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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

This Just In From Florida


Each time I visit the Seymour Conservatory, I admire their beautiful Spanish moss (Tillandsia usnoides.)  I grew some of it in one of my trees one summer but it's not cold hardy here and by the end of the summer, the birds had torn it apart as they like to use this for nest building.


Since I have a greenhouse now, I decided that it would be fun to have some out there so I bought a couple of small hanks and have been enjoying misting them along with my other tillandsias in the greenhouse but thy looked very sparse.

A box arrived today...


A week or so ago while searching the interweb for some plant or other, ebay showed up as one of the results. Clicking there, I discovered lots more interesting plants, among them a listing for "Live Spanish Moss from my trees in Florida."  The price for a ten pound box, including postage was only a little more than I paid for the two small bits at a nursery.  Hmmm.  There is a lot of live Spanish moss in this box!

And a few of these tillandsia-looking things.  Is this a different plant or is this the flowering body of the Spanish moss?

There was even a branch with two of these on it. 

I started hanging a few pieces here and there.

The seller told of a time when he was packing a box and had put in a bit too much so he reopened the box to remove some and out jumped a gecko. There were no surprises in my box even though Spanish moss shelters rat snakes, three species of bats and one species of jumping spider is found only on Spanish moss.

FYI, ten pounds is a LOT of Spanish Moss!  The naked lady finally has a winter scarf!

I'll continue when I have more time but it was fun to be out in the greenhouse doing something .

The box was quite full and as I kept taking more out, the remainder seemed to expand.  This is the box after I was done for the moment, still overflowing.  Perhaps finding a cool lichen-covered limb to hang and drape with the moss would be a good idea.

I bet this won't mind the heat of the summer greenhouse as long as I keep it well misted!  For more about this plant, look here and here

16 comments:

  1. That's a fab idea Peter, your new greenhouse looks even more fun with all that Spanish Moss all over it. Plus loving the sight of that box bursting with Tillandsias!

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  2. OMG, I love it! I chuckled out loud at the thought of a gecko jumping out. Of course, if it had been shipped via post office, it might have been a dead gecko by the time it reached you, which would be a lot less funny and very sad. I could take a snake, but not a spider. It looks fabulous hanging all over. I bought one little hank of it recently at Valley.

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    1. I got a hank at Valley and a couple at Seymour Conservatory. I've got more than I need now so if you want more, let me know.

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  3. I would have passed out cold if a gecko jumped out of a box. I know I'm embarrassing myself by saying this, but just knowing there once was a gecko in it, I'd let some brave soul open the box for me.
    The greenhouse looks wonderful. Love the scarf on the mannequin. Comes summer she should wear a spanish moss hula skirt.

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    1. It would be the surprise factor more than anything else that would bother me about something live jumping out of a box.

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  4. The branches add a lot of fun to the mix. I've bought some cheap at the pet store but your deal beats even that!

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    1. It was a great deal alright. This is live and will (hopefully) continue growing if I don't let it totally dry out.

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  5. Two things:

    1) I had no idea that Spanish moss was a species of Tillandsia

    2) Now I feel like your greenhouse is lacking in geckos :)

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    1. Perhaps an artificial gecko or two would help that. Don't know how I feel about crawly things jumping on my head when I open the greenhouse door.

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  6. I think that the Tillandsia that doesn't look exactly like Spanish Moss is Ball Moss, T. recurvata. I keep an eye out for Ball Moss here but have not seen any.

    Are there any native lizards in your area? We have Anoles and we also have something called 'Eastern Fence Lizard' that is a cute little fellow too. There is a 'Western Fence Lizard' that I think may live in your part of the country. They'll find their way into a greenhouse.

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    1. I'll bet you're right about the Ball Moss! We have some native lizards but none live in the city where I am. I've just re introduced tree frogs to my garden and hope that they have enough of an eco system to make it.

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  7. Peter we are in Georgia and just left South Carolina,we have been told everywhere here that chigors (not sure if the spelling )live in Spanish moss I hope you didn't get any bugs with yours just wanted to give you a heads up. I really want to grab some out of a tree but we have been told that way to many times hope your is pest free

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    1. Thanks for the heads up about the chiggers! I was worried about that last night as I read various things online. It seems as if chiggers are a big problem on Spanish moss that has dropped to the ground but they don't climb trees and get into the moss hanging there so pulling it from trees should be safe. I also hope that mine is pest free!

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  8. I am just amazed at your knowledge of plants and gardening. I love the picture of your "pride & joy" in the greenhouse. I have the same pic in my cell & was just showing it yesterday to someone who was showing me pics of his kids & grandkids... always good for a laugh.

    Patty Sweet

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  9. Greenhouse Adventures: there's a best seller in there somewhere.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.