Friday, April 11, 2014

Some preposterous blooms

A few of my plants are in bloom right now, all of which are silly in their own way.

First and most surprising, I've spotted a bloom stalk coming up on the largest of my Drosera intermedia 'Cuba' seedlings, although I guess reaching flowering maturity means that it's no longer a seedling. It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but it's definitely a scape.

Drosera intermedia 'Cuba' with baby flower stalk.
D. intermedia 'Cuba'. The bloom stalk is almost exactly in the center of the photo.
Another plant sending up a flower stalk is the Drosera binata var. multifida f. extrema that I received in a trade 3 weeks ago. I'm amazed that it's acclimated quickly enough to flower.

Drosera binata var. multifida f. extrema flower stalk.
D. binata var. multifida f. extrema flower scape coming up.
Drosera binata var. multifida f. extrema flower stalk closeup.
Closeup of the bloom.
 Most of the D. binata complex is not self-fertile however, so I'm planning on giving it a few more days and then cutting the flower stalk and using it to start new plants. Grow Sundews says D. binata forms propagate extremely easily from flower stalk cuttings. That will be cool.

Last, and cutest, my Utricularia livida has a new bloom.

Utricularia livida flower.
Little tiny U. livida flower.
When I received this plant from Natch Greyes' Carnivorous Plants it had two flower stalks which were sort of floppy from shipping. This bloom just opened up on one of the two, so it's not quite as though it has flowered all the way for me yet. Still, it's a cute little bloom, and makes me happy. The rest of the plant is spreading vigorously in its pot as well, more robustly than any of my other Utricularia.

Utricularia livida in the pot.
The U. livida pot. Spreading out nicely!
Someday there will be a whole little field of tiny leaf-looking things in there. Hopefully someday soon!

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