Mostly about flowering

This is what comes of letting your Drosera burmannii flower without concomitant feeding.

This is the "Hann River" form, incidentally.

They're quite fallen off from where they were even in March. I think this phenomenon is why people insist that D. burmannii is an annual even though it demonstrably is not – the effort required to not let it bloom itself to death is tiresome, so it ends up dying. I've got to admire its drive to reproduce I guess.

What it needs to do is what this Drosera scorpioides has done and catch some serious prey.

Look at this big shiny fly!

Incidentally, this species has never flowered for me. I love seeing small plants catch large prey though, it's always delightful.

This Pinguicula gypsicola × moctezumae has a really nice color to it.

So pink and pretty!

This pot is really a mess. You can't really tell in the picture, but there are like 6 species and 3 genera in here. Oof.

I love the look of this flower stalk on Pinguicula rotundiflora × hemiepiphytica.

This is much too cute.

New ping flowers always look so bashful. Never flowered this one before, so I'm excited!

Nearby my Drosera aliciae is not doing well.

Just chill out man.

This is one of my first carnivores, and it's been trying in vain to get off a flower stalk for months and months. They all end up aborting, and the plant looks pretty bad now. I can't figure out why it doesn't just chill out about the whole thing. Oh well.

My first Utricularia praelonga flower petal has dropped and it looks pretty cool.

It's a pretty good-sized flower for a utric.

This probably happened an hour or two before I took this picture, since it's still very fresh and well-shaped. I like how utric flowers just drop as a mass, it's very funny. I'm really getting into Utricularia lately, which is like the most niche part of an already niche hobby. But check out this flower stalk!

Growing plants is so much fun.

It's almost 18 inches high, and has these bright yellow flowers. That's pretty cool man! I think so at least.

Flowers in spring!

I've come to appreciate the effect of seasons on my growing environment more lately. I used to think that the fact that I grow under lights in my garage meant that my plants didn't really experience seasonality, considering the fairly stable temperatures and light quality. However, I'm starting to see that, for example, there is a distinct uptick in flowering into the spring. Let's look at it!

My Drosera felix is putting up a second flower stalk.

Look at the little fuzzles.

This plant has a special place in my heart. It's small and unassuming, but it's just such a trooper, and there's something so adorable about it. I've gotten some seed from the first stalk too!

Pinguicula 'Pirouette' is blooming for the first time.

This is such an elegant plant.

I love ping flowers. This one looks so demure as it's getting ready to bloom.

I've also gotten my first flower on Drosera mannii.

Don't mind all the Utricularia bisquamata.

It looks like I've missed the first couple blooms, but I'll have to keep an eye out for it because apparently D. mannii has blooms bigger than the plants themselves.

Got a Drosera oblanceolata flower stalk!

I like how smooth the flower stalk is. That's not super common in Drosera.

I got this plant in winter, but I think the warmer temperatures are benefiting it a lot. It's looking better than it has since I got it. Nice plant!

Drosera collinsiae is starting to bloom again.

Finally we've got dew on this guy.

I'm almost tempted to trim the flower stalk, since this is the best the plant has looked in months and I don't want it to decline. However, I really want seed, so I think I'll let it go. The last flower stalk aborted.

New flower stalk on Drosera 'Emerald's Envy'!

The plant this stalk is coming from is just doing great.

This particular plant has never flowered before, and it looks like a good one. Gonna get some good seed off this one.

Drosera aliciae is trying to flower again.

Come on D. aliciae, we believe in you.

This plant really struggles. It's aborted the last 3 or 4 flower stalks it's attempted. I can't say why. Here's hoping this one takes.

Now comes to the bit of the post where I do some real bragging. First up, look at this Utricularia longifolia.

So many flowers!

You see that flower in the center of the photo? That flower opened on February 27th. We're closing in on two months for that one flower. There are 14 flowers open on this plant now, and it'll probably be in bloom for at least another couple months. There are a lot of plants I love, but U. longifolia is one I actually admire. It's just an exquisite plant.

Finally, look at this.

I'm really really excited.

See that brown growth there? That's a flower stalk. A flower stalk on Utricularia praelonga. This plant is known for rarely flowering in cultivation, and no one really knows why. Go ahead and do an image search, there are very few photos of it. I am so stoked on this. This is the most exciting thing since my winter-growing sundews woke up. More photos to come!

Spring is great.

Year-to-year comparisons

Growing plants gives one patience. I was never really into plants before I started growing carnivores, and I couldn't imagine the time frames people were talking about – 2 to 8 weeks to germinate seed, a year from germination to flowering maturity. It seemed like everything took forever, and I was super anxious. It's not like that now. I'm more likely to think stuff like, "Wow, it's only been a year. That grew quickly!" I think that this sort of comfort with longer time frames is probably one of the most positive effects that dealing with plants can have on one's life over all.

In any case, I went back through some old posts from last January to see what's been going on. Drosera sessilifolia is a pretty dramatic case.

D. sessilifolia seedlings, 1-26-2015.

D. sessilifolia, 1-9-2016.

How's that for a year's growth? Feed your Drosera! They will reward you for it. This is a great little plant. I'm feeding heavily so that I can show Fernando at the upcoming BACPS meeting.

A plant that doesn't get as much play on the blog lately is Pinguicula laueana × emarginata. It's been a bit buried in the collection for the last year, but I dug it out for this post.

P. laueana × emarginata, 1-23-2015.

P. laueana × emarginata, 1-9-2016.

It's in the same pot, for scale – a little 2-inch nursery pot that I really need to do something about. I don't know what happened to that plantlet that's visible in the top picture. Beautiful plant though!

One plant that was the real dark horse of the last year is this clone of Drosera capensis.

D. capensis "stemmy clone", 1-19-2015.

D. capensis "stemmy clone", 1-9-2016.

I received this in a trade as a broadleaf form of D. capensis and didn't think much of it (the leaves are a little bit broad, but nothing crazy). However, in one year of growth it produced a quite attractive, sturdy stem, and is now looking really cool. I posted a picture similar to the lower photo to my Instagram (follow me @sundews_etc on Instagram!) and people liked it a lot. Unexpected favorite!

A funny case during the last year is the saga of my first Drosera aliciae, which was stricken by aphids. The growth point split, and it looked really weird.

D. aliciae, 1-8-2015.

D. aliciae, 1-9-2016.

Now it still looks weird, but it also looks cool as heck. Look at it! I think I'm going to bring this plant to the BACPS winter meeting to show off. Another situation where neglect produced excellent results (once the aphids were beaten back).

Finally, a cautionary tale: I got a Dionaea 'B-52' in August of 2014, and a couple leaves fell off in transit. I decided to try them as pullings, and one of them really took off.

Dionaea 'B-52' plantlets, 1-27-2015.

Dionaea 'B-52' plantlets, 1-9-2016.

Why is this a cautionary tale? Because my original plant died! It was a terrible summer, and that nice big D. 'B-52' was one of the casualties. If those leaves hadn't fallen off I doubt I would have thought to take a pulling. I've said it before, but propagation is insurance. It's risky to have only one plant or one pot of a given species/cultivar/clone. I don't always follow my own advice, but you should propagate ASAP after receiving a new plant. You never know what might happen!

It's been a good year. I've got big plans for the next one as well. Those plants won't grow themselves!

What's blooming in winter?

It's not officially winter yet, but we've gotten the first real chill in California this last week. Let's see what's blooming in spite of the – relative – cold (it's still California, after all).

Pinguicula emarginata and Pinguicula lusitanica are both putting up blooms.

The venation in this flower is even visible before it opens.

There you go little guy!

P. emarginata is extremely floriferous, and it's got wonderful flowers. I like having it in my collection! The P. lusitanica is a very healthy specimen I got from Josh, and I'm hoping it'll set seed with this bloom, rather than just dying like my last one did.

The alien and adorable Utricularia pubescens has a solitary bloom right now.

Funny little flower.

Unfortunately the sporangia outnumber the flower stalks in this pot. Fortunately, the U. pubescens flowers are cool as heck.

My Byblis liniflora keeps making new blooms, but I've yet to collect any seed from it.

B. liniflora is so delicate-looking.

For whatever reason these guys just aren't making any fruit/seeds. It's still a great plant, but I need to get seed before it dies off. Oh well, I can enjoy it for now at least!

There are a couple other plants blooming right now that I've yet to get seed from: Drosera venusta and Drosera madagascariensis.

This flower stalk is much too long.

Good luck little guy.

That D. venusta stalk is super long and dangly. As you can see, it's insinuated itself among the Drosera spiralis. There might be some seed setting in the spent buds, but I can't tell. The D. madagascariensis might have a better shot this time around, since it's in full scramble, and will be able to support itself on the media once the stalk gets too long. We'll see.

One plant that I'm betting on heavily for seed is this Drosera capensis red form. It's gotten several significant feedings, and it's rewarding me with a fat crop of buds.

A lot more to come here.

Josh has said that this form of D. capensis is the only one that occasionally fails to set seed for him, but I think that this flower stalk at least is chugging away – I'm pretty sure there's some seed swelling in the oldest buds. The tough thing will be to avoid bumping it while it finishes blooming out.

Drosera aliciae and Drosera anglica CA × HI are both blooming for the first time in a while, and I'm excited to get some seed from them.

Haven't seen this one in a while!

I need to do something about this corner.

The D. aliciae that live in the community pot always seem to struggle with humic acid buildup, which makes their growth stall, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Eventually it clears up and growth starts again. I should feed this guy to get a nice crop of seed. The D. anglica is sitting over in the former quarantine tray, and is bending towards the light (the bulbs should be replaced soon).

Finally, there's a flower open on some Drosera omissa.

If you're not growing pygmies yet you should start this season.

As you can see, this species is a very enthusiastic bloomer. It's funny, I've only gotten a few species of pygmies to flower. D. omissa flowers the most readily, and I've also gotten blooms on D. leucostigma, D. allantostigma, and D. helodes. However, I've never flowered D. scorpioides, or D. pulchella, or any of the other species that are otherwise doing so well. It's curious.

The gemmae are ripening though :-D

A post-aphid update

Back about 6 or 7 weeks ago I sprayed my collection with Bayer 3-in-1, a systemic pesticide that I heard was pretty gentle on sundews. It killed off all the aphids I could see, and they didn't come back for a while. Then a couple weeks ago a clutch of eggs must have hatched, because my Drosera aliciae had a swarm of them up the flower stalk. Here's that flower stalk now.

It's a graveyard on there.

It looks bad, but actually I'm super stoked. I didn't reapply any pesticide, but the stalk is covered with aphid skeletons, and very few living aphids. It seems that the systemic application has persisted long enough to take care of a new generation. I think I'll respray today though, just to make sure we don't see another spike once this round eventually wears out.

As I said, my plants didn't seem to mind the spraying. The only possible exception was this Drosera schizandra, but it's definitely doing better now.

I love sticky spinach.

That leaf at 5 o'clock there got burned on the tip around the time I sprayed. Can't say if that was due to the spray though, cause the nearby Utricularia praelonga had a pretty bad case of aphids, which may have also afflicted the D. schizandra. The new growth looks promising though.

I have another D. schizandra in with my Drosera 'Marston Dragon'. It's a bit hard to see beneath all the foliage, but it's doing pretty well down there.

This one seems to be doing well. I can barely see it though.

I really need to figure out what I'm doing with that dragon.

One of the plants that has been looking best lately, and that didn't mind the spraying even a little bit, is Byblis liniflora.

Love the shape of the flower stalk.

I'm really glad I started growing this plant. It's got an ethereal quality all its own, and it's been really popular with visitors to my collection. Plus the flowers are really cute.

The flowers persist for a couple days, it's cool.

I haven't yet gotten any seed from it though. This is supposed to be a super self-fertile species. Maybe I should try helping the pollination along. I definitely need to get some seed from it, cause I don't think it lives too long. Annuals are weird.

A study in dew

I'm off traveling right now! I took some pictures of some of my dewiest plants before I left so I could share them with you all.

Drosera hamiltonii looking about as good as they ever do. It's pretty good!

Drosera prolifera has really liked the cooler temperatures in the garage.

Drosera capensis red form leaf just showing off.

Drosera aliciae from the Community Pot. Great plant!

These are the best-looking Drosera adelae in the colony right now. Lovely!

Sundews are the coolest.

Aphids: The Aftermath

As I've mentioned a few times in the past, I've had problems with aphids lately. I don't know where they came from, but come they did, first attacking my Drosera anglica CA × HI, then my Drosera aliciae, and then to the rest of my collection. I ended up attacking them with Take Down Garden Spray, which is Pyrethrin and canola oil. Damon over at California Carnivores recommended Take Down, and after a month of repeated applications I think I've got the aphids on the retreat.

That's not without them taking their toll. Apparently one thing that aphids can do is make a plant just divide its growth point like crazy. This D. aliciae is the most dramatic example of the phenomenon. When the aphids struck it was only one plant. Now...

Now that's one, two, three...

Four, five...six? growth points. Seven?

I think there are seven plants there now? Or at least growth points. I don't really know. I suppose someday I might separate them out, but for now I kind of like how it looks.

The D. anglica CA × HI, which was hit much harder, also split.

This pot is a mess.

It's a bit harder to see, since there are some Drosera ultramafica × spatulata in there, and maybe a couple Drosera burmannii. It's a big mess in the growth point though.

My D. burmannii also had some aphids, but since D. burmannii don't divide they just got to suffer.

My poor D. burmannii are such troopers.

I'm not sure, but I think I may have noticed some caterpillar droppings in there too. Poor D. burmannii, just getting the one-two punch.

I was very very annoyed to see aphids on my Utricularia longifolia flower stalk. Either because of the aphids, or because of the repeated applications of Take Down, a few of the buds didn't develop, and the older ones faded earlier than I had expected.

I'm still very happy to have these flowers.

At least they're gone now. I think. The new flowers still look great.

Whenever I talk about pests in my collection I like to also talk about bugs getting eaten. This is a fly that got trapped by my Dionaea 'B-52' just as my roommate and my dad were out looking at my Sarracenia with me.

It was a whole mini-drama.

This photo is very ghoulish – the fly is reaching its front legs out in a (futile) attempt to escape.

Before I started growing carnivores I was never the sort of kid to, say, burn an ant hill with a magnifying glass, or pull the wings off of moths. I catch spiders in my house and put them outside instead of smashing them. Carnivorous plants, though, have a certain elegant brutality that allows me to appreciate their particular style of minor violence. Just look that that Dionaea photo. It's grim.

. . .

Btw one of my Byblis liniflora is forming a stem.

Now I'm becoming enamored of Byblis. This could be a problem.

Nice!