Sarracenia: A Lidless

RobBlog, Sarracenia

A cross was done by Wes Buckner some years ago – the parentage was: Sarracenia leucophylla – Franklin Co., FL x “Red Viper”. Seed was sent out and a sweet lidless plant came out from a batch that Phil Faulisi grew out. I am not entirely convinced that this lidless came out of that parentage (…but who knows, right?). It is still a unique beauty and one that I enjoy growing. Flower sepals and pitchers are tinged with gorgeous red veins all while looking sorta heliamphora-esque. New pitchers are forming and will be open soon.

Spring Cleaning: Flytrap Edition

RobBlog, Dionaea, Other Carnivores

Flytrap fun! To make room for new traps, I give the flytraps a cleaning each spring spring. During some seasons, I’d do a full re-pot and trim/clean up. (Other growers I know do this.) However, with limited time and so many other (sarracenia-centric) projects coming up, I decided to manicure the babies by simply hand-picking off all the dead traps. Now there’s more room for the new leafy jaws.

Breaking Dormacy 2021

RobBlog, Darlingtonia, Sarracenia

The plants are waking from their slumber and buds are all over the place. It is a truly magical time to see flower buds emerge and burst open. I’ve collected a few clips throughout April of the plants breaking dormancy and compiled into the video below. The shift from winter sleep to the deluge of color now begins.

The first bloom of the season was on 23 Apr. This honor goes to a flava with some interesting flower filament structure thingy going on under the hood.

Buds ’bout to go off everywhere. A few more photos below. (Click on images to enlarge.) A very promising season lies ahead!

Big Green Ala

RobBlog, Sarracenia

One AF (anthocyanin-free, or all green) line of breeding I’ve been having fun exploring is that of big AF green wing things. Or “ala” (a wing like part). I was inspired by the shape of Sarracenia rosea “Big Mama”. Below are a few shots of S. rosea “Big Mama” wings. The first photo on the left is from Oct 2012 (enjoying the warmth of the greenhouse) and the other two photos from Apr 2021 – outdoor grown. The beat up looking pitchers are from last season and survived the PNW winter. The ala shape is still there.

In 2012, I crossed S. rosea “Big Mama” with a S. purpurea ssp. venosa AF. (Or S. purpurea ssp. venosa var. venosa f. pallidiflora) Below are a couple shots of the father plant. The one on the left is from 1 Jun 2013, the one on the right is a smaller division – pitchers are from last season.

So I crossed both S. rosea “Big Mama” and S. purpurea venosa AF plants in 2012. Below are how the seedlings looked a year later in 2013. Even with this group, there’s some seedlings exhibiting some ala.

Fast forward a bit, and here are the pitchers in April of 2021. Pitchers in photo below are from last season.

These plants are pretty sweet. A few from the seed batch have that big wing (2013 photo). And some don’t. What’s neat is that these plants have that recessive/hidden all-green (anthocyanin free) gene. In 2018, I had the opportunity to cross some of the siblings. Seed was germinated outdoors in 2019 and I let them grow outdoors for a bit. A percentage of the seedlings that came up contained the red anthocyanin pigment. A few also were anthocyanin free. Last year, when the temps started to get a little colder (around mid-autumn I think), I brought the seedlings in and gave them a little push under lights for this last winter. It looks like we got wings on some of ’em. I hope this trait remains stable. A large winged AF purp thing was my target in this multi layer project.

Below are a couple of seedlings pulled out from under lights and grown outdoors since around mid March of this year. The latest pitchers are the more prominent ones in the shot which have developed outdoors. It’s still early – but I’m pretty excited to see how these will grow this upcoming season. I wonder if they’ll end up looking like big neon heads of lettuce.

Buds

RobBlog, Darlingtonia, Sarracenia

It’s that time of year when plants start to wake up and send up their flowers. Buds are rising!

If you’re not using the flowers for breeding, do you snip buds off to promote more vigorous pitcher growth? Or do you leave the buds to enjoy the flowers? I usually leave the flowers on to do their thing. It’s kinda nice to see the vibrant colors all over the place. I may do some bud snipping on certain plants to encourage more pitcher growth. For example, I snipped most of the buds off my mother S. ‘Saurus’ in an attempt to see what kind of pitchers I’d get this season. There were about 15 emerging buds throughout this rhizome mass. After snipping I left about 3 buds, just in case I needed it for breeding efforts this season.

Here’s a few more photos of buds happening from the back yard. It’s always cool to see those little spheres explode into the colorful jellyfish-looking flowers.

Trim: 2021

RobBlog

It’s that time of year again! Here’s a short timelapse vid of last season’s pitchers being cut down to make room for new growth. Trimming is currently in full effect – preparing for the oncoming onslaught of new growth. Exciting times and a lot to look forward to!

Clippers from homie Jenn, still in effect.

music: Branching Paths | Ichika Nito https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0dRt…
Shot on iPhone

Spring Cleaning.

RobBlog

It’s that time of year again! Temperatures are slowly rising and plants are showing signs of waking up. In past years, I used to leave the non-carnivorous winter leaves (phyllodia), but this season I’ve decided to just trim it all down to the rhizome. It saves me trimming time, plus more light can now get down into the core of the rhizome mass. An explosion of growth is soon on the way.

Cold Plants

RobBlog

A video of some cold plants.
Music: moonkiss | toby schay, quickly | album: overgrowth

We’ve recently experienced some cooler temperatures here in Pacific Northwest. With this last round, the plants were hit with some sleet, freezing rain, and snow. Tables froze solid. It seems almost difficult to fathom — but these plants are just fine. Even after having the pleasure to grow them for several years in different climates, I still find it fascinating that the plants able to handle this cold. Temperatures here are relatively mild (USDA Zone 8b), and these plants have been known to survive colder winters. Like over at Carl’s spot, for example. As mentioned here, I’ve left the dormant pitchers on as insulation for wonderful times such as this. Not sure if it makes a big difference leaving them on, but it helps me to know that their rhizomes are (somewhat) protected in the event of a sharp cold snap. They’re currently dormant and will pick up active growth again once things get warmer. Here’s a few photos and video clips of cold plants from Jan and Feb 2021.

Nepenthes lowii under UV

RobBlog

More glowing ferocious foliage coming at you! Here’s Nepenthes lowii under 254nm UV light. Nepenthes are fascinating and never cease to amaze me. There’s more UV plant photos and info here and here. Huge thanks to Mark T. for hooking it up with this magnificent beast of a plant. (Thanks again, Mark!)