In 2012, BSI member Don Billington of Liverpool, England planned on entering Tillandsia ‘Samantha’ into the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show 2012 in London. His search for background information about his plant lead him to the breeder, Pamela Koide Hyatt, owner of Bird Rock Tropicals in Encinitas, CA. 

“This cultivar is a cross of 2 species which I collected in western Mexico in the early 1980’s. The pollen parent is T. kalmbacheri from the State of Michoacan. The seed parent is T. mooreana from the State of Jalisco. I made the cross in 1989 and harvested the seeds in August, 1991. The progeny show intermediate characteristics of the parents."

It took over 10 years to then grow the progeny to blooming size. For more photos and the complete article, click here.