David Adamusko and Lindi Mallison live in a house on a canal in the Upper Keys with an expansive and eye-catching garden that can be seen by boaters as they pass by. One day, Adamusko watched as a boat slowly chuggied by, turned around and came back. From the deck, a woman yelled to him, “What kind of cactus is that? I live in Arizona and I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Adamusko laughs at the memory. He explained to the woman that he had placed air plants, otherwise known as tillandsia, all over the wall of cacti lining the canal. A cactus, it seems, is the perfect place for air plants to grow. Tillandsia are part of the bromeliad plant family.
Adamusko and Mallison have found other atypical places for air plants to flourish: on top of coral rocks, threaded into a wreath and even wound around a utility pole. The couple love the plants, and they have learned so much about them that Adamusko has been invited by the Florida Keys Orchid, Fern and Bromeliad Society to speak at its meeting next week.
Longtime society member Karen Beal explained why Adamusko was a perfect speaker to invite.
“David never just does something — he does everything to know about something. This is his passion, and he’s very educated about tillandsias.”
And, she said, his yard straight up “blew my socks off. Just his imagination and spirit of fun make it a great garden. Also, he can leave it for months at a time and nobody has to do anything. That’s magic.”
Adamusko and Mallison call themselves “hurricane snowbirds,” so they travel during the hotter months to avoid any potential of having to evacuate for storms. They confirm that they don’t have to arrange to have the air plants tended to while they are away.
“These little guys take care of themselves,” said Adamusko.
Mallison explained, “The unique thing is it’s a coral rock garden, with no earth, no insects, no stickers.”
Adamusko has been gardening since he was a teenager and is also an educator. He lectured for 25 years at the Smithsonian Institution about antique furniture. Sharing his knowledge about air plants comes naturally.
“I picked up my first bromeliad at the U-Haul flea market at Adams Cut 16 years ago, and I was fascinated by this little thing. I would continuously propagate them, and now I have bushels of them. I attach them to anything I see. There were coral boulders left over from construction that my bromeliads cover, and my neighbors call it a ‘Floral Reef.’”
Attendees can hear more of Adamusko’s stories, see slides and observe tillandsias up close at the society’s meeting Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m. The gathering will be at the Key Largo Civic Club. Regular monthly meetings will restart January on the second Tuesday of the month. For more information, email keysorchidclub@gmail.com.
