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Tillandsias make do without a lot and still look beautiful

 
Susan Sousa, a retired Pinellas school district employee, and husband Larry, who retired from Florida’s Department of Children and Families, bought their 1926 Mediterranean-style home more than 30 years ago. They don’t agree on everything when it comes to gardening, but they do love their bromeliads.
Susan Sousa, a retired Pinellas school district employee, and husband Larry, who retired from Florida’s Department of Children and Families, bought their 1926 Mediterranean-style home more than 30 years ago. They don’t agree on everything when it comes to gardening, but they do love their bromeliads.
Published Feb. 20, 2015

This is for all the people who say, "I kill plants." For all the winter residents who've asked, "What can I grow in Florida that won't die when I go back up North?" For the gardeners with bad backs, bum biceps and a dearth of space.

Tillandsias!

They've been hot sellers at this winter's Florida plant fairs, sometimes outpacing even the trendy succulents, or so my plant vendor friends tell me. Snowbirds fall in love with their Dali-esque shapes, ultra low maintenance and light-as-a-feather weight. They're air plants; no dirt or pots required.

"Tillandsias and bromeliads in general are really easy, and no matter what environment you have — sun, shade, saltwater — you can find a variety that works for you,'' says Susan Sousa who, with her husband, Larry, grows hundreds of them indoors and out in Pinellas County's south Seminole. "They're something winter visitors can take home. Some people carry them back and forth every year."

A word of caution on that: The United States, Canada and some states and provinces have strict rules for transporting plants. A species may be invasive in certain regions and individual plants may harbor dangerous pests. The rules change constantly as new problems emerge and violating them can incur hefty financial penalties, or worse, be the spark that destroys the vistas you love. Don't be that gardener! If you're coming to Florida, visit tbtim.es/flplantrules before you bring a plant. If you're going home elsewhere in the United States, check to see if your state inspects incoming plants. If you're headed to Canada from here, visit tb tim.es/canadarules.

That said, tillandsias fly under the radar because, lacking soil, they have far fewer potential stowaway pests. And they make exceptionally easygoing travel companions.

Tillandsias are members of the bromeliad family, which includes Spanish moss (a tillandsia) and pineapple (an ananas), along with thousands of other species. So many hybrids join the clan every year, even bromeliad lovers like Susan and Larry aren't always sure of the names.

Susan discovered bromeliads 25 years ago when a neighbor pulled up about a hundred and stuck them by the curb for garbage pickup. Free plants? Yes!

It would be several years before she and Larry learned the plants proliferating in their yard were bromeliads, and a few more before they discovered and joined the Florida West Coast Bromeliad Society — she was president last year, he's vice president this year. They both have other horticultural passions (it wasn't pretty when his orchids took over her bromeliad pergola), but they share a passion for the broms.

Susan especially loves tillandsias. They cling to wood and cork slabs dangling on her deck and nestle in seashells and coffee mugs on tabletops and her kitchen windowsill.

"You can put them in any little container," she says. "You can attach them to wood with Liquid Nails. I pick a plant and pick a piece of wood that complements it, a piece that matches the shape and direction."

They need bright, indirect light — sunshine, but not a straight-on blast. And no matter what anyone tells you, occasional misting won't satisfy indoor tillandsias. Soak them in water (they drink through their leaves, not their roots) for about 10 minutes once a week, and do the same for outdoor tillies during droughts.

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All tillandsias will flower, Susan says, and the blooms can be a real treat. But their real value lies in the year-round sculptural beauty of their twisting, turning, curling foliage. "Fifteen dollars worth of tillandsias will give you color for a long time," Susan says.

For challenged gardeners, that's a breath of fresh air.

Contact Penny Carnathan at pcarnathan49@gmail.com; visit her blog, digginfloridadirt.com; join in the chat on Facebook, Diggin Florida Dirt; and follow @Diggin Penny.