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
When breeding, I’ve found that one will encounter a lot of genetic variations. Variants in all Shapes. Size. Colors. Shape. Smell. Feel. Maybe taste.
While doing some sorting in the yard, one of the seedlings really stuck out apart from its siblings. S. catesbaei “Flying Nun” x “Red Blush” (cross by Brooks Garcia) is the cross pictured below, 2 years old from seed. You can see that in the sea of red, one plant is coming up yellowish. The one in the center and the yellowish one on the upper right hand third of the photo are pitchers of the same seedling. The rest of the group is red. Ah genetics… interesting stuff indeed.
[Sarracenia catesbaei “Flying Nun” x “Red Blush”]
What?! November already?! Where has this year gone? Halloween is now over, Thanksgiving around the corner… wow. Plants are preparing for sleep, or already are asleep. There are still a few of those late season plants that look great, but now as I look out across the collection, the dried pitchers are making themselves more evident signifying the change of season deep upon us. This also means a lot of pitcher clean up for me in the *very* near coming future. 🙂
Posted in Blog
Tagged Carnivorous Plant, dormancy, dried pitcher, Garden, North American Pitcher Plant, November, Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia
I was sick yesterday and today and this afternoon I finally managed to gather enough strength to go out and replenish my soul by spending time with the plants. One of the seedlings that caught my eye today was this S. leucophylla seedling. This was a seed grown plant that I recevied as seed on October 23, 2008. Nearly two years later, this is what it looks like. The cross was done by my friend Wes Buckner and is the result of crossing two very nice leucophylla parents from the same location (Franklin County, Florida, the parent plants were denoted by “A” and “B”.) Thanks Wes!
[Sarracenia leucophylla, Franklin County “A”, x leucophylla, Franklin County “B”]
*San Francisco Giants Win the National League Pennant!!! YEAH!*
Congratulations to the SF Giants! Tonight’s game between the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies was just *insane.* Typical Giant’s torture. Quite a riveting game to say the least. That last inning – could it of been any more intense?!
Wilson & beard do it again for the save! One thing about Brian Wilson’s beard — it’s inspirational. The “Fear The Beard” movement has now spread and even inspired my*pitchers.* 🙂 For those of you unfamiliar with the SF Giants pitcher, Brian Wilson, here’s link about the man, the myth, and the beard.
Now behold … my bearded pitcher!!!
Posted in Blog
Tagged Beard, Brain Wilson, Fear the beard, North American Pitcher Plant, Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia, SF Giants, The Pitcher Plant Project
[Sarracenia mitchelliana x excellens]
A very rad hybrid here that was from my good friend, CP Mama Lois Ochs of Raccoon Ridge Nursery. In the spring it puts up somewhat regular colored greenish pitchers, but in the fall, that is when the leucophylla influence really shines imparting some stunning coloration as exhibited in the photo. The exact parentage is uncertain, other than it was a cross between a mitchelliana (in other words, a purpurea ssp? / leucophylla hybrid) and excellens (or minor/leucophylla hybrid). Thanks Mama Lo!
Back to basics, shall we?
Sarracenia species. Below you’ll find the cornerstones of what the hybrids are built upon. I’ve recently been even more appreciative of the species; probably due to the hybrid madness that’s going on with me right now. I love the complexities, the various breeding combinations, and the whole roll-of-the-dice that you get when breeding plants. You never know what you’ll get! Patience required, but hybridizing is very awesome indeed.
That said, I’ve been only breeding/hybridizing for the past 2-3 years. I’m just starting and am only just starting to see some of my work come to fruition. All of this crossing, combining, creative madness has gotten me to really appreciate the species so much, and to realize the importance of preserving them.
Below are a few photos of the species and a listing of their subspecies/variations. Keep in mind, that even within species, there is much diversity in color, shape, and size. The photos below are for illustrative purposes to give you a very general feel/sense of what each of these species is all about. Taxonomy for the plants are debated in some cases (depending on who you talk or argue with) — but for now, I’ll try to keep it simple… 🙂
[Sarracenia alata: Pale Pitcher Plant]
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[Sarracenia flava : Yellow pitcher plant]
– Sarracenia flava var. atropurpurea
– Sarracenia flava var. cuprea
-Sarracenia flava var. maxima
– Sarracenia flava var. ornata
-Sarracenia flava var. rubricorpora
-Sarracenia flava var. rugelii
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[Sarracenia leucophylla: White pitcher plant]
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[Sarracenia minor : Hooded pitcher plant]
-Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis
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[Sarracenia oreophila : Green pitcher plant]
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[Sarracenia psittacina : Parrot pitcher plant]
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[Sarracenia purpurea : Purple pitcher plant]
-Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea
-Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea f. heterophylla
-Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa : Southern pitcher plant
-Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii
-Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii f. luteola
-Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. montana
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[Sarracenia rubra : Sweet pitcher plant]
-Sarracenia rubra subsp. alabamensis : Alabama pitcher plant
-Sarracenia rubra subsp. gulfensis : Gulf coast pitcher plant
-Sarracenia rubra subsp. jonesii
-Sarracenia rubra subsp. wherryi : Red pitcher plant
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Posted in Blog
Tagged Addiction, basics, Carnivorous Plant, hybridization, North American Pitcher Plant, Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia, Sarracenia alata, Sarracenia flava, Sarracenia Hybrid, Sarracenia leucophylla, Sarracenia minor, Sarracenia oreophila, Sarracenia psittacina, Sarracenia purpurea, Sarracenia rubra, Sarracenia species, species, The Pitcher Plant Project
