OK great thanks!

Nice plants!

MrBlubs, it sounds like you have the right idea and will be successful at growing Tillies. I use wire (NOT copper but steel or silver-looking, or rubber coated), and occasionally some fishing line (which is strong but hard to work with). I have yet to try to attach any plants to wood as I'm not sure how I'd go about soaking such mounted plants. I also put some plants in metal (steel) baskets and hang them outside. Others I arrange under grow lights in bowls that have rocks in them for "landscaping", or wine glasses or shot glasses. Nothing very deep.

Raxidor, I love your displays!

I have nearly all my larger plants, including some Spanish Moss, outside, where it is currently (5:18pm, in Albuquerque on June 30) 97.8F (feels like 95F) and humidity is a rather high (for here) 20% (so it doesn't feel as hot, but we sweat a bit). My outside plants are in a north-facing porch (at our altitude, the skies are bright). I have a Victoria that I just noticed this afternoon is blooming, so I moved it over and hung it from my hummingbird feeder. Maybe the hummers will recognize it from home and sample a bit of the pollen. I can imagine in the Fall I might put some of the sun-loving plants (Xerographicas, some of the other gray ones) out on my SW-facing porch for a brief time before I have to bring them in for the winter, where they'll sit in a south-facing window that is covered with plastic against the cold. They seemed to like that last winter.

OK good! I don't want any more Tillandsia deaths!

That's the only reason I don't want to glue em is because of the soaking method. I can't soak the Driftwood with them on it as the Driftwood will remain wet. I guess I'll haveo to wait and see how successful I am at attaching them via wire!

I'm cautious of putting plants outside due to our weird weather here.... I would put everything out but that damn hail!

Not to hijack the thread, but were did you get your plants from? The charms of these guys has infected me, and I am envisioning them all over my house... Good thing I held off until now though, I always thought these were a buy it, mist it now and again and forget kind of deal and would certainly have killed them in the past. Also, I grew up in Upper Michigan, I feel your pain on the hail.

I buy my plants on internet, because local gardening centers have only few basic species. There is one specialised seller in my country - he imports tills directly from big distributors from Netherlands, Germany, California, Guatemala and Columbia. Sometimes he has very rare plants and only fastest customers get them :D

I bought mine from 2 stores and that's the only time I've ever seen them for sale. One store is a 6-7 hour

drive away (on way to my cabin) and ones an hour drive which sells them at ridiculously high prices. Online looks like the way to go but I'm in Canada so all the good deals and good species all go to you. There's one online seller of airplants in Canada but it's very expensive too.

MrBlubs, I appreciate your caution about putting the tillies outside; when in doubt, don't put them out, I say. Or put them out under cover (on a porch, hanging from a sturdy tree, etc.). Consider their natural habitat (a friend described that as "Cloud Forest", which generally translates to high altitude, humid, not much rain... but tillies can also be found in lowlands).

I've gotten my collection several ways. A woman who runs a greenhouse operation in Albuquerque's South Valley and sells at our local growers market brought some several years in a row and I bought from her. At first she was only selling plants in hanging glass orbs, but I didn't want that (expensive, and I prefer to buy my own containers), so I ordered from an online source (lots to choose from there) until she started selling individual plants and I was happy (her stock was nice, and buying on line had worked fine). But then as she gave up on selling them (she preferred to sell garden plants), a couple from the Jemez Mountains (north of my city) brought a mix of individual tillandsias, hanging terrariums, cut flowers and herbal lotions they make themselves, so I have bought a lot from her, she knows I'm an "expert" [well... :)]. I can hardly wait until she returns to the Market.

Also very occasionally tillies will turn up at nurseries. I have even bought some nice Spanish Moss at a pet store, where they sell some tillies for decorating lizard homes (herpariums?). Buying Tillies from such locations saves the plants from being cooped up in terrariums. Probably the widest variety of plants available is online, and there are quite a few good sellers from California to Florida and Kentucky (though not much in between). If we start naming names, I'll make suggestions.

MrBlubs, on an internet site out of Singapore (mentioned elsewhere by me in this forum), someone asked about bringing plants from out of the country (some other island in that area). The consensus was that as the plants had no soil, it was okay with the authorities. You might consider looking into that angle; ask the sellers about it. No soil, a lot less chance of bugs being imported/exported.

I thought about putting one outside in between a notch in my lilac tree but I'm hesitant to do so... Maybe if they're still alive in a year I'll attempt to put some outside for our 3 month spring/summer.

Most of the sites I visited only shipped within the US or required me to have a permit and mail it to them. Seemed strange to me as like you said there's no soil or anything. I'll try to look around more and see if I can find a willing site. I won't be buying any though for a while. Have to make sure I can take care of these guys first!

When I went to Florida back in March there were Tillandsia everywhere! After a wind storm I walked by a house and the lawn was completely covered in them and some were as big as my hand. They had all fallen off this huge tree that was still full of them. Also at Saw grass Park there were Tillandsia as big as my head! Boy it would be fun to live there. Never would have to buy any!

They probably would enjoy sitting or hanging out in the tree, as they naturally cling to trees anyhow. But you are wise to be cautious! We have a longer spring/summer/fall season than you do, but wide variations in temperature from night to day until things settle in the summer. I find myself putting out plants -- then pulling them in when I think it will get under 50F (which they can probably take but I'm the one who paid for them!).

If there is a nursery operation in your area that you visit, maybe you can get to know the management and they can arrange to order things for you as they probably already have a lot of paperwork done. You might even be able to convince them to buy a batch of common Tillies (probably ionanthas or maybe odd bulbosas or easy grow soft gray strictas), as wholesalers (who can be found on the internet) like to sell a lot at one time. You could have a plan to help the nursery sell them, individually or in nice holders (shot glasses, decorative bowls, hanging orbs, wreathes, etc., most of which can be found at flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores). Using advice found on line and from your own experience, make a care sheet that can be passed out with the plants so buyers know what they are getting. It's a project to think about.

Me, I'd love to do this! Maybe some time I'll have enough to set up a table at our big growers market (uh-oh, paperwork!), or at least I can help my friend who sells there. I've had a lot of my tillies flower this year, and so pups are on the way!

PS: the only reason I'd visit Florida is to hunt for Tillandsias :)

I wish there was! That sounds like it would be a lot of fun.

Though there's only 2 "real" nurseries here and I hate them both. Non of the staff know a clue about anything and they all are such cows. The store I bought the plants from doesn't even specialize in plants. They're some antique terrarium shop thing. The nurseries at my cabin though know what they are doing and are very nice, yet the already sell tillandsias. It would be fun to do that for them, but its too far away ad i'm barley there.

Oh well, maybe one day.

Haha! You don't even have to hunt! Just walk down a street with large trees and you'll find them on the sidewalk.

Seems like the antique terrarium shop might be willing to help you if you went in and chatted with them, showing your interest, you have an idea what you're looking for (you have done the research), and they might be interested in ordering for the shop, too. Of course, check with US-based sellers to see if they do ship "foreign" (Canada is practically a sibling to the US, hard to imagine them as "Foreign"). If they do ship foreign, they may sell to you directly and help you over the hurdles. Other thoughts I've had include: is there an Amazon Canada? Tillandsia sellers often sell via Amazon US, thus an Amazon Canada may be interesting to check out in that regard. Also eBay Canada, and whatever version of Craig's list you have. Big stores with garden centers, like Walmart or big grocery stores, may get plants from the US and might be interested in helping you out. Keep us posted on your research!

There's the one site airplants4you that I was going to order from but it says this:

We also ship internationally using USDA Phyto-Sanitary Certificates (cost approx. $76.30). YOU SHOULD CHECK

WITH YOUR NATION`S AGRICULTURAL OFFICIALS TO SEE IF AN IMPORT PERMIT OR ANY ADDITIONAL

DOCUMENTS ARE ALSO REQUIRED. With the exception of small orders to Canada, we no longer ship without

required documents (phyto and or import permit). Because of EU regulations, we do not ship to EU nations at this

time. Shipping cost varies depending on weight and shipping method. Buyers must pay any import Duty taxes or any

other taxes your nation may require.

Which complelty confuses me! Does it say I for sure need a permit or If I only have a small order I don't need anything? I emailed my agricultural officials (I think) asking but who knows if I'll ever hear from them.

The terrarium shop actually has a very good selection of Tillandsias but there really over priced! I paid 50$ for 7 of my airplants (excluding the big one and bulbosa) . And based on U.S prices and online sellers with shipping it would come to 20 something. Bagh!

This is the only online one in Canada I could findg http://www.canadianairplant.com/mobile/Category.aspx?id=1845

Those prices are expensive right? Cause for 15 dollars I could buy a Palm tree or other large plant.

EBay has OK prices but than the shipping adds 13 or 30 more dollars! http://m.ebay.ca/itm/171676155418?nav=SEARCH

That's the one I found that might be worth it.

The Canadian craigslist is Kijiji I check everyday but I've never seen any on there.

Amazon actually looks pretty good!

Shipping is reasonable but there's not many.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00GO923YW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1435945069&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=tillandsia&dpPl=1&dpID=51sKvzk9ZzL&ref=plSrch

This one looks pretty reasonable! I wonder if you woukd have to pay combined shipping if you bought more from the same seller?

Idk.

Other sites I found ship to Canada with a 100$ minimum order......

Hm. I guess Amazon and that nursery at my cabin is the way to go!

Once I set up my Driftwood peice and Such maybe I'll order that group off of amazon

Shipping is going to be expensive, and you don't want to skimp on it. I think when translated from Canadian to US dollars, what you have been quoted is about what I've found charges to be -- and I prefer to use UPS or FedEx over the U.S. Post Office due to improved chances of fast delivery. The plants are generally quite hardy, but it's a good idea not to stress them unnecessarily. Good thing they are light weights!

Just FYI, I've ordered from these two places (it's a wonder some sellers don't mistake "New Mexico" for "Mexico" the country and give me grief!)

http://plantoddities.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-custom.cgi?d=plant-oddities&page=3324

http://www.rainforestflora.com/welcome/ordering/ (has been "shipping plants worldwide for over 30 years")

At the very least, they will have good pictures on their websites. They are in Kentucky and California respectively.

I clicked on your Amazon link and the page didn't render correctly for me (maybe because I'm not in Canada? I'm also downloading something big at the moment), but I bet you could contact the seller and get more and different plants. Maybe they have many more they simply haven't advertised that way, not realizing anyone would be interested. That would be cool to research! They might even be close to you! Most tilly selling places in the US are hundreds of miles away from me (and that's if they're only in southern California).

Other ways to get tillandsias or broms: grow a pineapple (instructions available on the net and YouTube). They do require good growing conditions though. Watch in craft stores and garden centers for bags of Spanish Moss. There is no guarantee it is alive... but who knows? I haven't had much success with that though.

I guess I'm cheap then!

I will contact them once I remember what my Amazon account is... It says it ships from Georgia so not that close :P. Has great reviews though.

I have 2 pineapples actually. 1 is a plant that already has a pineapple on it (was givin as a gift) and I started the other one from the pineapple top. The one I got gifted I don't think will make it to winter but my pineapple top that just got transitioned to soil seems to be doing OK.

I will look for the Spanish moss, that stuff is so cool! Even if it's dead it still would look nice attached to Driftwood or what not.

I emailed rainforest flora and plant oddities just to make sure.

The agricultural officials actually got back to me very fast and I do not need a permit but do need a phytos

anitary certificate

or something like that. I'm not sure what that is but I guess I need one.

Your success so far is so cool! You're on a roll and will keep having interesting, fun results! (I'm sure of it because I'm psychic! well, a lot of the time) I suspect if you were going into the business of selling plants, you'd need a ton of paperwork (the cost of which you could maybe write off taxes), but as you are an individual getting the plants for private use, it should be a lot cheaper and the agricultural officials will probably be helpful there, too.

Being shipped without soil (usually I get them shipped in paper bags with labels, or wrapped in tissue, also labeled; they come in Priority Mail USPS boxes; yours may come in some similar heavy-duty box) -- shipping that way makes them almost sanitary. You'll want to inspect them to make sure nothing has come along, but I've never had any problems with new plants. Some of those that were outside last summer came in with something like scale, but I think the "bark"/skin of the plants may be too tough for the scale. I've segregated those plants anyhow, just in case.

As for Spanish Moss, sometimes it comes as a gray decoration around plants already, as mulch to keep soil damp, not that you need to buy a plant just to get some.

And it's great about the pineapple plants. I have yet to try that -- well, my apartment is small, too, but some folks who sell herbs and greens and potted plants at our Growers Market grew a pineapple very successfully and brought it to show off. So it can be done in my climate, it just needs room.

Please continue to keep us informed of your adventures!

So rainforest flora emailed me back pretty quick and said

For 10 plants or less maybe the best thing to do is to send them by USPS Priority Air without any markings on the box.

Otherwise, we can get a phytosanitary certificate for you and the cost for that is $40.

So I'm pretty new to the online world and don't know what that priory mail thing is so I replied and asked them if there was anything wrong with doing it or if it was good to do..... Then he said he woukd check with his shipper and get back to me today. Which he hasn't yet but it's only 3pm here... And idk what time it is over there so yeah. I defently don't want to spend 40 bucks for a certificate I woul

d use once to buy maybe 3 or 4 Tillandsias!

It's all confusing to me. I think Amazon is the way to go, but I will

wait and see what he replies.

Spanish moss in with plants hey? Seems like an excuse to buy more plants

...

You should try with the pineapple, even if it doesn't work you still have a pineapple to eat!

Rainforest Flora is in California, Pacific Time. Shipping plants without marking them as plants, if they have done this before successfully (plants not returned to them, I mean), may work okay. Rarely has anyone sending me plants marked them as "Living Plants--Fragile!" which kind of irritates me, but even using snail mail (by which I mean priority US mail), they get to me okay. U.S. Postal Service Air would get there quickly (we hope! it may depend on if you live in a large-enough city that they don't have trouble finding you).

I don't know if they or anyone would use Spanish Moss as a packing material, but you could mention to whoever you buy plants from that you are interested in Spanish Moss but don't know if you have the right conditions for it, you don't want to hurt it, etc., and maybe they'll slip some in for you to try out :) Maybe in your travels, visiting other nurseries and/or garden centers or even public garden with green houses for their more delicate plants, they may have tillandsias and particularly Spanish Moss. You could hunt for such places on the internet and get in touch with them, asking them questions about care. Sounds like fun to me!

And you're right, I should try a pineapple! I'll check them out at our local organic food stores so I'm getting something healthy :)

Where in Canada are you Mr. Blubs? I am in Washington, my friend in FL is shipping me some Spanish moss next week or so. If you like, I can ask him for an extra big clump and of so (probably) send some your way if you can cover the postage. Just stick a fragile, avoid direct sun and extreme temperatures note on the box and should be fine. Message me if you like. My only motivation is houseplants for everyone. ;)

Oh ok that's what that is! They haven't replied yet but I'll check again in the morning.

Hehe, that's another good way to get plants! Ha.. I'll look around.

I'm in Calgary Alberta, but I'll have to pass. Thanks though! Seems to tricky to get across the border and I think I've seen some here (in the past so I don't know if it's still here) . Good luck with yours when it comes! And ask for an extra big clump anyways!

Heheh, no problem. Just thought I'd offer. My friends tease me for always "pushing" cuttings on them. ;)

Haha,

I'd probably be the same way but my friends aren't plant people so when I give my philodendron a trim or when my Spiders get to many babies I think about it for a second then I'm like yeah I better hang on to these.

Hahahaha, yeah there is that too. On that note, I picked up a baby spider plant. Don't know what I was thinking, my house is going to be overran with them eventually. Worse, grabbing some free mother of thousands plantlets Wednesday and scouting for a pregnant onion. Going to be swimming in extra plants, but at least I can count on houzz for a good place to rehome stuff. Probably good not everything is as easily propagated as those three.

You might even find that your local nurseries will take them off your hands if the plants are healthy. Or pot them up and give them to senior citizen centers, nursing homes, etc., to the joy of the visitors and residents. Even if you don't have pots, jars with philodendron starts, simple plants like that, might be of interest to folks. Even sell them through a yard sale or growers market (or give them to others to sell).

Hi everyone.

Firstly let me say I have very little knowledge about Tillandsias specifically; but as for bromeliads in general, (and this probably applies to Tillandsias as well) I believe that more bromeliads are lost by over-watering than under-watering.

The other thing I'd like to say is how good it is to see a post of a decent length containing good discussion and useful information. This reminds me of the "good old days" of the Garden Web Bromeliad Forum when this was an everyday feature and we all helped each other by sharing our experiences.

Hopefully the "Good Old Days" are back again after going the full circle; after all, don't they say that "What goes around comes around"? let's hope so.

Keep up the good work, and keep the posts coming so that we can all benefit from sharing our knowledge on this forum.

For what it's worth, below is my collection of Till's; they are from unnamed bits and pieces given to me by friends and just hung in my shade house where they fend for themselves.

I have never fed nor watered them as they seem to grow quite well in their own little micro climate with what "Mother Nature" provides without any further intervention from me except a bit of shade cloth protection overhead.

All the best, Nev.

I wish I could figure out a way to make a greenhouse or two that the landlords (out-of-town corporate folks, of course) would think were terrific and could cause more people to rent here! Someday... whereabouts are you, Splinter1804, so we know what Mom Nature is providing in your area?

I've been a member of GW/Houzz since 1999,and don't think i've ever wandered over to this site,i don't know why though as i grow tillies and spanish moss.I've talked about my tillies on the other forums like cacti and succulent forums,and showed them pictures of mine.As i said,i don't know why i never came over here,but better late than sorry.I'll see if i can share some pictures of mine.

This one above has now formed a complete ball.

Here are some of mine,looks like Houzz cuts me off at 10 pictures.Will make a 2nd post if i can.

Kathi

Glad we could bring it back Nev! How many do you have there? Real nice looking as usual!

Yeah Kathi, this is a big site! I love often found myself doing the same thing. I only found thebbromeliad forum byt accidnet one day. If I didn't I'd be posting in houseplants where I usually stay.

Please don't post any more pics, your putting mine to shame! Haha,! How old is that ball one?

Still haven't got an email back from them and have not yet begun my venture ti the stores to see if I can find Spanish moss or randomly come across more Tillandsias.

I can't untill I find my debit card..... I lost it somewhere.

There is one other i want to show you and some spanish moss,if i am able to.

That last picture of the 2 guys is there by accident,i hit the wrong key and couldn't figure out how to delete it.

Kathi

Really nice!

Are the last ones Tillandsia homo sapiens sapiens?

I've never been able to delete photos on here either

LOL

Nice plants.

If you put the cursor on the lower right of the photo and hit "Back Space" it will delete the photo.

tj

Hi everyone.

debbyabq - To answer your question, I live in Australia on the South East Coast of N.S.W at a little seaside place called Shellharbour (One word) which is a few kilometres south of Wollongong. We live just one street back from the little harbour shown in picture 1.

We usually enjoy a nice temperate climate except when Mother Nature decides to occasionally throw a tantrum. It's very rare to get winter temperatures of 0 C. degrees but this winter it's happened once and this year 5-7 degrees C. hasn't been uncommon.

As for summer, January is our hottest month when we occasionally get heatwaves with temps in the high 40's; but the worst of the lot was in 2004 when the temperature climbed to reach almost 50C. and caused my thermometer to "self destruct". (Pic.2)

All the best, Nev.

Australia? Awwwwww.... I've always wanted go to Australia! See The cassowaries, Lorikeets, galahs, and loads more... I think it would be the neatest thing to see a wild flock of budgerigar.

Lucky you. 50 degrees though, yeesh! I can't even imagine! highest I've experienced is 42.

Rainforest flora still hasn't replied, but I don't think I'll order from them anyways.

Amazon seems quick and easy And I think I'll email them to see what other varieties they have. They have Velutina and Ionantha for sure but I'm horrible at ID's on Tillandsia.

I won't order yet however. Not untill I get my driftwood mounted on the wall and figure out where everyone is going and how much more I need (If I need any). Also need to get mosses and lichen from my cabin to cover up my saw marks and Such.

Hopefully it looks good in the end!

Hi everyone.

MrBlubs - At the risk of being drummed out of the forum for being "off topic" I just had to show you a sample of what we get in our back yard daily.

When we first came here to live about forty years ago, occasionally I fed a few wild birds such as Magpies, Doves, Galahs, Corellas, Crested Pigeons, Crimson Rosellas, Eastern Rosellas, Mudlarks, Butcher birds, and Willy Wagtails.

These would come in occasionally throughout the year, mainly during spring time when they were nesting. With more of their habitat being cut up for subdivisions for new homes, their visits have became more frequent and now they come twice each day seven days a week.

We now also have Satin Bower Birds, a family of Kookaburras as well as New Holland Honey Eaters and Spotted Honey Eaters which nest each year in my shade houses.

The main attraction though are the Rainbow Lorikeets; first there was just one about twenty years and now they have multiplied to the stage were there are anything from 20-100 twice daily.

This suits us as we have our own little wildlife sanctuary in the backyard and we get enormous satisfaction providing a safe haven for these wonderful birds and it seems so natural to see them in amongst the bromeliads in the garden.

Below is a picture of our resident Kookaburra family

....and also some of the Rainbow Lorikeets arriving early to enjoy a grain bread entrée before the main feeding session.

All the best, Nev.

Awwwwww. That must be the coolest thing! All the nests and everything. And to have a resident pair of kookaburras? I can only imagine. And to think the most exciting thing I have is a pair of tree swallows.

Thanks for sharing!

So, I went to one of my cities garden centres today looking for a pregnant onion and what do I come across? A full shelf of Tillandsias. All types and most were in bloom.

Funny, as I've been there numerous times before and went there looking for Tillandsias before and all they had were ones glued to shells and other things which magically made the price go up to 20 bucks.

The Tillandsia were pretty cheap also.

I guess I'll just get them from there then! Boy that made me mad! Could have saved 20 bucks and a 2 hour car ride!

No pregnant onion though, however.

My tillandsia seller at our local growers market finally came this last weekend, but she had very few loose tillandsias, and only small ones. I'm not the only one who wanted her to bring more (I heard another woman say what I did -- bring more!) She did have beautiful sitting and hanging terrariums that use tillandsias as well as mosses, rocks, feathers, herb plants, and red sand gathered from the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Maybe she'll bring more loose plants next time. I was glad to see her anyhow, she's been busy and looked great. So MrBlubs, maybe if you have growers markets (people who bring garden produce and arts and crafts and such sell in a park or building or wherever they can gather), you may find someone who sells Tillandias or would if they knew there was an interest. You might even find a pregnant onion at such a gathering.

Hmmmmmmm, I wonder if my city even has a growers market. I've never heard of one but I'll defently look into it.

Her setup seems really neat! Hopefully she'll bring more so you can snag a few

While New Mexico is the 4th or 5th largest state (by land) in the USA, our state's population is small, and the largest city, Albuquerque has only around 558,000 (due no doubt to grow with people escaping the West Coast radiation). But we have a lot of backyard gardeners and small farmers all over the state, particularly where there is water available. The growers markets are one way for them to make some money. Thus if your area also has backyard gardeners and small farmers and no govt restrictions against such markets, it's likely you'll find some. If you have some kind of "county extension service", which is a govt agency here that helps agriculture, they may know of such markets, or local health food markets may know. Let us know what you find :)

Splinter, I love the Kookaburras and Lorikeets (we do have some in our Rio Grande Zoo)! The most unusual bird we have around here ("here" being the Southwest USA), is the Roadrunner, but you can internet search them. Also the other New World-only bird, hummingbirds. We get a lot of colorful birds this time of year. They come to eat bugs and/or flower pollen and/or berries and other fruit, find mates, have kids, teach the kids how to survive, and then they leave, going back south (Mexico and Central America) before the weather begins to turn toward winter,

From what I have found, my city has no growers market. It has an array of Farmers markets, but all the shops there are food or clothing and the plants are either herbs or vegetables. Been there a couple times, they have good kettle corn.

I know that the one store I originally bought them from sells at some home expo, but only sells them in terrariums and are very expensive compared to the other two sources I've found.

I guess it's way too cold here to start a Tillandsia business! Though, I'll check to see if there's any sort of growers market happening at or near my cabin when I go in August. Also will finally be able to mount my Tillandsias when I go!

It sounds like there are lots of interesting places to shop in your area, so that's promising. I was thinking this morning maybe flea markets might be good places to check. We have a huge one on weekends in our fair grounds (though it is chased away when the State Fair happens for several weeks in September), and I know there are plant sellers there. It's likely they sell garden or house plants but they might sell Bromeliads and that could mean such a seller would know about tillies and not realize there is a market for them, too.

I've often thought that if I were rich I'd start a rare plants business, in a storefront, with grow lights, books, containers, proper soil (for those plants that use it), gift wrap, classes, advice... Sell tillandsias, orchids, cactus, etc. Maybe offer an office landscaping service.

And I agree, I would not buy a pre-made terrarium (though my friend's terrariums are true works of art... I should take some pics of them and post them here), I prefer to put my own together using single or multiple plants and shot glasses, wine glasses, etc. found at flea markets and thrift stores.

That sounds like it would be a lot of fun! Crossing my fingers here for you to win!

Yeah, I much rather make my own then buy one. Even though they do look so good. Can we see some of yours?

I finally decided to put my Tillandsias outside in the notches of my lilac tree. They seem to like it alot! I've actually finally noticed new growth (they've been out there for a week) Even if it hails there protected but they still get some dappled sun and rain water. I do have to bring in the smaller ones though, if it gets windy. I also give them an extra dunk in my pond every now and then. Wish I could keep them there all year now!

Maybe you could put the smaller ones in some kind of basket that is very open, like those three-tier (steel? aluminum?) ones made for putting fruit in and hanging in a kitchen (though only one tier may be needed). You might find something like that in a thrift store (or buy one new). That way you can hang the basket(s) full of plants from a branch, and if the wind comes up, you can just bring in the basket(s). Also, you can dip the basket(s) into the pond (not all the way) and pull it/them out and everyone in the basket(s) has had a bath but not been able to escape ;)

That's a good idea. Though, I think I'll just leave them be as I (think) I've found notches where they won't be able to fly with the wind. And in a week they'll be attached to Driftwood.

Thanks for your help!

I did lose that small silver one though however. I was checking on them today and I guess it got base rot as the plants was very squishy and the leaves all fell apart. We did get alot of rain the past few days so maybe that did it. Oh well. All the others seem good and are putting out new growth! I think I'll stick with more of the greener varieties.

MrBlubs,

If you want to try and see if Tillandsias will grow outside, Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss) is a great indicator to whether Tillandsias will do well in a particular spot, generally if Tillandsia usneoides grows well other Tillandsias will as well. I saw Spanish Moss mentioned a few times throughout the post, apologies if someone has already suggested it for this purpose.

Cheers,

Rick

I thought I saw Spanish moss available somewhere here but I wasn't able to find it. The other ones seem to be doing well though however. But yet, I thought that silver one was!

Thanks