Two weeks ago, I didn’t know the first thing about tillandsias (air plants), but now I’m obsessed.
Jeremy and I received our first air plant as a gift from some friends while we were in Portland. When we got back to Brooklyn, we put it in a tiny beaker, and added it to our window garden, pleased with how cute it looked. I didn’t really think about it again until today, when I saw this blog post highlighted in the Ready Made email newsletter:
(photo courtesy of http://readymade.com)
http://readymade.com/blogs/home-and-garden/2010/03/17/how-to-diy-air-plant-chandelier/
Aren’t you suddenly obsessed with air plants? Don’t you absolutely need to make an air plant chandelier RIGHT NOW? You are not alone, my friend. You are not alone.
Because of the Ready Made post, and the feverish research that ensued after I read it, I now know the following about my air plant:
- It’s alive. Don’t put it in the dark.
- Contrary to its name, it needs to be watered. More specifically, you need to submerge it in a bowl of water every week or so. Sources disagree on how long this should last–I’ve seen anything between 10 minutes and 12 hours. See: http://www.airplants4u.com/Tipsforairplants.html and http://plants.web-indexes.com/airplants/airplants-care.html#water
- You should never plant it. It only uses its roots to anchor to surfaces.
- It’s not a parasite, it just likes to sit on other things.
- If the cats eat it, the plant will die, but the cats will not. See: http://plants.web-indexes.com/airplants/airplant-faq.html#q10
- It is awesome.
I wonder if I could have one, I live in a small apartment in Portland with not much sun. I am attracted to the way these pictures look, they are magical!
My apartment's pretty dark too. We've got east and west-facing windows, so we only get light in the early morning and early evening. Right now, my plant seems pretty happy, and is blooming away (as you can see in the photos), but I'm not sure what it'll look like come winter.
very cool. Love the chandelier concept.
Never seen these before, but I love the idea! I wonder if they could work in my dark house…
very cool. Love the chandelier concept.
I wonder if I could have one, I live in a small apartment in Portland with not much sun. I am attracted to the way these pictures look, they are magical!