Category Archives: Blog

Down with O.P.P.

Yo, so who’s down with OPP? (Yeah, you know me!) I’m not talking about the song by “Naughty by Nature” – I’m talking plants.
*Open Pollinated Plants. * Dude. I just had a 1991 moment. HA!

Anyway, OPP’s can be interesting. Today’s OPP feature is one I grew from seed from a few years ago. The parent plant is Sarracenia ‘Doodle Bug’ but as far as the pollen parent, ehhh…. who knows, hence the OP designation.  It’s a sibling to this wide-ish-thing  plant I wrote about earlier.   Yeah, I’m down with O.P.P.

Doodle Bug, OP[Sarracenia ‘Doodle Bug’ OP, Photo taken 11/13/2010]

Off Season Bloomin'

It is not all that uncommon for Sarracenia to bloom during the fall.  It happens. Why exactly they do this now, I am not too sure.  Some speculate it’s the similar lighting/environmental conditions as spring. The buds are shorter now in the fall, and I also believe that the flowers are not fertile (?) but, I have yet to try and pollinate in the fall. Who knows. I typically just cut off the flower during this time to allow the plant to conserve it’s energy for dormancy.  At times I just let it do its thing. Whatever.

[Out of season flower bud. Photo taken October 31, 2010]

 

What I did find very awesome and very recently — one of my older 2 year old hybrids DID bloom recently.  This is significant because it’s the first flower of a hybrid that I created. Blooming within 2 growing seasons!  A bit weird that it did bloom for me now.  And not a short bloom, but rather, a tall spring like bloom. Woah dude. I did a cross of  Sarracenia ‘White Sparkler’ x (‘Ladies in Waiting’ x ‘Judith Hindle’) in 2008.  The latter pollen parent is a very rich colored plant, and I hope that the coloration carries over to the progeny.  The photo below is of a young pitcher later in the season. I’m getting a lot of color variation in this batch of seedlings. Some are deeper red, some like the below resemble the pod parent moreso.  I want to see what this seedling batch does next season in terms of color and vigor.

 

[A hybrid I crossed in spring of 2008: Sarracenia ‘White Sparkler’ x (‘Ladies in Waiting’ x ‘Judith Hindle’).  Photo taken November 6, 2010.]

 

[The flower.  Sarracenia ‘White Sparkler’ x (‘Ladies in Waiting’ x ‘Judith Hindle’). Photo taken November 6, 2010]

Still lookin' good

In the sea of brown dried pitchers, a few plants still hold well. Most of them are the leucophylla / leucophylla hybrids that have that late season flush of pitchers.  Here’s a recent photo of Sarracenia ‘Wilkersons Red’ – Open Pollinated, or “OP” for short.  It is a plant that came from the S. ‘Wilkersons Red’ plant (a stunning red Moorei) but we don’t know what the pollen parent is. Anyway, It’s still a nice plant. 🙂

S. Wilkersons Red "OP"[Sarracenia ‘Wilkersons Red’ –  Open Pollinated]

Sarracenia "Woodnative #1"

Amidst the sea of brown dry fall pitchers, a few plants still shine before heading off to that winter dormant slumber.   Below is a recent photo of a pitcher of Sarracenia “Woodnative #1”, created by my friend Chris Gussman.  Pretty awesome coloration on this — and for some reason that red/white/slight splash of green remind me that Christmas is right around the corner…

Woodnative 1[Sarracenia “Woodnative #1, a Chris Gussman Hybrid]

Stickin' out…

When breeding, I’ve found that one will encounter a lot of genetic variations. Variants in all Shapes. Size. Colors. Shape. Smell. Feel. Maybe taste.

While doing some sorting in the yard, one of the seedlings really stuck out apart from its siblings.  S. catesbaei “Flying Nun” x “Red Blush” (cross by Brooks Garcia) is the cross pictured below, 2 years old from seed. You can see that in the sea of red, one plant is coming up yellowish.  The one in the center and the yellowish one on the upper right hand third of the photo are pitchers of the same seedling.  The rest of the group is red.  Ah genetics… interesting stuff indeed.

 

S. Catesbaei "Flying Nun" x "Red Blush"[Sarracenia catesbaei “Flying Nun” x “Red Blush”]

New Season

What?! November already?! Where has this year gone? Halloween is now over,  Thanksgiving around the corner… wow.  Plants are preparing for sleep, or already are asleep.   There are still a few of those late season plants that look great, but now as I look out across the collection, the dried pitchers are making themselves more evident signifying the change of season deep upon us.  This also means a lot of pitcher clean up for me in the *very* near coming future. 🙂

Treat or Treat!

Treat or Treat! Recently my good friend Jacob Farin from Sarracenia Northwest sent a pretty freekin’ awesome treat! A big ol’ box arrived and what would I find inside? Hmmm…. A treat… or treat?? 😉 Hahah! What an awesome combo — candy!! (Love the Almond Joy’s!) And carnivores!  Ohhh… Check out some Sarracenia peeking through the packing! And the other very well packed treats – various Nepenthes, Sarracenia, and a drosera. Very cool treat indeed. (Yes, I do grow other carnivores other than Sarracenia!)

For those of you who don’t know, when I first started to get back into growing carnivores, Jacob was one of the first growers I came into contact with that really showed how easy growing carnivores really is. He helped demistify the growing process. His site has some great info and easy to digest carnivore growing info.  Anyway, hope everyone out there has a fun and safe Halloween!

Treat or Treat! 🙂
Treat or Treat!