Sarracenia & Venus Flytraps

Sarracenia readii x moorei
with the rest of the outdoor collection behind

It's amazing what location can do for plants. Back when I lived in Concord, my outdoor plants (Sarracenia and VFTs) weren't looking so good. Now, they look fantastic! Frankly, I'm surprised. Rather than experiencing warmer temperatures, they're experiencing cooler ones. And, although their location would suggest fewer opportunities to catch insects, they're now catching more insects. It's surprising.

The whole outdoor collection

I germinated a lot of Sarracenia seedlings this past spring, several hundred. Most of these have been given away. More, including some I received from Paul Barden early on this year, are going to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this week as a donation to their collection. Others, mostly open pollinated and a few locational plants/known crosses will be going with me to the NECPS October show for sale.

Drosera binata of some variety just appearing

About a month ago, I bought a large box-full of plants from a grower out in California, who, due to the current drought, could not keep all her plants. What those plants will turn out to be is largely a mystery, but, for now, I do know one plant - a D. binata, which has begun unfurling from next to a Sarr's rhizome.

Sarracenia leucophylla hybrid

A few of the plants are starting to produce pitchers (all the pitchers were cut off for transport), and I'm being pleasantly surprised daily with newly opening pitchers. (Actually, surprisingly, the fall pitcher crop is far more numerous and far larger than the spring. In spring, I had 1-3 pitchers per plant. Now, I'm getting 5-10. Quite a difference).

Sarracenia oreophila (?)

I was actually too rushed in typing this to go to my trusty Schnell, but I noticed that some of the seedlings I received last fall in a giveaway are indeed "interesting" as promised. There are a couple that look like S. oreophila. (Funnily enough, I just bought S. oreo seeds from the ICPS seedbank a couple weeks ago).

Sarracenia 'Yellow Jacket'

The remarkable growth of my Sarrs since moving north is most evident on my Sarracenia 'Yellow Jacket.' The early pitchers are small, an inch or two high. The later pitchers are quite a bit larger, nearly full sized. (Oh, and that bug inside? That's a cricket. They've all just come out and are happily providing quite a few meals to the plants).

Drosera capillaris 'Jacksonville, Fl'
Dionaea 'Triton'

I've been pleased that, despite 50 degree nights and 70 - 85 degree days, even the southern plants, such as this Drosera capillaris 'Jacksonville, Fl' are doing well. (Well, I take that back. The Drosera intermedia 'Cuba' has largely gone to hibernaculums, but I'll be moving that inside soon enough).

VFTS & Baby Sarrs

The VFTs that looked ravaged in Concord in early June? Yeah, they've coated their pots with traps. And this is after I had a toad dig into their soil and kick them around a bit.

Well fed VFTS
Drosera natalensis (below)

I'm not sure of the identity of the majority of the insects are that the Sarrs are eating. The Drosera, especially the upright ones like D. filiformis (and complex) and D. binata have been catching anything that flies too close to them. Mostly, gnats and mosquitoes, but some flies. The VFTs you see above, however, they've been eating primarily Daddy Long Legs and spiders. You can see a few stray legs in the picture above.

Drosera filiformis 'Florida Red'

I'm pleased that one of my D. filiformis 'Florida Red' is flowering. I'm hoping for a good seed set so I can grow some more of these plants. I've noticed in full sun that this variety is noticeably more red than regular filiformis. Of course, it is also remarkably different from the variety known to some as D. trayci, which is much larger, greener, and with thicker leaves (as well as a nice tendency to clump).