I have some coral honey suckle, hardy gardenia 'vacca valley', and unnamed rose bushes I can take cuttings of. I have rooted verbena bonariensis, kalanchoe diegremontiana, and kalanchoe tomentosa 'chocolate soldier' divisions. I'm mostly interested in fishtail and staghorn ferns.

Someone gave me a few tillandsias, but they do not know the names. Would someone please identify for me. Thank you, Colleen

Stan, are those not rather T. bergeri? And your question, I like 3 large clumps better than one huge one - it means the 'show' is spread out a bit and not just one over powering one. And about aeranthos and bergeri, for me, the aeranthos flower dutifully year after year, but bergeri never. It seems to grow better and form huge clumps for me, maybe just because I ignore them cause they don't flower. But I read that bergeri needs temps down to 5 degrees C or lower to bring them into flower. I even had a small bunch sleeping in my fridge (2 degrees) every night for 2 weeks on end last Winter, still no flowers! Japie

Hi bernardyjh - I think the biggest error might have been in keeping it too moist for a spell. When you mentioned "repotting it in a jar of moss" and "a gritty mixture", both of those sound like they hold water or moisture. Tillandsias are not like other bromeliads in that they NEED to dry out completely between sparse (and I mean SPARSE) waterings. The moss used in terrariums for Tillandsia is 'decorative'; it is not like other natural mosses that inherently hold onto moisture and would kill the plant. Also, the gritty mixture you mentioned sounds like it may have retained some moisture that may have led to the plant rot. The plant itself doesn't want to be "potted" in any way; it wants to be "affixed" to a surface, and if a curved surface, not in the 'hollow' but rather on the outer curve to avoid any water pooling towards it. Ideally your plant should be glued, tied, or adhered to a surface that allows it to dry out entirely most of the time, and certainly between waterings. The leaves are what wick moisture and nutrients from the environment; the roots only function to affix themselves to a surface, much like vines. Don't give up! Good luck with the next one. ;)