Does anyone know if you may buy the tillandsias indigenous to these areas? I know you shouldn't collect from the wild,but are there any dealers for the natives?
Florida-South Ga. Native tillandsias
Absolutely! I'm like you, I want to grow them and help them (since all the native tillandsias in my area are endangered or threatened - except the ubiquitous ball moss and Spanish moss). I actually saw one in the wild for the first time a few weeks ago. Some good places on the net are:
http://www.birdrocktropicals.com/
http://www.rainforestflora.com/
One of my favorites is... http://www.michaelsbromeliads.com/ He doesn't have a lot on the site, but if you click "Our collection" you can view the entire list of what he has and how much it is. Then you can just contact him if you want to buy. In my area I have a lot of luck buying tillandsias at the USF Botanical Gardens. The plant shop there sells them, and when they have their big plant festivals the Bromeliad Guild and the Florida West Coast Bromeliad Society both set up tables to sell, as well as a few private dealers. Try the bromeliad clubs in your area, or people on here might even be willing to trade if you know what specific ones you want. Hope that helps!
Mellielong, Thank you for the info and the links. I believe I'm going to work up an order for Micheals. we have only 4 native to Georgia ( all extreme South and coastal Ga ). The Spanish moss, ball moss , bartramii, and setacea ( pine needle tillandsia ). One other report mentioned a fasiculata. ?? I want to at least photograph them all,if I could. Thanks again, poppop
I have two fasciculatas. I bought them at the USF Botanical Gardens. They are really cool. I'm glad I could help out! Here's a picture of my fasciculata...
That is a beautiful plant! Is it growing in it's permanent spot? That is a fantastic spot for it!You can keep yours out all year down Tampa way,can't you? Really nice.
I'm going to be down in the Appalachicola- St George area the first week in Oct.,and I hope to be able to photo. some natives if I can. It looks like I'll be on the northern most fringe to see many however.
Thanks again,
Poppop
I think that's going to be a permanent spot. Usually I tie them to the trees but that one fit perfectly snug into the tree so I figured I'd just let it do it's thing. I do leave all my bromeliads out and in the ground or on trees, but if it gets frosty I'll throw blankets on them. Here's a picture of a native tillandsia I took while walking through a local wetlands preserve. Not too sure which tillandsia this is, but I was so happy to see it. I can't recall seeing them in the wild ever. When my dad goes hunting up in North Florida this fall I've already told him to keep a lookout and take pictures for me.
Good photo,wish I knew them well enough to ID it. I hope I can spot some next week.
This message was edited Sep 27, 2006 11:44 AM
I went back to Brooker Creek today; it's the wetland preserve I like the best and where I saw that tillandsia above. I made a point to look up when I was walking today (at the risk of running into spider webs by those Golden Orb spiders). Why do they build webs right across the trail?? I saw several tillandsias! I really have to stop looking at the ground when I walk. A couple of them had blooms that were dried out, and some were pretty good size. I don't have my digital camera right now as my grandfather died and Mom took it to West Virginia, but when she returns I want to make sure and get lots of pictures. You know I'll be sure to share with everyone on here. It's so encouraging when I see endangered species doing well in the wild. I need to brush up on my identification skills as well. It would be nice to know which ones I see most often.