nixwickedgarden

Bromeliads for sale in RFI’s greenhouse

So, I had a choice of going anywhere I wanted for my birthday (which was this last Wednesday). “What would you like to do/Where would you like to go to celebrate your B-Day?”, my Partner asked.  A few years ago I probably would have said Magic Mountain or Disneyland.  This year, all I wanted was to visit Rainforest Flora Inc. Nursery in Torrance, CA.  Last summer I purchased a book, Tillandsia II by Paul T. Isley III (the founder of RFI).  Paul served on the Board of Directors for the Bromeliad Society International for seven years and formed Rainforest Flora Inc. in 1976.  He really knows his Tillandsias and the passion he has for these plants is evident in the detailed descriptions and wonderful plant portraits in his book.  I had visited the nursery  around 11 years ago and was very excited to go back, see how much had changed, pick out a few plants to buy as birthday gifts & to ask Paul to sign my copy of Tillandsia II (which he was kind enough to do!).  🙂   Another thing that was really nice:  We called ahead to see if we could bring along our little dog, Sweetie (a Chi-Spaniel mix).  They said, “No problem!”  She enjoyed looking at the fish…

Besides being the largest grower and distributor of Tillandsia, RFI is also the only nursery of any size that produces 100% of its inventory.  This is a good practice because so many natural habitats of these plants are being wiped out by Collectors and Retailers alike.  Of course, many Tillandsia in the wild are threatened by deforestation, encroachment of farming, road construction as well as ritual religious practices in Mexico, Central America and South America.  Many mature plants are ripped out of trees and off of cliff faces just to have their colorful inflorescences removed to be woven into elaborate decorative offerings in Nativities as well as arches placed in front of churches and shrines.  These unfortunate stripped plants are then simply thrown away or burned as trash, given no chance to further propagate themselves.  Some species are so threatened it is nearly impossible to find them in areas where they had thrived for centuries.  It’s just a shame!  Anyways.…I’ll get off my soap-box now!  Besides Tillandsias, RFI also sells other Bromeliad genera, Staghorn ferns, Palms & Cycads and Aloes of all kinds.  They have also introduced many beautiful Tillandsia hybrids to the marketplace.

It took what seemed like forever to drive to Torrance from Desert Hot Springs. But, for me, it was TOTALLY worth it!  I bought 4 plants I have been wanting for a really long time: Tillandsia ‘Creation’ (a fantastic hybrid of T. cyanea & T. platyrhachis), Tillandsia duratii, Tillandsia straminea, and Vriesea philippo-coburgii. I’ll post some pics of the plants I got here in a later post.

I see that my pictures don’t do this place justice.  It is just so mind-boggling looking up at the various clump colonies of Tillandsia and the huge Staghorn Ferns on the walls. I have no idea how old some of these plants must be.  So Cool…   I wish there was a place like RFI closer to the Palm Springs area. It is my dream to someday have a nursery of my own out here that specializes in Terrestrial Bromeliads and possibly the drought-tolerant arid species of Tillandsia and Landscape size tank Broms.  There are Succulent and Cacti nurseries, but no one is doing the Broms.  My Partner and I are currently looking into purchasing at least a 5 acre plot in the Sky Valley area.  Gotta start somewhere, right?!

Well, it was a GREAT BIRTHDAY and I hope you readers enjoy the post.  PEACE!