Epiphyte Epidemic

Ephiphyte Epidemic?!?!  Yep...Steve at Rainforest Gardener is spreading Epiphytic Fever to the point of an epidemic.  It's CONTAGEOUS!!!! 

Steve is such a lover of ephiphytes that he is hosting a meme focusing on anything that grows in the tree tops! Gotta love it!

I've always had a soft spot for such plants primarily because they scream TROPICAL to me.  Coming from the midwest, I never attempted orchids and kept only the hardiest of tropicals as houseplants.  My homes were usually too dry and too drafty for such delicate plants.  However, when I moved to South East Florida's coastal zones in 2005, I began to realize these previously considered sensitive beauties are actually remarkably hardy, given the proper environment...just like most of us!  My yard is now littered with air plants and scattered with the numerous orchids that I have "planted" in the trees.

These tillandsia grow naturally here in zone 10.  So cool!

This poor oak tree is so covered with tillandsia (ball moss, I believe...can cluster up to 50 plants!) that I wonder if they are actually suffocating the poor tree!

This is a close up of a single tillandsia that covers this lone tree. 

Here's another type.  I think it's tillandsia utriculata, but I've read that the utriculata is a protected species which would surprise me since I see it everywhere...gives me reason to believe I have misidentified it.

I showcased many tillandsia in a previous post of mine titled, "Tree Dwellers" - there's a nice photo of a Tillandsia Bulbosa that I planted high in a tree on my new property.

Bromelaids tend to grow up tree trunks as well.  I was permitted to take a clump of broms ( Neoregelia Spectabilis I THINK) from an estate sale recently...amazingly beautiful in the trees, don't you think?

Here's a photo of the new addition with some naturally occurring tillandsia that have made this sabal palm.

Staghorn ferns enjoy the trees too.  I'd never heard of this plant before moving to the tropics. 

The sterile leaves grow around a tree trunk / branch (or anything you might provide such as a log, rock, etc.) to stabilize itself and gather nutrients.

This fern is rooted to the trunk of this saw palmetto tree...

The fern base is fuzzy like a caterpillar...

This tillandsia resembles pine needles...

I'm hoping I will stumble upon more tillandsia, bromelaids and various epiphytes as I continue to clear my new property.  The discoveries thus far have been so much fun and encouraging for an epiphytic fan such as myself...and Steve!!  I can only hope I have more to share with you in the future!!  After all...it's very CONTAGEOUS!!!

Tree Dwellers

As gardeners, we're accustomed to looking down in the dirt, at our plants.  However, Skywatch Friday encourages us to look up every once in awhile and enjoy the sky above us.  But there's more than the sky above us.  Have you looked in the trees lately?  There are many tree dwellers.  Of course, there's my personal favorite...the birds!

This cardinal is a year-round resident.

No, Lola, you don't live in a tree, you silly girl! 

You just like to hang out there once in a while.

Remember, it's a jungle out there!

Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
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In the tropics, there is a lot going on in the trees.  In my yard alone...

This Tillandsia ball lives in my Meyer Lemon tree.

This is the same tillandsia not in bloom.

It's actually many that have grown together to form a ball.

A closer view shows one surrounded by many.

Also notice the small gray hairs at the base of the plant.

Here's a large tillandsia in bloom in one of my date palm trees.

I found it on the ground at the base of the tree one day this summer.  Who knows what happened? Regardless, I left it where it lay and it has successfully rooted itself to the base of the trunk.

Other, smaller plants live in the cluster of date palms.

I found this one, tucked in the bark, as the others. This one looks more like an orchid or something similar.  Notice the bulbous base and the numerous roots reaching out.  I suppose I'll find out when it blooms.

This tillandsia lives next to the one pictured above but is quite different. 

It's leaves are thin, similar to pine needles.

I dislodged it a bit to show the small root system.

You can also see there are numerous tillandsia in this single clump.

I noticed this little tree, or weed, growing in the date palm fibers.  Hmmm!

A few passalong clippings of dragon fruit cactus hang around the date palms too.

I find it interesting how the roots seek out the tree trunk for nutrients.

None of these tree dwellers are parasites...they do not deprive the tree or live off the tree.  Instead, they live off the water that flows down the trunk and branches, collecting the minerals and nutrients that collect in the nooks and crannies of the bark and fibers.

Here's another Tillandsia...I don't know if the seeds are airborn or if birds drop them in the various spots, but I definitely have numerous, naturally occurring tillandsia...especially in my date palms.

Another naturally occuring tillandsia...

Spanish Moss, or T. usneoides. 

This cluster lives on my Carolina Jasmine vine.

Various forms of lichen are always interesting.

This Tillandsia Stricta lives in the Ponderosa Lemon tree.

My son purchased this plant last year.

This year, it rewarded us with two bloom stalks!!

This sweet little angel rests in the base of a Majesty Palm on my pool deck, watching over all.

This Pothos vine climbs one of the Cabbage / Sabal Palms.

The roots hold onto the bark of the tree like little fingers.

Two young Staghorn Ferns reside on the Navel Orange tree.

They hang on with sterile leaves that wrap around the support system.

You can see, here, how the fresh green leaf wraps around the branch.

The brown base is an older sterile leaf, wrapping around the root system.

Some of my orchids live among the trees, too, although none of mine are attached directly to the trees as I like to bring them onto my patio when in bloom.

This orchid lives in a bamboo shoot among the citrus branches.

Other Tillandsia live among the orchids...

This Tillandsia Bulbosa is typically found in the trees, but I like it on my patio in a basket full of orchids. The T. bulbosa is especially interesting, I think.

And this one resides amidst the base of my beautiful Dendrobium orchid. I think this Tillandsia is a T. ionantha, but I'm not certain.

What's hanging around in your trees? 

Watch out...you might find something interesting...

...or spooky for Halloween!!