BACPS 2015 Annual Show and Sale

This past Saturday was the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society's Annual Show and Sale at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, CA. It was a fun day! Unfortunately I got very little sleep the night before – one of those nights where you just stare at the ceiling in despair – so by the end of the show I was exhausted.

It was a tough weekend for a show. We were competing with the San Francisco Cactus and Succulent Society show, as well as the San Jose Orchid Exposition. In spite of that we had a very nice turnout from members of the public. However the show itself was a bit less packed with entries than we'd have liked. Sundews and pings were well-represented, as were Sarracenia. The Nepenthes entries were a bit more sparse than usual, but still contained some excellent plants. However there were zero entries in the "Other Pitcher" category, only 1 for the aquatics, 2 for Art, and just 3 in "Terrarium/Dish Garden."

We're not sure why so few plants were submitted as compared to last year, but increasing show participation is going to be a major goal for the coming year in the BACPS. Now, without further ado, the entries.

Art

First: Heliamphora nutans, pontillist drawing, Sam Stafford.

Second: Venus flytrap, metal sculpture, Benjamin Bailey.

Terrarium/Dish Garden

First: Pygmy Garden, Devon Peterson. Also Third in Show.

Second: Dish Garden featuring Pinguicula sp. Huahuapan, Stephen Davis.

Check out that amazing flower! That's a new ping to add to my want list.

Third: D. adelae, D. scorpioides, D. burmannii, Ben Raymond.

Butterwort (Pinguicula)

First: Pinguicula 'Pirouette', Doris Quick.

Second: Pinguicula 'Weser', Stephen Davis.

Third: Pinguicula gigantea, Brian Lipinski.

Sundew (Drosera, Byblis, Roridula)

First: Drosera falconeri, Apache Rose. Also First in Show.

Second: Drosera ordensis, Apache Rose.

Third: Drosera ultramafica × spatulata, Devon Peterson.

American Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia)

First: Sarracenia flava var. rubricorpora, Doris Quick.

Second: Sarracenia alata "black" × flava "red", Stephen Davis.

Third: Sarracenia hybrid, Larry Logoteta.

Tropical Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes)

First: Nepenthes spectabilis, Apache Rose. Also Second in Show and winner of the Geoff Wong Award for Horticultural Excellence.

This was really a flawlessly-grown and wonderfully-presented plant. Apache really knows how to grow 'em.

Second: Nepenthes talangensis × robcantleyi, Josh Brown.

Third: Nepenthes bongso, Elizabeth Sampson.

Aquatic

First: Utricularia graminifolia, Devon Peterson.

I was sort of bummed there weren't more aquatic entries, since I think this guy would have shown well against some competition. Oh well.


Venus Flytrap

First: Dionaea 'B-52', Benjamin Bailey.

 
Second: Dionaea 'B-52' × 'Ginormous', Larry Logoteta.

Third: Dionaea 'Red Dragon', Anne Smith.

Best in Show

I've gotta say, the real hero of the show was Apache Rose. Anyone who's active in carnivorous plant groups on Facebook knows Apache, and she really brought some killers. She also credited me with helping her get that D. falconeri so strikingly red – she raised her plant right up near the lights in the last two weeks to color it up, as I had done with my Drosera burmannii last year. It was well done!

First in Show was Drosera falconeri by Apache Rose, Second in Show was Nepenthes spectabilis by Apache Rose, and Third in Show was my own humble pygmy garden.

It was a fun show. Still, there were 5 ribbons not awarded due to lack of entries. Any SF Bay Area growers reading this post: start preparing your plants for next year.

Flowering age: various Drosera

Let's do a little overview of how long it's taken various of my plants to grow to flowering size, either from seed or from leaf cuttings.

I started Drosera burmannii, Drosera intermedia 'Cuba', and Drosera capensis 'Albino' at the very end of 2013, and they all germinated in mid-January of 2014.

D. intermedia 'Cuba' was the first to flower, on the 11th of April, only 3 months after germination.

D. intermedia 'Cuba' seedlings, mid-January 2014.

D. intermedia 'Cuba' flower stalk, 4-11-2014.

Then we had the D. burmannii flowering on the 16th of May, 4 months.

D. burmannii seedlings, mid-January 2014.

D. burmannii flower stalk, 5-16-2014.

The D. capensis 'Albino' took the longest, sending up a stalk on July 4th, just under 6 months.

D. capensis 'Albino' seedlings, mid-January 2014.

D. capensis 'Albino' flower stalk, 7-4-2014.

Last spring I got some Drosera natalensis seeds from Natch Greyes, which germinated in mid May of 2014, and started blooming just a couple days ago, on February 13th, 2015 – 9 months. Bear in mind though that these guys got no food for the first 3 months of their lives, and then had a huge growth spurt once fed.

D. natalensis seedlings, mid-May 2014.

D. natalensis flower stalk, 2-13-2015.

Another really speedy plant is Drosera sessilifolia. The seeds germinated on September 21, 2014, and with a lot of feeding the first ended up blooming on February 11th, 2015 – just under 5 months to flowering size.

D. sessilifolia seedlings, 9-21-2014.

D. sessilifolia flower stalk, 2-11-2015.

Those are the only plants I've started from seed that have bloomed, but I do have a couple of species blooming right now that I propagated from leaf cuttings. First is Drosera ultramafica × spatulata. The cuttings struck in mid-June of 2014, and the first plant flowered on February 12th of this year, 8 months total.

D. ultramafica × spatulata strikes, mid-June 2014.

D. ultramafica × spatulata flower stalk, 2-12-2015.

The cutting I'm proudest of is the Drosera anglica CA × HI, which is one of the best plants in my collection. It was one of the earliest strikes in the Summer Batch, on August 4th, 2014. I noticed the bloom stalk (already well developed) at the beginning of February of 2015, so it probably started blooming just after the new year. That's only 5 months, and it's a big, strong plant.

D. anglica CA × HI strike, 8-4-2014.

D. anglica CA × HI flower stalk, 2-2-2015.

So here's how it all breaks down:

From seed:

• D. intermedia 'Cuba': 3 months
• D. burmannii: 4 months
• D. sessilifolia: 5 months
• D. capensis 'Albino': 6 months
• D. natalensis: 9 months

From cuttings:

• D. anglica CA × HI: 5 months
• D. ultramafica × spatulata: 8 months

I remember when I was first getting into growing plants the idea of waiting for 4 months to get a mature plant from seed seemed like forever, but at this point I'm already thinking things like, "Well next season when my pygmies produce gemmae..."I hope this post encourages some people to try out starting new species from seed. It's not very difficult (I still need to write up a Cultivation Guide on it though) and it's extremely rewarding to watch the seedlings grow up.

The most important thing to remember in any propagation effort with Drosera is that feeding is crucial. The reason that my D. natalensis and D. ultramafica × spatulata lagged behind the others is that they weren't fed all that much early on. Even just 2 or 3 feedings of seedlings will give them a huge boost in life. Good luck!

(P.S. – Sorry for the week of silence here on the blog. It's been a bit hectic here at Pinkhouse lately. Luckily that means I have a lot of new stuff to talk about!)

Some progress shots

It's been a while since I made a post of progress shots. I have a lot more plants now, so there are more plants for me to choose to document. Most of these are propagation efforts. This is one of my favorite aspects of keeping a blog – it forces me to photograph my plants regularly, so I can really see how they grow and develop.

First up, the fantastic hybrid, Drosera ultramafica x spatulata. I won this plant in the NASC auction back in March and started some cuttings fairly soon thereafter.

D. ultramafica x spatulata leaf cutting strikes, 6-30-2014.

D. ultramafica x spatulata plantlets, 8-26-2014.

Drosera ultramafica x spatulata plants, 1-26-2015.

This is a really great plant. It grows quickly and shows phenomenal color, even with heavy feeding. I had originally thought that it was a sterile hybrid, but it is setting seed all over the place (in all sorts of pots). I would recommend this plant for any beginner.

Next up, Utricularia longifolia. This was an acquisition from my first trip to California Carnivores back in June.

U. longifolia, 7-22-2014.

U. longifolia, 9-14-2014.

U. longifolia, 1-26-2015. Look at those "leaves!"

I love Utricularia. Utrics are super weird and specialized. U. longifolia is a very aggressive species, so it lives by itself right now. I should pot it up into a larger container so it can continue to expand. I also want to just install a huge pot of this outside where I can just ignore it and let it go crazy. I'm super pumped for these flowers too. They're great.

The thing that really prompted this post was my Dionaea muscipula 'B-52' leaf pulling.

Dionaea 'B-52' leaf pulling strikes, 12-11-2014.

Dionaea 'B-52' strikes, 12-27-2014.

Dionaea 'B-52' plantlets, 1-26-2015.

These were just some leaves that fell off in transit when I bought this plant from Brie in August or so. The one on the right shriveled immediately, but the one on the left has been going crazy. Look at those cute little plantlets!

The Dionaea 'B-52' pullings were started as an afterthought, while this Drosera capensis Bainskloof cutting was something I fretted over.

D. capensis Bainskloof strike, 9-21-2014.

D. capensis Bainskloof plantlet, 11-14-2014.

D. capensis Bainskloof, 1-27-2015.

This plant is almost getting its mature shape. I'm feeding it a lot, because man I want this plant looking great in my collection. There's been big progress lately.

Some months back I scattered some Drosera aliciae seed on a pot that briefly contained a sundew which rapidly declined in my conditions (I think it was used to much higher humidity). This was the laziest propagation effort I've ever undertaken.

D. aliciae seedlings, 9-17-2014.

D. aliciae seedlings, 12-11-2014.

D. aliciae, 1-26-2015.

This is a great case of neglect working out. I'll probably repot them in advance of the next BACPS function so I can donate or trade them. They're looking pretty good.

Finally, my Pinguicula moranensis GG. I got this plant from California Carnivores along with my U. longifolia.

P. moranensis, 7-22-2014.

P. moranensis, 10-10-2014.

P. moranensis, 11-21-2014.

P. moranensis, 1-26-2015. That's powdered beta fish food on the leaves.

This is one of those plants that goes in and out of being my favorite. I've liked watching the leaves fill in the rosette and get more of a pointed, scalloped shape. And that color! That pink color is way too cute. Once this round of leaves has been replaced I think I'm gonna try a couple of leaf pullings.

I love seeing progress shots.