Want to add a tropical feel to your backyard instantaneously? Grow Spanish moss (Tillandsia Usneoides). This eye-catching plant that hangs from trees in the tropics and the southeastern United States can also be grown in other areas of the country. Simply hang a clump of Spanish moss in your outdoor or indoor garden and watch it grow.

Spanish moss is actually not a moss at all. Instead, it’s in the bromeliad (pineapple) family. It is an epiphytic plant that draws moisture from the air and from runoff from the host plant on which it’s growing. You can grow Spanish moss successfully in a dry climate, providing you water it regularly to ensure it stays sufficiently moist.
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To have luck growing this conversation starter, keep the following growing advice in mind. Provide something to grow on. Spanish moss will grow on just about any structure, including another tree or shrub, a fence or a building, trellis, arbor or patio overhang. Situate the moss so that it gets part-shade. In full sun, Spanish moss may dry out too quickly and may even burn. This is especially the case in dry climates that get high heat, such as areas of the west and southwest. If you grow Spanish moss in deep shade, it is likely to grow very slowly.
(Julie Bawden-Davis)
Water moss in hot, dry climates. Generally, Spanish moss requires no watering, if you live in a humid, rainy climate, as it will draw the necessary water from the air and surrounding plants. If you live in a hot, dry climate, however, such as California or Arizona, or you are experiencing such weather, you will need to water Spanish moss every day or every other day. Not doing so can cause the moss to go dormant.
Fertilize occasionally. Though Spanish moss generally doesn’t need any feeding, it can speed up growth if you spray the plant monthly in the spring and summer months with a half-strength solution of an organic liquid fertilizer, such as sea kelp or compost tea.
(Julie Bawden-Davis)
Spread the strands. As Spanish moss grows, if you want it to grow on other plants or in various areas of the yard, simply pull off some strands and hang them wherever you wish—providing the lighting is correct. Give indoor Spanish moss bright light and moisture. It’s possible to grow Spanish moss indoors, as long as you mist it on a daily basis and put it under full-spectrum lighting or in a bright window. Julie Bawden-Davis is a garden writer and master gardener, who since 1985 has written for publications such as Organic Gardening, Wildflower, Better Homes and Gardens and The Los Angeles Times. She is the author of seven books, including Reader’s Digest Flower Gardening, Fairy Gardening, The Strawberry Story, and Indoor Gardening the Organic Way, and is the founder of HealthyHouseplants.com.