Sarracenia “Big Mama”
Sarracenia “Big Mama” – A select form of Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa v. burekii or Sarracenia rosea – depending on how much you feel like typing or talking. Well, no actually. That’s just me. You read up on that debacle here. Whatever it’s called, I know that it’s a pretty nice plant. WORD TO YO MAMA.
Cute they may be – but don’t let them fool you! Even the first baby pitchers come up hungry! Here’s one showing an appetite for those little irritating fungus gnats (Bradysia species). MMMMMM — Delicious!!!
You know, I have this thing for the bizarre. (Hell, I am a little bit of strange one myself!) I mean, DUDE – I grow plants that eat things. Carnivorous plants have evolved some rather rad and fearsome idiosyncrasies and are mos’ def are not your “typical” plant. Sarracenia “Smurf” is one of those plants that fall into that freakish category within this carnivorous cartel. It is my understanding that this freak was a mutation of S. purpurea ssp. venosa v. burkii discovered in tissue culture. I know that this plant does not appeal to many – and yo, that’s totally OK. I’ve heard comments along the lines of: “Dude, the thing is a FREAK!”, “Someone should put it out of it’s misery.”, “I don’t like it at all.”, “…Ready for the compost heap…” and “That f*cker is just straight up FUGLY!”
I, on the other hand, find this curious oddball of a carnivore outlandishly fascinating.
Yeah, I understand that everyone has their own tastes. That’s just one aspect that makes growing and breeding plants interesting and engaging. I truly enjoy the range and the diversity of botanical flavors out there. And yes, I do favor some forms more than others depending on my mood. I guess. One thing is for certain: I am looking forward to seeing how these little freaks play in the gene pool. I hope they play nicely with the others… 🙂
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Sarracenia “Smurf” village
Sarracenia “Smurf”
Sarracenia “Smurf”
Sarracenia “Smurf”
Sarracenia “Smurf”
Sarracenia “Smurf”
Sarracenia “Smurf”
Just a quick update on some of this generation’s seedlings.
Photos from 19 June 2012. Enjoy!
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Sarracenia “Green Monster” x “Big Mama”
Note: “Big Mama” is a select big ol’ form of S. purpurea ssp. venosa v. burkii — or S. rosea depending which naming convention you’re comfortable with. Personally, I like S. rosea because it’s less taxing on my fingers to type out. Seriously. Imagine typing out “S. purpurea ssp. venosa v. burkii” every time. Every. Single. Time. Blah. I’m guess I am getting lazy. Anyway – I’m hoping to use the recessive anthocyanin free gene in future crosses with this cross. I am hoping for big chunky S. swaniana flavored looking plants. Should be a fun plant to work with in the future!
Sarracenia ((purpurea ssp. purpurea x rubra ssp. jonesii) x
(leucophylla x rubra ssp. gulfensis)) AF x mitchelliana AF
Sarracenia mitchelliana AF x “Green Monster”
Sarracenia mitchelliana AF x “Green Monster”
Sarracenia mitchelliana AF x “Green Monster”
Posted in Blog
Tagged AF, anthocyanin free, Big Mama, germination, Green monster, hybridization, mitchelliana, recessive, Sarracenia, seed, seedling
CUTE ALERT! Just an update on the Darlingtonia californica – mountain clone babies! These seedlings sprouted from seeds that were sent to me from Sam Bookhardt (on twitter: @SammLiberty) back in October of 2011. Check that post out here!
I’ve stratified and germinated these Darlingtonia seeds in the same fashion as my Sarracenia seeds. (Check that post out here.) I’m proud to report that these babies sprouted and are doing well. Aren’t they just friggin’ adorable?!
Thanks again, Sam!
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Just so you get a sense of scale – that’s my index finger next to the little Darlingtonia seedling below. Now, don’t let their cuteness fool ya. They will grow up to be hungry monsters. Bugs, BEWARE!
Posted in Blog
Tagged californica, darlingtonia, germination, Sam Bookhardt, seedling, sprout
Back in 2010 I had this idea of crossing S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ with S. ‘Adrian Slack’. Yeah, mos’ def ’twas a CRAY-CRAY idea. Sooooo… I did it. There weren’t a lot of seeds, it was something like under 20 seeds in that pod. And only 10-12 sprouted. S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ for me hasn’t been a plant that produces many seeds, and I don’t really get any pollen from this plant either. Other growers, including Phil Faulisi (creator of S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ reports similar results with S. ‘Reptilian Rose’.) That makes breeding with The Reptile a bit more challenging on our end. Dr. Travis H. Wyman, on the other hand, has had good success with using S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ in breeding. (Dude. I guess Dr. Wyman is just too much of pure awesome. 🙂 )
What I was envisioning when I did this cross was a plant that would have the following characteristics: a jagged nectar roll from S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ with the pitcher structure, color, and elegance from S. ‘Adrian Slack’. As many of you know, S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ is definately one of my all time favorites. Not just because of the unique structure of the nectar roll and it’s menacing appearance – but also because of it’s scent. On a warm day, one can smell the sweet smelling rose scented traps. It’s amazing. Sometimes you can even get hints of cinnamon in there. Very rich aroma. (Ugh, listen to me… what next? …Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Spit?)
Below is a photo from last year – 10 February 2011, when the seedlings were only a few months old. These were started under lights.
10 February 2011 – Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x ‘Adrian Slack’
What really frustrated me is that I’ve lost quite a few seedlings from this cross from the sub-par conditions that I was just in from these past few months. Low lighting, poor air, and poor water took a devastating toll and lead to quite a few losses. Talk about FRUSTRATION. I’m left now with only a handful of the seedlings from this cross which I am nursing back to strength. Because of the move that I’ve undergone, the plants have been introduced to slightly stronger (but not direct) light. This cross was one of those that I first moved out in the beginning of June. I had to get it out of there before I lost any more. Anyway, I am happy to report that some color is now starting to show and the plants are getting stronger.
Now the plants are still young and are couple of years old. One finally put up a pitcher showing a little teeny-weeny bit of character. Like I mentioned before, the colors on all of the plants right now are pretty much whacked out… but hey, at least I’m seeing some of that red on the mouth come out only after a couple weeks in brighter light.
I’m hoping that the jagged lips will express itself in the following season. You can’t really see it here, but there is some subtle undulation in the nectar roll. In the years that follow, I hope that the angular jagged nectar roll and more color characteristics will really express itself. I’ve seen it happen in other S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ hybrids that Dr. Travis H. Wyman created. Like this in 2010, then like this in 2011. Here is one other example of another seedling in 2012.
Under stronger light, I am hoping that the lid would exhibit more areas of white. If you look closely, there are very faint white splotches on there. From what I’ve seen in the past with some of my other plants, I anticipate that those splotches really spread out and lighten up. Given my situation and current transition, I’m happy with what I’m seeing. There’s lots to look forward to and will update y’all again once it shows some more interesting qualities.
Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x ‘Adrian Slack’ – 17 June 2012
Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x ‘Adrian Slack’ – 17 June 2012
Posted in Blog
Tagged Adrian Slack, Reptilian Rose, Rob Co Hybrid, Sarracenia, Sarracenia Hybrid, Thanks Phil and Travis!, Update
Happy Friday!
At the beginning of this month I moved a couple trays of plants over to the temporary greenhouse. After a couple of weeks, I began to see some adjustments that the plants were already making. (These trays were in the temporary venue prior to the recent grand move I wrote about in the last post.)
Yeah, it’s a hot jumbled mess in that photo above! If you notice, there’s that one plant with a whitish lid — it’s pretty nice to see that color now. It was completely solid green at the old spot. If you look closely, there’s also hints of new stronger growth rising up out of that fray and it’s only been a couple of weeks. NICE. I’m going to have a fun time sorting out this mess in the late fall/winter.
The plants in the photo above have also been in that holding location for a couple of weeks. The old growth is stretched and lanky – flopping over. But wait… there’s new growth coming out of those growpoints that are actually looking — somewhat decent! (Now, If only I could borrow Uncle Rico’s time machine to see how these babies will look like in the future…) GOSH! That’s FLIPPIN’ SWEET!
