Here’s an up an coming seedling that was given to me by good friend Lois Ochs of Raccoon Ridge nursery, not sure exactly how old this is, but my estimate would be about 3 years old. The parentage is Sarracenia ‘Lamentations’ x flava var. rubricorpora. I am lovin’ the combination of color and nice satin-ish texture on the trap. Kinda like… dark silk seducing it’s prey to venture farther into the trap … now that’s sexy.
[Sarracenia ‘Lamentations’ x flava var. rubricorpora]
So, since I’m stuck on the whole AF thing (again, AF is short for anthocyanin free), just wanted to share one of the crosses that is part of an AF hybridization project. So with this particular cross, my goal is to create a large green anthocyanin free gigantor S. minor looking type plant. This is only step one in the process. Last year, fellow grower Mike Wang, lent me a Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis that was going to flower. I had some stored Sarracenia “Green Monster” pollen in the fridge that I used on it. It gave me a few seeds this year and the below photo is a result of that cross. Now comes the fun part. Yay for awesome geneticish type stuff! The plants below now have that recessive AF gene, and when crossed again with another AF plant, it should unlock some of that AF goodness! I am also hoping some of the size from the Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis would carry over. It’s going to be a couple of years, but still a something to look forward to!
[S. minor var. okeefenokeensis x S. “Green Monster”, November 20, 2010]
Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! Here’s an update of a hybrid that I created in 2009. Looking forward to what the mature adult plants will be like — and not only because I think both of the parent plants are pretty FRESH, but they are also anothcyanin free, and I flippin’ love love LOVE anthocyanin free plants. Again, when a plant is anthocyanin free (or “AF” for shorthand) there is no pigment/coloration in it. I guess you can say it’s equivalent to albino-ness.
[Meet the parents]
[Left: S. courtii, AF | Right: S. “Green Monster”. (S. excellens, AF)]
[S. courtii x “Green Monster”, September 28, 2010]
[S. courtii x “Green Monster”, November 13, 2010]
And the two of the strongest seedlings were separated and are lookin’ pretty good thus far.
[S. courtii x “Green Monster”, November 13, 2010]
[S. courtii x “Green Monster”, November 13, 2010]
Posted in Blog
Tagged Addiction, AF, anthocyanin free, Carnivorous Plant, Courtii, Green monster, growing from seed, hybridization
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.
[Sarracenia ‘Doodle Bug’ OP, Photo taken 11/13/2010]
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]
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. 🙂
[Sarracenia ‘Wilkersons Red’ – Open Pollinated]
Posted in Blog
Tagged Addiction, Carnivorous Plant, Garden, growing from seed, hybridization, Open Pollination, Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia, Sarracenia Hybrid, Wilkersons Red
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…
[Sarracenia “Woodnative #1, a Chris Gussman Hybrid]
