Unknown Tills? ? ?

[shawnintland]

Hmmmm. Posted these under the plant ID section but I think all the Tilly folks are here. I picked up these plants today thinking they were Tillandsias. They were so packed into the pots that I just had to take them. Figured I'd separate them and spread them out. Then when I went to divide them I found that they had pretty elaborate root systems growing in cocopeat. All the Tills I've come across have never had roots like this, so I'm not sure if that's what they really are? Anybody have any ideas?





Thanks,
Shawn ;D

[atmccmn]

Hi Shawn,

Your plant appear to be T. cyanea. It could be a cultivar as I see some red hues appearing in one of the onflorescence. One of the cultivar with reddish color is called T. cyanea 'Anita'. You have few very well grown plants. Too healthy infact! Good choice of plants.

Cyanea have good rooting system as they can be planted in well drain media or mounted directly to any substrate. You can do mounting if it looks good as hanging plant otherwise they will do well as bedding along your other ornamentals.
Oh ya! I came across an article about the Moir garden which have extensive planting of cyaneas around their garden. Here's the link: books.google.com/books?id=Xld5-iNAY5oC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=garden+watcher+may+moir&source=web&ots=Eqmoe9OXz-&sig=AKWyR-wvnwq9xMTrJxnOyV8KHxQ#PPP1,M1
Thought you might be interested.

AT

[shawnintland]

Fantastic! Thanks for the id and the info and link! Someone else on another forum just this minute came up with the same id. I was pretty surprised to find these in a little tiny roadside stall, but I've found a number of treasures there in years past so always stop in when passing by! The one pot that I already divided had 10 plants!
Shawn

[atmccmn]

It's like treasure hunting! You don't know what you'll getting until that moment when u r there. I think we all are addicted to that kind of andrenalin rush.
Happy growing!
AT