Tag Archives: Garden

Ares, unfolding…

Sarracenia "Ares" unfolding[Sarracenia “Ares”]

I’m standing somewhat at the threshold of my own “hybridization journey” since I’ve only recently started breeding a couple of years ago.  A lot of ideas have already taken root and put up those “seedling” pitchers.  Some plants are a couple years old and are showing a lot of promise as young juveniles.  And yet, some ideas are still locked away in seed pods waiting to be harvested.  This journey has just begun.  As I watch my own path open up before me,  I savor and enjoy the moment as it all unfolds before me.

Now, watching things unfold before you is pretty awesome.  Here’s Sarracenia “Ares” opening a brand spankin’ new pitcher!

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Sarracenia “Ares” is a plant that was created by a very good friend who has motivated me much in this Sarracenia creation madness/obsession/addiction – Jerry Addington. (Jerry – Thank you!) Countless hybridization ideas have been bounced off each other, and hopefully soon you’ll be able to see some of those things take life! Be sure to check out Jerry’s website: http://courtingfrogs.com/

Sarracenia 'Tapestry'

Sarracenia 'Tapestry'[Sarracenia ‘Tapestry’]

A few days ago, I was just decompressing in the garden spending some time with the Sarracenia. Just one of the ways I love to decompress after a VERY trying day in the office. My mind numb from all the demands that comes with the real estate industry.

So there I am with in camera in hand photographing some plants.  Looking over to where this plant was, it’s elegance really struck me.  S. ‘Tapestry’ has always been a plant I’ve greatly admired, but that day I was really taken (even more so) by how the rich dark veins play such a beautiful contrast on the pitchers.

After such a long day, I found myself drawing some pretty self relevant metaphorical parallels by just admiring the plant. We all go through “stuff”.  There are times that will be challenging and dark.  But looking at the big picture, those are the times that refine us and add character. Those are the defining times that add a flair of enigmatic artistry to the beautiful tapestry of our life.

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This is one hybrid that’s just amazing. S. ‘Tapestry’ was created and registered  by my good friend, Karen Oudean.  (Thanks Karen!) Visit her website at: http://www.oudeanswillowcreeknursery.com/

For more information about S. ‘Tapestry’, check out  http://www.carnivorousplants.org/cpn/Species/v38n2p56_58.html

My First Pitcher Plant

I’ve always been fascinated with carnivores. Ever since I was a child, I was involved in gardening with my grandparents. When I learned that carnivorous plant existed, I was determined to obtain and grow them.  I first learned of carnivores when I saw them on TV, watching Nature on PBS. I also remember seeing a segment on carnivorous plants on the kids science show Mr. Wizards World back when it used to be aired on Nickelodeon.

Back then I only had access to the pale and wilted moldy venus fly traps at the local hardware store. The plants were located on the bottom shelf of course. In the dark. Behind the paints.  Directions to care for these things instructed me to “feed hamburger”, allow only “4-6 hours of sunlight a day”, “plant in rich loamy soil” that “included leaf mold” and “keep under 60F.”  Horrid I tell you. Pretty much, for us carnivore-heads, we’ve all been there.

When I first saw the pitcher plant on TV, I was just going nuts.  I HAD TO HAVE ONE. JUST ONE. I must of been about  6 or 7 years old at the time. I didn’t have access to any pitcher plants so I made my own.  How you ask? Forced evolution. Kinda.

My grandfather had onions growing in the garden. The large kinds that were as tall if not taller than me at the time. I noticed their tubular leaf structure and in my childhood wisdom and creativity figured out that Sarracenia must of evolved from these plants.

Now the photos I took today were of some green onions I have growing in the yard, so these aren’t as large and magnificent as the pitcher plants I created before… but for illustrative purposes, it will do.

[Onions. Where “Sarracenia must of evolved from.”]

So what did I do? I selected large onions leaves to create the pitcher. I took my scissors and cut the tube at the desired length and angle. Viola! There’s my pitcher!  To help it evolve faster, I used a spray bottle to fill it with water.  Ok. Now how about digestive fluid?

[Pitcher plant in creation.]

Uh… so again, my childhood creativity kicked in and I spat into the pitcher. Yeah. That’s right. I spat. I spitted. Yumm-O! My idea was that the saliva would help digest the insects that it would catch. That onion smelled enough anyway, and I figured bugs would be drawn to the scent. I helped to feed the plant by finding bugs and placing it into the watery-spit filled abyss… Oh those were good times indeed.  My addiction in its early stages yielding some really creative results…

Repottin' time

Sarracenia moorei: 2 year old seedlings[Photo: Sarracenia leucophylla x flava seedlings. 2 years old]

It was nice to have a day off today. Got a few things done, hung out with the family and — repotted!  Here’s a photo of some moorei seedlings that are in dire need of repotting!   Today took 3 batches of different crosses and shifted them into larger pots and some of the select seedlings were set aside in individual pots. With growing plants from seeds, it can get crowded really quick 🙂  In any event, it’s all good.

Here’s a photo of one of the seedlings I set aside. It’s a S. ‘Hummers Okee Classic’ x purpurea ssp. venosa. Yes, looks very swaniana-ish. (S. swaniana is a minor/purpurea cross.) Given the parentage, it’s something that I would expect it to look like. However, I gotta give it a couple years to really see what this plant can do.  As I sort through more seedlings, I’ll update you on things I find from the seedling pit. 🙂

Sarracenia 'Hummers Okee Classic' x purpurea ssp. venosa[Photo: Sarracenia ‘Hummer’s Okee Classic x purpurea ssp. venosa – a cross I did back in 2008]

The Beautiful Unknown

Sarracenia "H2"[Photo: Sarracenia “H2”]

I’m just coming back from a wonderful mini vacation from the beautiful Napa Valley of California. I had a chance to just relax and recharge away from the daily grind and think about some of  the “unknowns” that happen in life.  And some of these unknowns that we all face are the things that make life as beautiful as it is. It was the unknown that was the inspiration for this post.

In my collection there are a few plants with “unknown” parentage.  I do know a few growers that will just toss ’em into the compost heap because they are just that – unknown.  That’s all good –  I respect these growers for their strict discipline. I know where they are coming from and the rigid guidelines they adhere to – and I hold them in high regard for what they do.

With my collection though, I’m one of these guys though who will take care of the orphans, and appreciate their beauty even though there is no record of the parents. Yes, I also try to be strict in my own records, however — I won’t turn a good plant down just because I don’t know what it is. Instead, I welcome the mystery and the beauty that it has to offer.

A little background on the plant above and the “H” hybrids:
The plant in the photo above was received from Mr. Bob Ziemer in March of 2008. This photo was taken July 20, 2010.   Mr. Ziemer’s “H” Hybrids are the surviving remnants of a bunch of complex crosses from Mr. Bob Hanrahan that were given to Mr. Ziemer in the late 60’s or early 70’s.  Mr. Ziemer then moved away to various locations over several years and upon returning to where the plants were, he found only a few had survived.  The survivors were the ones that endured years of neglect by various house sitters – and of course, the labels were all lost by then.  The plants that survived were not wimps – having been subjected to freezing, no water for weeks and all other sorts of extended neglect.  Roughly about 20 years ago, Mr. Ziemer put them all in individual pots and bestowed upon them the numbered “H” designations.

Addiction Starter

Sarracenia 'Leah Wilkerson'

[Photo: Sarracenia ‘Leah Wilkerson’, top of hood view – from 2008]

In this “hobby”- a few of us could look back and see where it had really set foot and cemented itself into our life.  For me, I have always been into plants, always into gardening. As a child I grew up with my grandparents, helping them out in the garden.  The garden has always been a part of me and my life. [More on this and how I got into the carnivores later…]

That one plant that really cemented my addiction to Sarracenia and creating new hybrids was S. ‘Leah Wilkerson’.  (Thanks Brooks!)  This was my addiction.  A truly fantastic and spectacular plant indeed. It was in December of 2006 when I first received this plant; I knew then that my addiction was forever interwoven in the fiber of my being.  December 2006 – the winter of my discontent. I wanted more.  I was hungry to learn so much more.

At this point in 2006, I had been growing carnivores for about oh, 2 or 3 years or so. I had a small yet rapidly growing  collection at this time, mostly of plants that were pretty available.  I visited a couple carnivorous plant nurseries already within the past couple years and was just getting into this carnivore thing. One of the places I visited in 2005 was Karen Oudean’s nursery in Washington State.  Later on she told me that  she could already see it in me and already knew that I would be in this deep. Ha! 🙂

Anyway, at this time, I had plants like those Venus fly traps, sundews,  and quite a few pitcher plants.  I definately was not too knowledgeable about all of the different cultivars out there, but when I saw S. ‘Leah Wilkerson’ – that REALLY did it. Floodgates opened.  I remember feeling how much I wanted to know. How much I wanted to learn so much more about Sarracenia and hybridization.  From this point on I began to seek out and talk more with people who have been growing, learning as much as I could.  More importantly – I was learning and being inspired by their wisdom.  I am forever thankful for those of you who took the time to teach and inspire me (you know who you are!)

So for me, yeah, you could say it was S. ‘Leah Wilkerson’  that really sparked the insanity.

Sarracenia 'Leah Wilkerson'

[Photo: Sarracenia ‘Leah Wilkerson’, from 2008]

One. [Lost and … found?]

one

Photo: [Sarracenia courtii AF x leucophylla AF]

Hey everyone, hope you’re having a good week so far!

Yesterday I harvested a seed pod in where I thought there would be no seed at all. Turns out there was only ONE seed. The pod parent was a recent acquisition this year – another clone of an anthocyanin free courtii. Being that it was a recent division and I let it flower this year, it was too stressed to actually properly set seed. The pollen I used was already a few months old as well. It was worth the shot anyway to cross the two plants. I decided it would be a worthwhile photograph to capture the ONE seed in the entire pod.

How much more value I place on that one seed, and the high hopes I have for it. Undoubtedly I will cross the two plants again next year if the opportunity arises. For now, this is what I have to work with for this cross. Just one.  There is a high percentage that it could also of been selfed, which would still yield an anthocyanin free plant, but anyway — I am hopeful. I want that leuco represented in this cross.

So – whats up with the “lost and found” that I referenced in the title??

After I photographed this pod on one desk I moved it back to another desk to prepare to take the seed. When I arrived at the other desk, >DOH!!!< the seed was GONE! I frantically began to scour the floor in between the two desks with a flashlight knowing full well it would be close to impossible to locate the one seed.  I then managed to find a seed under my keyboard.  Is the seed I found the seed? I won’t know until a few months from now. That’s another project to pursue that I am sure you will be reading about in the future.

I wouldn’t have a problem say if 2 or 3 seeds formed of this cross this year, but ONE?  Egads!  Oh well, there’s always next year…