Tillandsia Delights in the Garden Show 2012

The Philippine Horticultural Society, Inc. garden show and exhibit at the Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City is still going on till the weekend. I was there last Saturday and really had fun. A cloudy sky is good for such open exhibits, for us not feeling sticky with the high humidity here in the hot tropics. And photos are also better during overcast skies. 

I made my posts into plant groups, last Monday i had the foliage plants which caught my fancy, and next to this will be bonsai. I did not get the plant IDs as it is quite time consuming, and i regret to tell you, i forgot my ballpen. Whew!

Tillandsias are epiphytes or air plants, which means they get their food and water from the air through their leaves, not from the soil through the roots. But it doesn't mean they should be left on their own to get their nourishment and water. They just have special caring needs, and once you know them they are easy to care for. A good discussion of cultural management is HERE.

At the center of the stage where lectures are held twice a day, this corsage is one of the many decorations. I took this not only for the Dianthus, but also for the Tillandsia usneoides (locally known as 'Buhok ni Ester' or Ester's hair) which made the arrangement more fabulous.

a focal point of a landscape design

sat on a pedestal made more delightful with the beauty of the driftwood they are mounted on 

 another fabulous creation looking like a well manicured bonsai, which got the first prize in its category

a table of already flowering tillandsia for sale at the commercial booths 

These photos of Tillandsia cyanea are from the one i cared for in my office two years ago. I was then on travel for a few days, when it was neglected by the caretaker. She watered it after being heated with the full morning sun, which stressed it, the roots rot and eventually die. Since then i haven't taken another one again, for fear of having it suffer the same fate. 

Tillandsia cyanea was cared for 2 years here at the east side of my office window. It received direct light only in the morning. At least, I was able to make it flower inside the confines of an air-conditioned room before it died.