Category Archives: Anthocyanin Free

24 Months: S. courtii AF x “Green Monster”

Separating Sarracenia courtii x "Green Monster"Sarracenia courtii AF x “Green Monster” – September 2010

S. courtii x “Green Monster” is a cross I did back in 2009 – a personal favorite of mine. (Awww heck, aren’t all things that are anthocyanin free? Hah!) There were many nice plants that came out of this batch. I may re-make it if the opportunity presents itself again.

I’m always amazed to see how far the plants have come and how big they’ve grown. Looking back always provides a great perspective and reminder that from little and seemingly insignificant things can come something amazing.

Sarracenia courtii AF x "Green Monster"Sarracenia courtii AF x “Green Monster” – September 2012

Green Dragons and Princes

Last week, the greenhouse was invaded with dragons and princes. Sarracenia-ly speaking, of course! A pair of Sarracenia “Green Dragon” and Sarracenia “Green Prince” have made their homes here. So freaking excited. Those of you who know me know that I LOVE anthocyanin free plants! A huge THANK YOU to Jason Austin of Rarefind Nursery! The plants arrived in great condition! They were a little muddied up, but that’s nothing to worry about at all. I repotted them and hope they’re happy!

Sarracenia “Green Dragon” and Sarracenia “Green Prince” are crosses involving S. “Green Monster” as the pod parent. S. “Green Monster” is fascinating and amazing anthocyanin free version of S. excellens (a minor/leucophylla hybrid) – a cross created by Bill Scholl. S. “Green Dragon” is S. “Green Monster” x purpurea f. heterophylla, and S. “Green Prince” is S. “Green Monster” x leucophylla AF. Both of these crosses were done by Bill Smith in May of 2009, and the seed was sown in December 2009. (Dude, awesome stuff, Bill!)

I’ve done S. purpurea f. heterophylla x “Green Monster” last year (the reciprocal cross of S. “Green Dragon”, using S. purpurea f. heterophylla as the pod parent and S. “Green Monster” as the pollen parent) so it will be interesting to compare them. I would imagine that similar looking plants will arise. My S. leucophylla AF on the other hand hasn’t been dependable in breeding in the past 3 years. That’s why you haven’t seen me doing many crosses with them. The pollen seems to be firing blanks, or something. I think this year a few pods did take, but seed count was very low in the ones I’ve harvested.

Anyway, below are a few photos of some of the new AF plants that have made their home with me. Jason and Rarefind – THANK YOU so much for these awesome plants! Looking forward to seeing them grow!

Sarracenia "Green Prince" and "Green Dragon" arrive
The princes and dragons arrive.

Sarracenia "Green Prince" Sarracenia "Green Prince"
Sarracenia “Green Prince”

Sarracenia "Green Dragon" Sarracenia "Green Dragon"
Sarracenia “Green Dragon”

Sarracenia "Green Prince" and "Green Dragon"The princes and dragons living together in harmony.

Sarracenia flava – Anthocyanin Free

Sarracenia flava - Anthocyanin FreeSarracenia flava, anthocyanin free clone

A while back a friend of mine gave me a small piece of a Sarracenia flava that I’ve been looking for; an anthocyanin free clone of Sarracenia flava. Now, for those of you who know me, you know that I am heavily into anthocyanin free plants. Basically, these are plants that are lacking in anthocyanin – the pigment that gives these plants all these crazy colors! Yes, green is beautiful. I know that some find it rather bland, or argue that they are weaker plants – but I am totally enamored by the contrast that they give when placed side by side with rest of the collection. These plants have a haunting glow and have grown strongly for me. (Note: This is not a flava var. maxima. S. flava var. maxima has some red pigmentation still, around the base of the pitchers and on new growth.) I’m looking forward to using this plant in future crosses. One goal, of course, is to create different clones of anthocyanin free S. flava.