Tag Archives: Orange Glow

October Update

Hi all! I am still alive. Geez, has it really been over a month since I’ve posted anything up on here? Yeah, it has been a busy month so far – and now that dormancy is fast approaching, things in The Asylum will get even busier! Divisions, repotting, cleaning, and reorganizing are all things that I hope will be done while the plants are asleep. (By the way, you can always catch me on the Instagram – @rco911 – in between blog posts.)

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Before the photo updates, just a couple things worth mentioning…

– A core member of BAPP and dear friend… moved to Oregon. I’m currently babysitting Derek’s plants. For the time being, his plants and my plants are getting along and playing nicely. 

– Mike Wang and I went on a lil’ Darlingtonia excursion earlier this month. Photos and video to be featured in a future post. You can read about *one* of the sites we visited in Mike’s post on the Sarracenia forums. Stay tuned for a future Darlingtonia update!

– Not plant related, but SF GIANTS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES! AGAIN! YEAHHHHH!

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So anyyywayyyyyy… at this point in time, much of the greenhouse looks like this. Fugly.

OctoberDormancy. Time to bust out that katana blade and slice through this madness soon. 

BUT! There are still a few gems in that mess.

Although *most* of the Sarracenia pitchers are fading, things are still looking OK in the mini-greenhouse. This is a small 6 x 8 greenhouse with it’s own micro climate. Read more here. It’s more humid than the main house, and the temperatures seem to be a bit more stable. It does not get so hot in there during the day and (I am hoping) it does not get too cold in there during the winter. I can line this with bubble wrap and stick a small heater in there if need be during winter. I would not want to find myself stuck in the same cataclysmic-cold-snap situation like last year. See link above. Anyway, some of Derek’s plants have moved in here. So far, so good.

Nepenthes HouseInside the dome.

Nepenthes tiveyi "Red Queen"Nepenthes tiveyi “Red Queen” – from Kinjie Coe

Nepenthes ventricosa x tiveyi
Nepenthes ventricosa x tiveyi – from Paul Barden

In the realms of Sarracenia – couple things still looking decent in the wreckage of burnt out foliage. I haven’t had a chance to photograph some of the leuco/leuco hybrids that are still OK but on their way out. Hope to provide an update on that later.

Sarracenia moorei "Orange Glow" x 'Adrian Slack'Sarracenia moorei “Orange Glow” x ‘Adrian Slack’ – one of my crosses from a few years ago. Still a young plant that I finally put in it’s own pot! Let’s see what that extra root space will do next season.

Sarracenia "Saurus"
Sarracenia “Saurus” – Fall pitchers. Cross by Phil Fauilsi. The Spring pitchers were even more massive.

Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa
Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa – a cross between two different S. purpurea ssp. venosa clones by Mike Wang. I’m diggin’ the ruffles.

StapeliaStapelia in effect. Not a carnivorous plant, but boy does this mofo smell. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to experience this awesome odiferous wonder, Derek! OMFG does this thing staaank.

New Growth

Oh the festivities of this last move… again, it was FUN! It really is amazing how much difference lighting can make. Plants look happier! (Oh, I can almost hear them signing the Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! song…) Even in that last holding area, the plants have been reacting well. YES, there’s a ton of unsightly pitchers flopping all over the place as you may of noticed in the last post – but there’s a few new leaves springing up that signify something better is on the way! Late fall and winter is going to be fun trying to clean all this stuff up. That is a wonderful time of the year. That’s when my hand forged Katana blade comes out.  Like this. And like this. The blade is great for trimming as well as security. Hell, might as well make this fun, right? Here’s some photos that Dahlia and I took below of some plants throwing up some new growth…

Greenhouse Move 2012 - Stage II

A forest of poopie colorless floppy pitchers. Bleh! This is a result of the horrid low light conditions at the old spot. On the plus side, I am hoping that this increased leaf area will promote additional photosynthesis to make up for lost time. I hope that the plants are taking in additional light and storing that in energy in their rhizomes for some phat pitchers next year! At this time next year, watch how different these plants will be looking!

Garden Move Stage II

 Even in the fray of poopie floppy foliage, there’s some new growth! Freshly opened pitchers look promising! Seeing a sight like this is encouraging.

Garden Move Stage II

More new upright foliage in a sea of floppy.

Garden Move Stage II

Sarracenia leucophylla looking bright!

Garden Move Stage II

A new pitcher opens up on this antho free mystery hybrid with another on the way. This came from a cross of S. mitchelliana x ‘Leah Wilkerson’ done by Wes Buckner. If it really is an antho free mutation of this cross, that would be very “amazeeeeeballlllllzzzzzz!!!”.  Read about this cross here. I am in love with the elegant shape of this violent vase of a plant.

Garden Move Stage II

Sarracenia ‘Leah Wilkerson’ x ‘Adrian Slack’ by Brooks Garcia looking hawt with the new pitcher opening up! Lovely flush of pink, but that will go to white hawt once it gets going in the strong light.

Garden Move Stage II

New pitcher getting nice and juicy colored – Sarracenia [(rubra x oreophila) x flava v. rugelii] x ‘Adrian Slack’ – a cross I did in 2009, same year that California Carnivores did their cross. I am guessing the same parent plants were used.

Garden Move Stage II

Another angle of a new pitcher of Sarracenia [(rubra x oreophila) x flava v. rugelii] x ‘Adrian Slack’.

Garden Move Stage II

Sarracenia moorei “Orange Glow” x ‘Adrian Slack’ looking almost translucent. A cross I did back in 2009. I’m hoping that white on that hood really picks up in this light! Who knows. Let it grow, let it glow.

Garden Move Stage II

The top of this S. oreophila x ‘Adrian Slack’ clone getting frosty! Another cross I did back in 2009. Yeah, you can see I went a little nutzo with S. ‘Adrian Slack’ that year. Ironically, the next 2 years, the plant never flowered for me. Let’s hope for blooms next year!

Garden Move Stage II

In focus left, Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Hurricane Creek White’ (from Mike Wang. Unfortunately, I didn’t note which clone this was before taking the photo…) and to the right, Sarracenia mitchelliana, anthocyanin free. Some new pitchers that sprang up in the temporary holding location.  Radness.

Glow

Sarracenia moorei "Orange Glow" x 'Adrian Slack'Sarracenia moorei “Orange Glow” x ‘Adrian Slack’

As I was out checking up the plants, one of the seedlings caught my eye. It was kind of like “OH! SOMETHING SHINY!” in a mess of burning-out-toppled-over-older-pitchers. It’s Sarracenia moorei “Orange Glow” x ‘Adrian Slack’ which I crossed back in 2009. I haven’t really noticed it in the past because of all the transitions, and the poor conditions that the plants were in. I  mos’ def had a hard time seeing the true potential in the plants at that crappy last spot, but things are turning around here. Now that it’s getting more light, it seems happier and is putting up new pitchers. I hope that it can hold or even intensify that white coloration as it matures. This is one that I’ll be watching for sure!

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.

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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.

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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.

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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?