Just in time for Halloween -- Spooky Tillandsias! Sitting on top of a lil' pumpkin, these Tillandsias grow so fast it's SCARY! 

(jalisco-monticola x capitata 'Rubra')

A stunning hybrid that is a happenstance of nature. We imported a number of wild bromeliads from Mexico back in the 1980's and early '90s and this plant and one or two others of apparently the same natural cross: (streptophylla x botterii) were among them.

A large grower with characteristics of both parents. The basic shape of botterii along with the shape of the inflorescence but the thick texture and silvery trichomes of streptophylla. An upright, spreading vase, bulbous at the base, with silvery, half inch wide, fairly stiff, channeled leaves. The inflorescence is large, taller than the foliage with a red rachis and long, petiolate branches that are mostly yellow. A dramatic, beautiful plant. 

A really wild looking hybrid blushing light red when in bloom and forming a capitate inflorescence. Multiple bright orange-red spikes protrude from the capitate head for a completely bizarre look. (capitata x flabellata) (Bak)

A truly magnificent hybrid by John Arden. A cultivar of (rothii x fasciculata ‘Magnifica’), a perfect combination that produced a robust, leafy, gracefully shaped and spectacularly blooming hybrid. The leaves are channeled, gracefully arching and recurving (much like the rothii parent) and somewhat glabrous green, but dusted with a slight coating of trichomes. 

The inflorescence is nothing short of spectacular; a sturdy rachis rising well above the foliage with long, narrow, leaf-like bracts, green but with red sheaths and about eight thick, digitate branches that are bright yellow on the upper half and bright red on the lower. Really a pretty plant and very long lasting in bloom.

One of Steve Correale’s hybrids that we love and just had to name. We thought long and hard about a name and finally thought to name it for Steve’s late wife who passed away recently. Steve has inspired us with his Tillandsia hybrids and with being a great guy, an asset to the bromeliad society and a good friend to many. Steve was also a happily married man and he and his wife were together over sixty years. We figured that she deserved our thanks for helping Steve with his hobby and allowing us to enjoy his talents all these years. I asked Steve’s permission to name the plant after Bea and he said that he would be honored. 

Two outstanding parents; streptophylla x chiapensis both lend their best characteristics to this cross. Silvery all over with a pinkish tint, bulbous based with a short scape with long silver branches and bracts that blush pinkish at anthesis. Broad leaves of heavy substance make this a heavy and substantial plant. Note that this plant is different from the same cross by Dimmitt named ‘Royal Rene’.

Our stock originated from Mitch Rabin of Living Colors Nursery and selected out over many years by Tropiflora grower Veronica Orozco.

This hybrid of (leonamiana x ixioides) is pretty much what you’d expect of this cross. An open rosette of narrow, arching, stiff leaves of silvery gray and an inflorescence that is tall and slender with a few short branches at the top, silver dusted orange bracts and yellow flowers. Easy, prolific and showy.

An early hybrid (1960’s) by Charles Wiley is a cultivar of (seleriana x bulbosa). The cross was made in Eastern Germany and is a relic of the Cold War era. Aside from this, the plant is a handsome combination of both parents. More bulbosa-like it is however stouter with more leaves and has a slight scurff unlike the bulbosa parent. The inflorescence is a short rachis with red branches and a corresponding blush in the upper leaves at anthesis. 

(aff capitata 'Temascal' x xerographica)