Brief, random updates

There are a number of neat things going on in my collection right now, but nothing that I was really able to tie all together to make a nice thematic post. So this is just some show-and-tell I guess.

It's still pygmy season, and Drosera roseana is stepping up to the plate with some fine gemmae. 

Pygmies for everyone!

I definitely need to harvest and re-sow this species, since a number of the plants have pooped out over the course of this season. It's one of the prettiest pygmies I think, but it's definitely a case of a plant burning too bright for its own good.

I think Utricularia lateriflora is my new favorite utric species.

There aren't many carnivores with that intense of a purple color.

Look at that color! It's a really deep, intense purple with a cute white spot. Wonderful little plant!

There's also some nice coloration on this little Pinguicula gypsicola × moctezumae plantlet.

Good job little ping!

Anne gave me a leaf from her plant a couple months ago and it's developing nicely. Hope it keeps that rosy copper color.

Finally, Byblis liniflora continues to wow everyone. It's my girlfriend's favorite plant right now.

What a great plant. Looks amazing.

I wish I'd started growing this species earlier, it's really lovely. Very difficult to photograph though, since it's mostly whitish dew. It still hasn't set any seed for me and I'm not sure why though. I should really try actively selfing it soon. Or maybe cross-pollinating between plants, since they are different clones. We'll see!

Pygmy sundew check-in

Another programming note before we get into the post: The Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society is having its Fall Meeting on Saturday the 24th at the Lake Merritt Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave. in Oakland from 12:00 to 4:00. The topic will be...pygmy sundews! We're heading into gemmae season, so we've all gotta be prepared. There will be lots of photos, a guide to building an aspirator for harvesting gemmae, and more. California Carnivores will be there selling plants, and everyone's gonna have a good time. If you're in the area it would be awesome if you could make it through. Okay, on to the post.

I've been checking in on my pygmies more lately so I can see when gemmae start forming. There are several pots I need to re-sow this year to keep the collection looking tidy. Consider Drosera pygmaea and Drosera roseana here.

Looking a bit tired there guys!

The D. roseana on the right were fed recently. I think they just burned a bit too brightly – these were the plants that produced gemmae only 12 weeks after being gemmae. No wonder they look a bit exhausted. As for D. pygmaea, I've always had trouble with this species. A number of people describe it as being one of the easiest pygmies, but I've just never been able to keep them happy. Who knows.

Drosera patens is showing a bit of a stem/skirt of dead leaves.

They're burning out.

The life cycle of pygmies is so short. This picture from my Instagram is was taken back in mid-May (follow me on Instagram for more plant pictures!). They looked so happy then. D. patens is part of a group of closely-related pygmies including Drosera nitidula and Drosera allantostigma, so I really like them when they're growing well.

My supposedly orange-flowered Drosera pulchella has also shrunk back a bit.

It would be cool to see the orange flowers.

I say "supposedly" because I've never had any flowers from these guys. I don't seem to flower pygmies very readily. Not sure why! Plants are weird. Maybe my conditions are too consistent from them. After all, they're native to a much more extreme climate than my garage (southwest Australia).

My good old Drosera scorpioides are glad to have been recently fed.

Ah, memories. My first pygmies.

I definitely need to re-sow this species this year. Not sure how much longer they'll hold out. Also I've heard from multiple people that their D. scorpioides tend to conk out suddenly sometime during year three. Also I think there's a slug or snail in that tray somewhere. I hate slugs.

Moving on to plants that are doing quite well, check out this Drosera occidentalis ssp. microscapa. It...exists!

These are so hilariously tiny.

Back in February they were nowhere to be found. I'd figured that sowing on the sand had been a bit too extreme for the tiny gemmae – being so small they have less stored energy and moisture, so they wouldn't have time to grow roots into the soil. Guess I was wrong! It still took like 6 months before I could tell they were there though. What a silly plant.

I'm very pleased with how Drosera silvicola and Drosera barbigera are doing.

These have really filled out nicely.

Four plants per pot seems perfect.

These both seem to have some affinity with D. scorpioides in terms of growth habit, but I like how the stem is less pronounced, leading to this nice dome-like set of traps. Quite handsome plants!

I've gotta post about Drosera ×Dork's Pink. Just look at it.

I hope I get a lot of gemmae from these.

D. ×Dork's Pink is D. lasiantha × callistos, an absolutely fabulous man-made hybrid that was formally described in the March 2015 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter (join the ICPS to download it). I just love the density of the traps and the truly wonderful glowing pink color. It's also quite a large pygmy, so it's very striking.

Finally, Drosera sargentii. Drosera Gemmae is actually calling it Drosera parvula ssp. sargentii now. Whatever you call it, I think it's my new favorite pygmy (sorry D. allantostigma).

I could stare at these all day.

Just LOOK at those pygmies. Like perfect little bullseyes. Wonderfully distinct bands of color, almost perfectly circular. I can't even handle how cool this plant is.

If you like sundews you've gotta be growing pygmies. I'm pretty sure they're the coolest.

Drosera roseana already making gemmae (plus some Utricularia Sect. Orchidioides)

As I've covered before, I started a bunch of new pygmy sundew species back on December 10th. My Drosera omissa caught me off guard by flowering after 9 weeks – quick turnaround. But now the Drosera roseana have I think topped that feat.

D. roseana is a very pretty sundew, besides being (apparently) really really vigorous.

Gemmae. That's just over 12 weeks to go from being a gemma to producing a healthy crop. That's nuts. There's another plant in this same pot doing the same thing. Pygmy sundews are so cool. If you're not growing pygmies you're just messing around.

Today I also noticed new growth on the two members of Utricularia Sect. Orchidioides that I have in my collection. Here's the Utricularia cornigera I bought at the last BACPS meeting.

This Utric can get very large. I'm excited.

This is the first new leaf it's put up since being in my collection. I'm glad to see that it seems to like my conditions fine.

My Utricularia humboldtii I received from BACPS Newsletter Editor and Utricularia fanatic Tony Gridley.

I'm going to need to trim off some of the old growth soon.

See those two new leaves in the foreground? I didn't treat this plant very well when I first received it. It sat around in a plastic baggie for around a week after the meeting, and then I just potted it up without any concern for humidity or anything. Luckily it seems to have taken it all in stride. Now I have to be careful that I not let it grow too well, since Tony said, and I quote, "If you win the BACPS show with it I'll never speak to you again."

In more springtime news, my recently-acquired Pinguicula laueana is unfurling its first carnivorous leaf of the season.

P. laueana has nice foliage in addition to the striking flowers.

And also it looks like Drosera 'Marston Dragon' is putting out its first serious new leaf post-dormancy.

The Dragon is stirring.

You know I never really appreciated the spring before I started growing plants. Spring is awesome.