© Twolipps

Yesterday’s dreary cold rain has me taking stock of my indoor plants and more to the point,  my friends’ plants.  Speaking of which, I have a crazy friend who is obsessed with tillandsias.  You know the type: the friend that carries around pics of his plants on his smart phone.  The friend that when you visit him wants to take you on a tour of his plants.  The friend that likes to point out all the (miniature) new growth and slight color shifts on each specimen.  Considering I bought him his first tillandsia as a ‘thank you’ for dog sitting, I suppose I have only myself to blame.  But I digress…

This obsession has extended not only to collecting them, but also to displaying them.  As you may know, all tillandsia are bromeliads (though the reverse is not always true) and are often referred to as  airplants. They are epiphytes, which means that the only purpose of the roots is to anchor the plant to the host, which is usually a tree, but for some species can be a cactus, rock, sand drift, or even a telephone line.

© Twolipps

These roots do not gather moisture or nutrients from their living hosts, unlike parasitic plants.  Spanish Moss often seen festooning the trees in New Orleans is probably one of the best known airplants.  Anywho.  My friend, not having indoor trees on which to attach his obsession, has made a variety of stands.  And I admit they are pretty neat, check it out:

Left: Tillandsia attached to drift wood, stuck on to rebar, and puttied to a concrete block. Right: Tillandsia caulked to a piece of yew stem left over from Spring trimming. © Twolipps

Close-up. © Twolipps

The concrete cube these are sitting on were orginally made by my friend to be votive holders, and have been repurposed.

Tillandsia attached to a horizontal piece driftwood on top of a concrete pedestal. © Twolipps

Don’t sneeze!  These baby tillandsia seedlings are two years old, and might be caulk-able in another two years.  Maybe.

Two year old Tillandsia seedlings. © Twolipps

One of the things that most appeals to me about these tillandsia sculptures, is the ‘waste not, want not’ spirit in which they were created.  The concrete cubes were an arts and crafts project, the yew branches were yard waste, the mahogany trapezoidal bases were from the seat of an old wood chair, the rebar left over from a home renovation project, and the driftwood… well you can guess where that came from.

Have a good idea for mounting tillandsia?  Post it below!