I HEART SARRACENIA.
Sarracenia ‘Adrian Slack’, view of lid.
-
This work by The Pitcher Plant Project is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Tag Archives: Adrian Slack
I Heart Sarracenia
Update: Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x ‘Adrian Slack’
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
Sarracenia (minor x ‘Judith Hindle’) x ‘Adrian Slack’
Just a quick update on this baby as I’m slowly moving plants out to the new place. It’s growing up a little bit and just wanted to post an update on it. I did this cross back in 2009 not knowing really what to expect. Back in March, 2011 – the seedling looked like this. The areoles (those light spots like this) from S. minor had a nice little influence on the pitchers. I’m finding those dots quite interesting … totally looking forward to seeing this thing really color up in the future!
Sarracenia (minor x ‘Judith Hindle’) x ‘Adrian Slack’
Sarracenia (minor x ‘Judith Hindle’) x ‘Adrian Slack’
Sarracenia (minor x ‘Judith Hindle’) x ‘Adrian Slack’
Posted in Blog
Tagged 2009 Cross by Rob Co, Adrian Slack, hybrid, Judith Hindle, minor, Sarracenia
Sarracenia [(rubra x oreophila) x flava var. rugelii] x ‘Adrian Slack’
Here’s a young plant from cross I did back in 2009 looking admirable. I know that California Carnivores did the same cross the same year – so it’s pretty interesting to see the different variations of this plant that are all out there right now. Anyway this plant looks decent enough under the current low lighting conditions, however I could only imagine what this plant would be like under strong and intense light. There’s some potential, perhaps…
Sarracenia [(rubra x oreophila) x flava var. rugelii] x ‘Adrian Slack’
Sarracenia [(rubra x oreophila) x flava var. rugelii] x ‘Adrian Slack’
Posted in Blog
Tagged 2009 Cross by Rob Co, Adrian Slack, hybrid, oreophila, rubra, Sarracenia
Flower Power
I can’t help but post and share more Sarracenia flower goodness to kick this weekend off – enjoy!
Sarracenia courtii x ‘Adrian Slack’ – Select Clone
Sarracenia leucophylla – Anthocyanin Free
Sarracenia rubra wherryi “Chatom Giant”
Sarracenia ‘Abandoned Hope’
Sarracenia ‘Snorkle’
Sarracenia ‘Alucard’ “Prince of Darkness”
Sarracenia ‘Alucard’ “Prince of Darkness”
Sarracenia ‘Alucard’ “Prince of Darkness”
Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Tarnok’
Posted in Blog
Tagged Abandoned Hope, Adrian Slack, Alucard, anthocyanin free, Chatom Giant, Courtii, flower, Flower Power!, leucophylla, Prince of Darkness, rad, rubra, Sarracenia, Snorkle, Tarnok
Some S. ‘Adrian Slack’ Hybrid Youngsters
Ah, here’s some more things to look forward to in 2012! Here’s a few young pitchers that I left after the great trimdown. These really do not look like much right now as these were some of the younger non-crispy pitchers I left for some quick snapshots. I’m posting these as more of an online documentary for myself; something to compare the future photos to when that time comes.
***
Sarracenia moorei “Orange Glow” x ‘Adrian Slack’
This seedling from this particular cross is exhibiting some yellowish traits – I *hope* that it carries through maturity, and I also hope that the red lip stays. Some of the other siblings from this batch don’t have this color palate, at least, maybe not yet? Who knows. At this age, it’s hard to say if those traits will carry through as young plants can still morph on to something different looking.
***
S. (leucophylla x oreophila), Karen Oudean Clone x ‘Adrian Slack’
The photo doesn’t look like much right now cuz it’s one of those recent weird off season pitchers that came up outta nowhere… but this cross has produced some very promising and elegant pitchers. Check out the 9th picture down here, or check this post here.
***
S. oreophila x ‘Adrian Slack’
So I didn’t get what I wanted out of this cross. (I’m hoping, at least, not yet…) Some had a little bit of color, but it wasn’t very colorful overall. Maybe only a small handful of this cross last year showed some color, but most were on the bland side. Some had some good potential in terms of pitcher shape though. I ran this cross by fellow Sarraceniaphile, Brooks Garcia, and he informed me that at times when crossing with S. oreophila, it can mute the colors of the cross — however the subsequent cross with say, a leucophylla, or leucophylla hybrid can produce some very nicely colored plants. Jerry Addington also confirmed this as well – that when using some strains of S. oreophila, it can kind of just dampen the colors – especially when S. oreophila is used as a pod parent. I’ll be optimistic and evaluate this batch for the next couple years hoping that SOMETHING nice comes out of it… Ah, one can always hope, right?
Posted in Blog
Tagged Adrian Slack, documentary, Hybrids, leucophylla, moorei, Orange Glow, oreophila, Sarracenia
And So It Begins… Again.
2012 has been off to an exciting start. With the majority of the transition behind me, I’ve had time to focus on the next big task: cleaning and re-organizing. Garden moves are not as easy as I would like them to be, and I anticipate a full season before I can really settle in and get things organized at the new place.
The greenhouse provides it’s own set of advantages as well as challenges that I hope to negotiate and document here. Honestly, I really do prefer growing Sarracenia outdoors; however – I’m thankful that at least the garden has a space.
Here’s a few photos from the past few days…
Overgrown seedling tray. Those seedlings are about a year old, and need to be trimmed, cleaned, then re-potted…
A tub of old pitchers. The blade is coming to slice em down soon…
Lots of trimming and re-potting ahead… and no, I really still can’t find stuff I want to find…
One of those nasty pots full of overgrown seedlings… This cross is a Sarracenia (leucophylla x oreophila) x catebaei – Sumatra, FL
Same pot as above – Sarracenia (leucophylla x oreophila) x catebaei – Sumatra, FL post cut. After trimming all these pots, the next step is thinning/shifting the seedlings out to let them grow out for evaluation.
Filllin’ the can up with dead pitchers full of bug guts… delicious.
And if you’re wondering why I haven’t used the katana blade – well, because of the move, I’m having trouble locating it at the moment. But not to worry, it will be in effect once found!
Looking cleaner! I managed to get through only a couple of benches thus far. And that’s only trimming. I still have quite a few more benches to finish with trimming — then it’s re-potting time! YEAH!
Another angle. Notice I left some of the phyllodia (those are the flat non-carnivorous leaves that aid the plant in photosynthesis), as well as a couple of pitchers that were still pretty good looking.
Speaking of pitchers… check out a few of these nifty pitchers that are still holding pretty well late in the season!
Recent addition – a couple of *bizarre beasts*, but yet kind of fun and interesting… this is Sarracenia “Smurf”! From what I was told, it originated as a tissue culture mutant of S. purpurea ssp. venosa, and later found at Carniflora. Special thanks to Kevin for these awkwardly insane and strangely weird beasts! (Uh, yeah… I do have a thing for weird pitcher shapes too…)
Sarracenia purpurea “Smurf”
Sarracenia purpurea “Smurf” — I guess there’s something about those weird pointy hood hook things that I kinda like!
As I was cleaning and trimming – I found some more pots of my cross of S. ‘Golden Red Jubilee’ x purpurea ssp. purpurea. These were growing in partially shaded conditions. Plants that I’ve distributed to others in the past year have shown some nice veins when they were able to be grown out in full blazing sun. Now that I have more space, I can’t wait to see what these things will do!
Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis x “Green Monster” – This is a collaboration cross between an idea that sprang up during a conversation between Jerry Addington and I. The mother plant supplied by Mike Wang, and pollen from the S. “Green Monster” I had. What you see is step 1 in an antho free project we have going on… good times!
Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis x “Green Monster”
Sarracenia courtii x ‘Adrian Slack’ – a select clone from a cross I did a couple years ago – late season pitcher.
There’s still a lot of work left to do. It’s unending, but it’s “work” that I find fun. As I remove the dead foliage, there are faint glimmers of hope that appear. Sometimes I’ll see the beginnings of a new pitcher, or perhaps a slight bulge at the growpoint on certain plants indicating that flowers are just around the corner…
Posted in Blog
Tagged Adrian Slack, Catesbaei, Clean, cleaning, Courtii, Golden Red Jubilee, greenhouse, I CANT FIND MY KATANA BLADE!, leucophylla, minor var. okefenokeensis, oreophila, purpurea, Sarracenia, seedlings, Smurf
