Among my houseplants, large and small, is this little tillandsia, probably a Tillandsia ionantha, also known as an air plant. I got it several years ago, either at a local plant shop or the grocery store’s flower department.
It’s easy to grow. Just dunk it or spray it with water once or twice a week. It doesn’t have roots to absorb water, although it might sprout roots to try to grab onto things. I saw this kind of tillandsia growing on tree branches in Mexico. At home, you can set the plant inside a pretty glass or on a plate, rock, or chunk of bark. It likes lots of sunlight.
And, every few years, it will bloom. Flowers will emerge from the center of the rosette of leaves, and the leaves may turn pink to attract pollinators. Then, slowly, it will die back, but the plant will normally grow offsets of more rosettes, so life goes on.
My tillandsia has just bloomed, right in time for the holidays, so my decorating woes have been solved. Behold these small but superb flowers!
Semiosis 