Moss in the back of her car to take it up North but a bunch of Qarsherskiyan people sliced her tires and shot fireworks until her window all shattered. She did not get police or try to take them to court because see what also be in trouble for illegal poaching and Grafton Ponds Park. She drove all the way up North and wasn't ever seen again. The Qarsherskiyans in the area illegally installed a network of hidden trail cams on Park and Newport News Waterworks property and utilized walkie talkies to guard it 24/7. I myself am a Qarsherskiyan person and my uncle tried introducing Spanish Moss to live oaks in colonial Williamsburg. I had no idea that there was some kind of Islamic separatist movement

I have no idea how these separatists got here in the comment section but I can tell you that the northern extent of the range of Spanish Moss is in between Newport News and York county Virginia in the forested area that is in between Grafton and Newport News and Harwood's Mill reservoir and Lee Hall reservoir and the only reason that that Spanish Moss is still there and survived the poachers to last to this day is because of the ethnic Qarsherskiyan tribe fiercely defends it from would-be poachers. Qarsherskiyan people consider Spanish Moss to be sacred. Spanish Moss used to grow as far north as Eastern Maryland and Southern Delaware, where the first Spanish Moss holotype was collected in the area by the upper reaches of the Pocomoke River. The European colonists logging the primordial forests is the reason for the decline of Spanish Moss that began several hundred years ago and begin pushing its range back, much to the dismay of the ethnic Qarsherskiyan Tribe. They fiercely defend the northernmost remaining patch on the Virginia peninsula. One time a woman with Quebec license plates was trying to haul trash bags full of Spanish Moss that she stole, into the back of her vehicle, and some Qarsherskiyan people came with masks, out of nowhere, and sliced all her tires and shot fireworks until all her windows shattered. She couldn't tell police because she would also get in trouble for taking plants from park property at Grafton ponds so she just drove all the way up North again and was never heard from after that. The Qarsherskiyan Tribe illegally installed trail cams hidden on Newport News Waterworks property and in Newport News Park and used walkie talkies to guard it 24/7. It's making a comeback in the Qarsherskiyan neighborhood in Colony Pines, as well as Huntington Pointe which is downwind of there.

Sorry that I accidentally typed the same comment twice I had thought that I deleted the first one on accident