An outstanding hybrid of unknown parentage, by Bill Timm, but we suspect it could be (Tillandsia ionantha x streptophylla). Bill made the cross and gave us the germinated seedlings on a wine bottle cork. He recorded the cross as what was to become ‘Baby’s Bottom’. 

When our plants began to flower it was evident that the plants were something else, but what? Bill agreed but did not know what the cross could have been. At any rate, he has registered the plant under another name.

It is a beauty with many narrow but succulent, recurving leaves in a bulbous rosette. The leaves are silver with trichomes and quite thick and stiff, the upper whorls blushing deep pink when blooming. The inflorescence has six or more pink branches that are nested in the center, rising just an inch above the foliage. Flowers are light blue. A very dense and heavy plant.

An accidental hybrid, probably made by hummingbirds visiting a greenhouse, is almost certainly a cross of (balbisiana x pseudobaileyi). This plant occurred amongst a group of seedlings of Tillandsia balbisiana supplied by a South American nurseryman. The shape of the plant is rather classic balbisiana in all aspects including size. The leaves though are semi-terete and have the striping like the T. pseudobaileyi. 

The inflorescence is like balbisiana in shape and size but has the color of pseudobaileyi. One can never be sure of such a cross, but in my experience I have never seen a hybrid that appeared as obvious as this one. A very striking plant.

A fine example of the variable divaricata group of latifolias. Common to southern Ecuador, it is found mostly in colonies on the ground in treeless desert areas. The plants form dense mats of hard, reflective silvery leaves, their tall shiny orange spikes glistening in the full sun. In cultivation, where conditions are relatively much less stressful, they grow somewhat larger than in their native habitats, reaching about 18 inches tall. Very slow growing.

Bill Timm’s cross of (ionantha v. vanhyningii x bulbosa) is pretty much just what you’d expect. The plant without a flower looks very much like a bulbosa is shape and size, perhaps a bit stiffer with thicker leaves. When in flower, the inflorescence is more like that of the ionantha v. vanhyningii parent, short, almost without a scape, with a cluster of tight branches and blue flowers. The top of the plant and the inflorescence blushes red at anthesis.

A hybrid of (fasciculata x ionantha) made by the late Luis Ariza, well known bromeliad hybridist from the Dominican Republic. This same cross is also known as nidus and ’Fortin Jalapa’ as it has both been crossed by others and is often found occurring naturally wherever both parent species live together. This one was allegedly made with one of the small growing clones of fasciculata native to the D.R. 

A natural hybrid of (schiedeana x caput-medusae). Resembling both parents, it has a semi-bulbous base like that of caput-medusae, but with straight leaves of schiedeana. The color is white lepidote with a branched red to rarely green inflorescence, producing bi-colored flowers. 

This beautiful hybrid of (polystachia x capitata) by Steve Correale is a full rosette of recurving, light green leaves. An inflorescence with long red scape bracts and a cluster of glabrous, red-tipped green branches rises well above the foliage. 

From Argentina, grows as a saxicole on exposed rock or epiphytically in scrubby thorn bush, almost always forming large clusters. This caulescent species has a rigid stem and short, stiff leaves, all a dark grayish color, and bears large and very fragrant, white flowers.

A notably easy species to cultivate, tolerating a variety of conditions and light levels. Prefers to be kept bright, airy and on the dry side

A medium sized species from Bolivia and Argentina, with very stiff silvery leaves in a spreading rosette. A tall, nodding scape with brownish bracts bears butter yellow flowers. Forms large clusters of plants in habitat and does very well mounted. Easy to grow and fairly cold hardy.

A hybrid of (ixioides x recurvifolia) by Mark Dimmitt. A wide spreading rosette to about 8 inches, with half inch wide, rather stiff and silvery-lepidote leaves. Much more closely resembles the ixioides parent, but has more leaves and rosy pink bracts with yellow flowers. An attractive plant.

An interesting hybrid of (capitata x extensa) by Steve Correale. Steve has been a fairly prolific hybridizer over the years but has registered few of his crosses. He does them to please himself, which is not such a bad thing, and doesn’t care much for naming them.

This plant has much more the look of the extensa parent, with long, narrow leaves and an excessively long inflorescence. Very long, pink and silver scape bracts and upright pink branches clustered at the top of the scape make it a showy plant. The foliage is dark reddish-brown but subtle, coated with silver trichomes that give it a pinkish tint. Easy to grow mounted. 

Unusual for the cross, this same cross; Tillandsia edithae x albertiana, has been made several times in the past and is registered under at least two names. Both however have red flowers, as one might expect with a cross of two red-flowered parents. This one has large purple flowers, silvery pink bracts and nice silvery leaves in a leafy, upright rosette. This plant freely produces many offsets.