Tag Archives: Pitcher Plant

Repottin' time

Posted on July 21, 2010 | Leave a comment

[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. 🙂

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

The Beautiful Unknown

Posted on July 20, 2010 | 3 comments

[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.

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Tagged Carnivorous Plant, Garden, North American Pitcher Plant, Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia, Sarracenia Hybrid, The Pitcher Project, Unknown

Addiction Starter

Posted on July 14, 2010 | 1 comment

[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.

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

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Tagged Addiction, Carnivorous Plant, Garden, Obsession, Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia, start, The Pitcher Project

One. [Lost and … found?]

Posted on July 13, 2010 | 3 comments

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…

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Posted in Blog

Tagged Addiction, anthocyanin free, Carnivorous Plant, DOH!, Garden, lost and found, Obsession, Pitcher Plant, pod, The Pitcher Project, vision

Go Green!

Posted on July 8, 2010 | 3 comments

In today’s world, we hear a lot about being green. Think green. Be green. Green. Anthocyanin Free that is. (Anthocyanin is that pigment that makes things… well, er… not green… ) I’m partial to Sarracenia that are free and lacking in anthocyanin. So in light of this, I wanted to share with you a few photos of only some my green plants. These few photos all from this year. Enjoy 🙂

Sarracenia leucophylla flower, opening

Sarracenia psittacina

Sarracenia courtii

Sarracenia leucophylla x rubra ssp. jonesii

Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa v. burkii f. luteola

Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa

Sarracenia rubra ssp. jonesii

Sarracenia “Green Monster”

Sarracenia (purpurea ssp. purpurea x rubra ssp. jonesii) x (leucophylla x rubra ssp. gulfensis)
One of my own select seedlings from a cross I did in 2008.

In the foreground – Sarracenia… something! Another one of my own anthocyanin free crosses, a few months old. The cross is secret, for now. Keep checking in and I will update you on the progress and reveal the identity in due time. 🙂

…And another Sarracenia courtii, going green, going vegan. GOING VEGAN!!!

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Tagged anthocyanin free, Carnivorous Plant, Garden, green, Obsession, Pitcher Plant, sarracenia seed pod, The Pitcher Project

Behind the Shell

Posted on July 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

Hey everyone! I’m still stuck on this beginnings/seeds thread — so, before we embark further on our hybrid journey, I just wanted to show you what lies behind that shell. I took this photo in September of 2009. This particular cross is Sarracenia (oreophila x willisii) x “Green Frog”. This is a first glance of this cross in its seed/behind the shell form. I carefully stripped away the shell and left the seeds attached. Each one of those seeds has the potential to become some pretty interesting plant. Each will be different. Some will be stronger than others, some will appear to be more like one parent, and some will look more like the other. Some will clearly have characteristics of both. Each will be different; but for now as you can see – they all begin pretty much looking the same. All of these great plants we see around us start off the same. Lil’ small things. Yet, the potential inside each of those small things is inexplicably unfathomable.

myPod.

Posted on July 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

Sarracenia Seed Pod

Originally uploaded by RCO911

The pod.

I took this photo of a Sarracenia seed pod last year (2009) and thought it would be fitting to share during this “beginning” of this blog. Contained in the pod are the little seeds of the beautiful tubular death leaves. Encapsulated in each seed is beauty. The Sarracenia’s beauty for me lies in both it’s aesthetic form and deadly function.

The pod is a milestone in hybridizing that I strive for. For me, this is where the perception and interpretations are made manifest. This is where the hypothesis begins to solidify. In the pod are the seeds of vision that will be tried in period of cold stratification and then brought to life later in warmth and light.

Tag Archives: Pitcher Plant

Repottin' time

The Beautiful Unknown

Addiction Starter

One. [Lost and … found?]

Go Green!

Behind the Shell

myPod.

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