daily news and photography about cacti and succulents
and some california natives too
"Drolly entertaining and informative at the same time." CSM
Nepenthes ventricosa comes from the highlands of the Philippines. They must get some scary looking bugs up there to have such a ferocious looking carnivore also. But I am brave enough that someday I will go there for you and find them in the wild and take a picture of one beautiful N. ventricosa in habitat eating a large insect or small rodent. For you!
Drosera dichrosepala enodes
Tiny carnivorous babies! The Pygmy Sundews might be big enough to sell by July! I just can’t wait. We can thank Anne for these exciting new species we’ll be carrying all thus year!
These are the blooms on one of our Nepenthes sanguinea, and it appears we have a female! Seeds, too?
Time to Pot Up the Carnivores!
Drosera spathulata, Fraser Island Form.
Sundew
Native to Australia
Perennial Carnivore
Sun: Partial to Full Sun
Water: Bog
Size: Low-growing, 2″ across
Round spoon-shaped leaves are covered with sticky hairs which capture and digest insects. Thrives in hot and humid conditions, but can be grown outside.
Butterwort
Native to SE U.S.
Evergreen Carnivore
Sun: Moderate to Full Sun
Water: Bog
Size: Rosettes to 5″
Attractive rosettes. Sticky leaves trap bugs like flypaper. Pale purple trumpet-shaped flowers. Stays green in winter, indoor or outdoor. Do not water over the leaves.
Sarracenia leucophylla “Tarnok”
Native to U.S. Gulf Coast
Perennial Carnivore
Sun: Moderate to Full Sun
Water: Bog
Size: 2 to 3 ft. tall
White hood with green and red veins is pointed and covers most of the opening. Grows in upright clumps. Large red flower sprays spring/summer.
A nice grouping of carnivorous plants for you. Today we have:
a Sundew
a blooming Sarracenia
and a lovely green Nepenthes too.
Drosera binata – Forked Sundew
Native to Australia and New Zealand
Deciduous Carnivore (Evergreen if Grown Indoors)
Sun: Partial to Full Sun
Water: Daily, Distilled Water Best
Size: Draping, 12- 18″ leaves
Dew covered multi-forked leaves turning bright red in the sun. Sticky dew captures insects. It forms a large insect-catching bush. Best grown in 50/50 peat moss and sand. Also grows well in standing water. Hardy to 25F.
Is it the Frog or is it the Pitcher Plant?!?
Photo by the estimable Anne Smith of the Carnivore Jungle.
Western chorus frog on a Sarracenia flava hybrid in the carnivore greenhouse!
Clicken to Embiggen
Rikki sends along news from yesterday’s Carnivorous Plant Society show that Devon won a Blue Ribbon!
Here’s the Blue Ribbon winning Drosera and it’s potted in one of our Carey Cherney Handmade pots!
And follow me after the break for another shot. (more…)
Naturally Occuring Hybrid Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia x readii – Pitcher Plant (S. rubra x S. leucophylla )
Florida Hybrid
Perennial Carnivore
Sun: Moderate to Full Sun
Water: Bog
Size: 12″ tall
Grows in upright clumps. Large red flower sprays mid-summer. Keep moist with slightly to moderately acidic water.
We have 2 new Sundews at the nursery. The classic Forked Sundew and a new White Sundew. Nice!
Drosera binata – Forked Sundew
Native to Australia and New Zealand
Deciduous Carnivore (Evergreen if Grown Indoors)
Sun: Partial to Full Sun
Water: Daily, Distilled Water Best
Size: Draping, 12- 18″ leaves
Dew covered multi-forked leaves turning bright red in the sun. Sticky dew captures insects. It forms a large insect-catching bush. Best grown in 50/50 peat moss and sand. Also grows well in standing water. Hardy to 25F.
Drosera capensis “Alba” – White Sundew
Native to South Africa
Perennial Carnivore
Sun: Partial to Full Sun
Water: Bog
Size: Low-growing, 6″ across
White leaves are covered with sticky hairs, will move like tentacles to capture and digest insects. Thrives in hot and humid conditions, but can be grown outside.
Anne’s Sarracenia is Blooming!
Anne previously shared her Sarracenia collection with us before the large one was in full bloom, and now it is in full bloom!
Sarracenia x excellens
Anne sent along this photo of her Sarracenia collection.
One of those has gotten HUGE!
Do you think she’ll be kind enough to add species names in the comments?
The Pitcher Plant Project has some great photos of some early blooming Pitcher Plants, being in the Sarracenias.
Buds!
Indeed they are, and some of the plants are budding before they grow spring pitchers, but that’s just normal.
Sarracenia leucophylla “Tarnok”
Native to U.S. Gulf Coast
Perennial Carnivore
Sun: Moderate to Full Sun
Water: Bog
Size: 2 to 3 ft. tall
White hood with green and red veins is pointed and covers most of the opening. Grows in upright clumps. Large red flower sprays spring/summer.
Christmas Cactus Keeps Blooming
I love small town newspapers.
Crestview woman’s Christmas cactus covered in 200-plus blooms
You’ll need to click through to the Crestview Times-Picayune, or maybe it was the Crestview Daily-Reader or wait, no that wasn’t right, it was the Crestview World-Globe? Crestview News-Bulletin? Crestview Advertiser? Anyway, just click through for the picture of the old lady who has kept her mother’s heirloom christmas cactus alive for over 100 years. And the picture includes an inset of a Venus Fly Trap for some reason. I can’t find any reference in the article to the carnivorous plant in the Crestview woman’s collection, so I don’t know why the picture is there. Go ahead and take a look! You’ll see! It’s “Interesting”!
Pitcher Plant Friday (Nepenthes Edition)
The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park has a lot of Nepenthes hanging around, doing their Pitcher Plant thing. In contrast to the orchids, the Nepenthes are not well labeled, so I don’t know what species most of these are. Except for the one fancy fanged Pitcher Plant…
“Nepenthes bicalcarata, also known as the fanged pitcher-plant, is found only in Borneo. The purpose of the fangs has long been debated among botanists. They have been thought to deter mammals from reaching in and stealing the contents of the pitcher, though the more intelligent mammals like monkeys have been observed tearing open the side of the pitcher to get to drowned insects. Other botanists suggest that the fangs, which secrete nectar, serve to lure insects into a precarious position over the pitcher mouth, where they may lose their footing and fall into the pitcher fluid, eventually drowning and becoming food for the plant.” via SF Conservatory of Flowers QR Code.
The rest of these are not quite as spectacular, being without two perfect fangs, but they are amazing, even if the Conservatory did not see fit to name them.
I see our Sarracenia “Judith Hindles” have gotten very very red for fall.
Do you like it better with the blue sky background?
Bonus “Cobra Nest” is also very red. Maybe not quite as red.
The post below shows all the pretty and photogenic Pitcher Plants in their native habitat: In front of a beautiful black background ready for their closeup.
Here we see them growing as quickly as they can before the winter dormancy period arrives. I hope we have enough flies to feed them all.
We have some more new Pitcher Plants in full pitcher just before we get into the winter dormancy period. This is your last best chance to get a good look at the variety of hoods and colors that we get with these readily hybridizing carnivorous plants.
Sarracenia minor
Sarracenia “Mardi Gras” must be from New Orleans. What? It’s not? Then who named this plant?
Sarracenia “Ladies in Waiting” is very frilly.
Pitcher Plants are always so photogenic! I love it.
