I decided to get a Darlingtonia californica today at the SF Botanical Garden (aka Strybing Arboretum), partly was because they were selling really nice plants at a good price. A friend who volunteers at SFBG also told me that when he bought one he was told to avoid too much sun (he lives in SF). This surprised me, but I looked at the bog (which may or may not be their source of material) and saw that it is indeed partly shaded. For those who don't live in the area, partial shade in foggy/cloudy SF is almost like full shade in the sunnier areas of the Bay (for example where I live). I understand Darlingtonia can grow in the wild in different levels of sunlight, and presumably different populations are at least somewhat adapted to those.
So I'm partly curious what people think about Darlingtonia and sun in general (my average summer temps are 75/55). I'm also curious if anyone has any specific knowledge about the one the SFBG grows and sells (and again it's possible those are not the same plants).
I don't have full sun anywhere, so a tolerance for growing in considerable shade would be a good thing.
Here's the plant--in a 4 inch pot. There are a couple of smaller ones popping up at about 2:00 (small green leaves, closer to edge than small red leaves) and at 10:00 (partially obscured by ~ 6 inch leaf/pitcher).
(There's also a Drosera capensis in the pot, near the large growing point.)
So I'm partly curious what people think about Darlingtonia and sun in general (my average summer temps are 75/55). I'm also curious if anyone has any specific knowledge about the one the SFBG grows and sells (and again it's possible those are not the same plants).
I don't have full sun anywhere, so a tolerance for growing in considerable shade would be a good thing.
Here's the plant--in a 4 inch pot. There are a couple of smaller ones popping up at about 2:00 (small green leaves, closer to edge than small red leaves) and at 10:00 (partially obscured by ~ 6 inch leaf/pitcher).
(There's also a Drosera capensis in the pot, near the large growing point.)