Hello!
In April 2010 I was walking to the top of campus at SFSU and passed by the University green house. They were having a plant sale and I decided to check it out. I ended up purchasing a Sarracenia x readii and had no idea what I was getting myself into or how I would get swept up with the elegance, efficiency, beauty, and variety of Sarracenia (and CPs in general.)
I kept the plant inside at first, but decided to move it out onto the balcony a few months later. It was not getting a proper amount of sun, nor was I using pure water, though SF's tap water was not too bad.
April 21st, 2010
I decided to repot the plant but I had no idea what I was doing! I ended up using normal fertilized soil and I'm surprised I didn't kill my plant. Itlived survived like that for a year or so before I repotted it in a peat moss/sand mix prior to a year long study abroad program in Prague.
May 20th, 2011
It eventually outgrew that black pot so I moved it to its current home, still not following all of the CP rules as I repotted it quite late (mid spring.)
April 23rd, 2013
Here it is during last years dormancy, January 16th, 2014.
Lo and behold with the proper sized pot, the correct planting medium, distilled water, and plenty of sunlight the plant took off in growth and threw up 11 flowers this year.
May 5th, 2014
And here it is on July 7th, 2014. Simply stunning! The tallest pitchers are 28" with a 1.5" mouth.
As I learned more and more about these plants I had to add some more to the collection. I made a run up to ____ a couple months ago and came home with a good bounty.
Darlingtonia californica
S. flava v. rugelii x v. maxima with bonus D. binata var. dichotoma
Dionaea muscipula
S. minor with a few bonus bladderworts
D. capensis 'wide'
S. leucophylla with more D. binata var. dichotoma and U. bisquamata
D. omissa x pulchella (w/ more U. bisquamata)
I'll post a few pictures of the Sarracenia I got and leave the other pictures for a general photo dump thread I'll make shortly.
S. flava v. rugelii x v. maxima
S. leucophylla
S. minor
And the most recent addition that I picked up from the BACPS show a few months ago.
S. minor var. okefenokeensis (Ware County, GA "unique seedling")
One of the things I absolutely love about the CPs is how they attract so much other life, they form a small ecosystem around them. When you spend enough time staring at your plants, you notice all the little details, good and bad about them. My favorite has been watching the jumping spiders. Their curiosity and apparent intelligence is marvelous.
Cautiously exploring my pygmy sundew.
And here is the home of the small grey jumping spider. What a perfect location. Protected from the elements, a natural enclosure, and the plant attracts all the food it needs. Pretty nice life!
In addition to photos, I've taken a number of videos of the action around my plants and have a budding (pun intended) Youtube channel if you'd like to check it out.
[url]https://www.youtube.com/user/BayAreacp[/URL]
In April 2010 I was walking to the top of campus at SFSU and passed by the University green house. They were having a plant sale and I decided to check it out. I ended up purchasing a Sarracenia x readii and had no idea what I was getting myself into or how I would get swept up with the elegance, efficiency, beauty, and variety of Sarracenia (and CPs in general.)
I kept the plant inside at first, but decided to move it out onto the balcony a few months later. It was not getting a proper amount of sun, nor was I using pure water, though SF's tap water was not too bad.
April 21st, 2010
I decided to repot the plant but I had no idea what I was doing! I ended up using normal fertilized soil and I'm surprised I didn't kill my plant. It
May 20th, 2011
It eventually outgrew that black pot so I moved it to its current home, still not following all of the CP rules as I repotted it quite late (mid spring.)
April 23rd, 2013
Here it is during last years dormancy, January 16th, 2014.
Lo and behold with the proper sized pot, the correct planting medium, distilled water, and plenty of sunlight the plant took off in growth and threw up 11 flowers this year.
May 5th, 2014
And here it is on July 7th, 2014. Simply stunning! The tallest pitchers are 28" with a 1.5" mouth.
As I learned more and more about these plants I had to add some more to the collection. I made a run up to ____ a couple months ago and came home with a good bounty.
Darlingtonia californica
S. flava v. rugelii x v. maxima with bonus D. binata var. dichotoma
Dionaea muscipula
S. minor with a few bonus bladderworts
D. capensis 'wide'
S. leucophylla with more D. binata var. dichotoma and U. bisquamata
D. omissa x pulchella (w/ more U. bisquamata)
I'll post a few pictures of the Sarracenia I got and leave the other pictures for a general photo dump thread I'll make shortly.
S. flava v. rugelii x v. maxima
S. leucophylla
S. minor
And the most recent addition that I picked up from the BACPS show a few months ago.
S. minor var. okefenokeensis (Ware County, GA "unique seedling")
One of the things I absolutely love about the CPs is how they attract so much other life, they form a small ecosystem around them. When you spend enough time staring at your plants, you notice all the little details, good and bad about them. My favorite has been watching the jumping spiders. Their curiosity and apparent intelligence is marvelous.
Cautiously exploring my pygmy sundew.
And here is the home of the small grey jumping spider. What a perfect location. Protected from the elements, a natural enclosure, and the plant attracts all the food it needs. Pretty nice life!
In addition to photos, I've taken a number of videos of the action around my plants and have a budding (pun intended) Youtube channel if you'd like to check it out.
[url]https://www.youtube.com/user/BayAreacp[/URL]
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