Tillandsias: my air plant escape to warmth
When I went out to my car early this morning, instead of completing the miserable job of scraping ice off my windshield I felt a gust of warm air. It took me off guard. It was heaven. After a weekend of sunshine and mid-sixties air, to be met with warm Monday morning air makes me feel like this year is starting out right.
The cold has been killing me. I cannot keep warm but I’m happiest outside. To bring the outdoors in as much as possible I’ve been collecting tillandsias. Even though I have a couple of other favorite plants inside, air plants are my new passion. They are living sculptures that I can move around and surround my living space with.
Collecting a myriad of shades, shapes, and sizes of happiness-inducing plants without the fuss of soil is addictive. When it’s cold an indoor garden isn’t quite the same as walking through a Mediterranean garden or lying around in a tropical paradise. Still, air plants can be exotic and are inspiring enough to contemplate to be considered art.
It’s also easy enough to keep my happy little hobby alive. Sometimes I just bring them all into the shower with me to trick them into thinking they’re in the rainforest. When it’s icy outside, giving myself the illusion of outdoor living can be tricky. Still, with weather like today, my hope of day into night outside is tangible. Not to worry. It won’t stop me from adding to my collection. When the temperature drops again and I’m back to scraping ice, I need my air plants to remind me of desert air and time spent poolside.
But, really, seventy-three degrees today in January? 2009 is looking good.
The cold has been killing me. I cannot keep warm but I’m happiest outside. To bring the outdoors in as much as possible I’ve been collecting tillandsias. Even though I have a couple of other favorite plants inside, air plants are my new passion. They are living sculptures that I can move around and surround my living space with.
Collecting a myriad of shades, shapes, and sizes of happiness-inducing plants without the fuss of soil is addictive. When it’s cold an indoor garden isn’t quite the same as walking through a Mediterranean garden or lying around in a tropical paradise. Still, air plants can be exotic and are inspiring enough to contemplate to be considered art.
It’s also easy enough to keep my happy little hobby alive. Sometimes I just bring them all into the shower with me to trick them into thinking they’re in the rainforest. When it’s icy outside, giving myself the illusion of outdoor living can be tricky. Still, with weather like today, my hope of day into night outside is tangible. Not to worry. It won’t stop me from adding to my collection. When the temperature drops again and I’m back to scraping ice, I need my air plants to remind me of desert air and time spent poolside.
But, really, seventy-three degrees today in January? 2009 is looking good.
posted by Tyler Oaks at
8:02 PM
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