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Tillandsias are such fun to play with. What are they? Tillandsias are air plants. They grow on trees, not in soil, so they can green up spots that other plants can’t. There are tons of ways to use them – for prettying up corners of your apartment, sharing living beauty with loved ones, and making occasions special.

Photo by Caitlin Atkinson

ABOVE: Tillandsias in Cube Aeriums welcome guests to this wedding table and become keepsakes to take home.

Photo by Caitlin Atkinson

Tillandsias are exotic, colorful, and gorgeously varied. They’re great for creating compositions because they can be rearranged so easily.

Along with succulents, tillandsias mounted with glue onto a wizened branch make a stunning centerpiece or gift. Here at the store we have the materials you need to craft your own!

Our own invention for making vertical gardens with tillandsias is Thigmotrope Satellite, a tool that you can mount on your wall that cradles the plants and makes it easy to care for them. They make creating vertical gardens with tillandsias really easy. Place them in whatever pattern pleases you to create a unique vertical garden. We offer Thigmotrope Satellites for sale in our Web Shop.

Here’s another delightful twist in tillandsia air plants: the grape-scented Tillandsia duratii. We have a beautiful array in stock right now. With its curled leaf tips it climbs like a monkey on twigs and branches. It makes pretty violet-colored flowers that emit a juicy Concord grape odor over a month or more.

Photo by Caitlin Atkinson

ABOVE: What a charming, scented accent for a bright – even sunny – spot indoors! Hang it on a house plant or arrange it like a sculpture. With cover from the occasional extended rainy period, Tillandsia duratii is also happy outdoors in San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area. For inland gardeners, it tolerates dry heat better than most other tillandsia air plants.

The extravagant beauty of Tillandsia xerographica makes it a stunning feature in your home or garden. It’s the queen of air plants, and like most other tillandsia air plants, it does not need soil to grow – only bright light and occasional wetting or misting. We try to keep it in stock here at the store because we love it so much.

ABOVE: Each xerographica has a different texture and pigmentation.

ABOVE: This little cutie is a baby xerographica. Buy a baby xerographica as a gift and allow the recipient the pleasure of watching it grow. It can take many years to reach full adult size, which can be as much as 18 inches across!

We carry cork bark plaques here in the store. They have lots of narrow folds that smaller tillandsias fit into really well. You don’t even have to glue or wire the plants to the cork, but for permanent mounting both methods work great too. These cute little air plants look so at home on the bark because that’s how they grow in their natural home – on tree trunks and branches. Come on in and make your own!

ABOVE: The lively green of tillandsias is a lovely accent on the intricate pattern of the cork bark and attached remnants of lichen. We keep cork plaques on hand for you to get creative with.

Why not create a sculpture like this for a wall in a sunny spot? This wire sculpture comes as a set that you can put together in any configuration.  On their own they make a fascinating tracery through space. Accompanied by tillandsia air plants, they become a delightful habitat, like an ethereal treehouse condominium.

ABOVE: Using these wire-frame cubes, you can create a sculpture with tillandsia air plants in your home or office. Securely mount the first cube. Then add additional cubes to your liking. Each set includes four cubes and tiny wires for linking them.

ABOVE: Perch tillandsias in the corners of the wire cubes. Mostly they’ll stay put on their own, but it may sometimes be helpful to secure them with tiny wires around the base of the plant. You’ll want to detach the plants from time to time for watering or replacement.

Tillandsias – “air plants” – can live where few other plants can because in nature they live perched on branches and rocks and need no soil. Their soil-less habit is why we call them air plants. Use them to create living sculpture, vertical gardens, and miniature living worlds. We always have a large selection of air plants here at the store.

ABOVE: Tillandsias’ leaves are covered in little scales that absorb water from dew and rain; roots anchor tillandsias to their host but absorb little if any water. Tillandsias grown in the home cannot survive on air alone. Like other plants, they need water and light, too.

Indoors, tillandsias prefer bright indirect light. Brief early morning or late afternoon direct sun can be beneficial. The more humidity and cloudiness in your area, the more sun your tillandsia will bear. Varieties that look more silvery, less green, tolerate more sun. Outdoors in mild climates, tillandsias thrive. The more frost, extended cold rain, and dry heat in your climate, the less likely tillandsias will succeed outdoors.

Your tillandsia should get wet a minimum of once a week. Some types (silver-colored and fuzzy) will tolerate less water. Dunk them in a water-filled bowl, or wet them under a steady stream of tap water once or twice a week. If you prefer to mist, do so heavily daily or every other day, taking care to moisten the whole plant. You can soak your tillandsias for up to an hour for a deep hydration as needed.