A few new plants

I've gotten a good number of new plants recently, the first new plants in some time. At the risk of turning this into Nepenthes Etc., most of them are new neps. It's just that my kitchen windowsill is so great for them! First up though, I got a couple of plants for my girlfriend to put in her new office at work.

She really likes the Nepenthes ventricosa I got from Josh a while back, so I got her one of her own when I was visiting him last week.

It's small now, but not for long.

This species is just too adorable to pass up.

I've also been up to California Carnivores a couple times in the last month, and since I had some gift cards I decided to get some of their neps. This Nepenthes sibuyanensis × talangensis is another for her window at work.

I just feel like these pitchers are much too cute.

Just look at them!

I love how round the peristome is on this guy. Great pitcher shape for being so small.

Just like everyone, Catherine loves pings. I picked up a Pinguicula sp. Tehuacán for her on that trip too.

I think pings are the perfect starter carnivores.

So pink.

For myself, I've become quite enamored of hybrids of Nepenthes aristolochioides. This N. sibuyanensis × aristolochioides is a particularly awesome-looking one.

It's so easy to anthropomorphize neps sometimes. You can imagine what this little guy's voice would sound like.

This one is from California Carnivores as well. Check out that amazing pitcher shape.

I mentioned my burgeoning interest to Josh, and he found a basal of Nepenthes spectabilis "Giant" × aristolochioides on one of his large plants for me.

Wonderful color!

It won't stay this size for long.

Hanging out with Josh – who is a dedicated Nepenthes fan with a very nice collection – is almost certainly the reason that I'm now interested in the neps. I think he's probably pretty smug about that.

Another fun hybrid from Predatory Plants is this Nepenthes hamata × platychila.

Such a great mix of characteristics.

Love them N. hamata lid hairs.

I'm excited for that new leaf.

In addition to the pitchers – which are clearly rad as heck – I really like the foliage. That spotty red is pretty neat.

Moving back to flypaper traps, I'm taking another go at Pinguicula lusitanica.

These are so small and silly.

I hope once this one flowers I'll actually get some seed from it, and I can start a proper colony.

Finally, I'm really excited about this Pinguicula encantada from California Carnivores.

I just need more pings, is all.

The leaf shape is very similar to Pinguicula 'Aphrodite' (one of my absolute favorite pings), and Damon said that it has the pinkest flowers he's ever seen in a ping. Sounds great to me!

Doing dishes is so much nicer now.

I don't know what I'm going to do when they all get bigger.

Looks like I need to clean my windows though.

Windowsill Nepenthes

Sometime in the last 6 months I wound up acquiring a few Nepenthes. I've been pretty vocal about not really caring for neps, but I've been pleasantly surprised by how nice it's been to have them on the windowsill in my kitchen. It's a pretty ideal environment for them – higher-than-average humidity, cool nights, convenient for watering. They make the kitchen much more festive!

This Nepenthes sanguinea is the largest of my windowsill neps.

N. sanguinea looking all clumpy. Nice!

Pretty good color too.

There are two separate growth points, and a huge amount of pitchers. This is a pretty ideal plant right now. Dunno what I'll do in a year or two when it starts vining everywhere, but that's a bridge to cross when we arrive at it.

This Nepenthes tobaica × aristolochioides was impossible to resist when I saw it at California Carnivores in July.

Cute little thing.

I like the leaves too.

The pitchers are nice and squat, with a good dark color. Apparently it stays fairly compact too, which is a definite plus for someone who does not want to mess around with greenhouses etc.

This cute little Nepenthes ventricosa definitely gets the most attention from house guests.

Just hanging out, you know.

I guess I can't really blame them. It's pretty cute.

Off in the corner, getting a lot less light, is the big old vine of a Nepenthes ×ventrata I got a year or so ago. It doesn't pitcher much, but at least it does so in a manner that is consistently hilarious – right in the dish rack.

My current houseguests aren't great at loading a dish rack.

Keep on truckin' guy.

Field Trip Part 1: Nepenthes at Predatory Plants

Today I had the pleasure (along with my friend Anne from the Cactus Jungle) of visiting the San Francisco greenhouse of Josh Brown, BACPS President and owner of Predatory Plants. Josh is one of the rare growers that is able to turn an interest in carnivorous plants into a livelihood. He specializes in Nepenthes and Drosera, but he has a decent selection of Sarracenia as well, and is slowly building up his stock of Pinguicula.

Josh and I routinely have good-natured arguments about whether or not Nepenthes suck and are stupid. While I'm not about to rush out and build a highland greenhouse, this visit was a big step in convincing me that maybe they're not as lame as I've always felt (sorry Nep lovers). First though, he wanted to show off some ant plants.

Myrmecodia sp., looking rad as hell.

Those weird white bumps are flowers. Funky.

Hydnophytum sp. Josh likes the bulbous ones.

These funny-looking epiphytes grow internal chambers in those big swollen stems, which are then colonized by mutualistic ants. These are pretty uncommon in cultivation in the US, but are apparently pretty quick-growing and often self-fertile. Josh is working with one of his greenhouse-mates to figure out good ways to cultivate/sell these. Pretty exciting for anyone with a decent greenhouse!

Nearby were the first of the day's neps: Nepenthes ×briggsiana (which is lowii × ventricosa), and a variegated Nepenthes alata.

Dig that color gradient!

I think I like this plant, even though Josh doesn't.

The N. alata was very striking, but apparently Josh sort of hates it – like most variegated plants it's finicky and not particularly vigorous. Still, people always clamor for variegated neps – which are pretty uncommon – so he keeps on propagating them. He loved the hybrid though, which I can totally understand.

Down at the other side of the greenhouse space was his work area – announced by this profusion of Nepenthes "Lady Luck" (i.e. ampullaria × ventricosa).

That's a lot of plants!

Josh is growing these guys to use with Borneo Exotics' new Bio-Dome system. The thing looks gimmicky at first, but based on what I've heard from several different growers I actually think I'm going to buy one once they're in circulation. Good-looking plants too!

Next up are three big flowering-size plants: a Nepenthes truncata with a 4-foot flower stalk, "Papa ventricosa," and "Mama maxima."

The light made getting this shot really hard.

Great color on this N. ventricosa.

Love those speckles.

Josh really likes F1 Nepenthes hybrids, and he's used all of these plants for some nice-looking crosses. Again, seeing his collection started to bring me around to the idea that simple crosses are pretty cool. We agree though that complex hybrids are usually muddy and boring-looking.

Josh has a few great Nepenthes ventricosa hybrids (see the N. ×briggsiana above), and he also has several really nice Nepenthes hamata hybrids, such as this wicked Nepenthes singalana × hamata.

Hairy and shiny.

Great teeth!

Finally, let's leave with some species, since at the end of the day species are what fascinate me.

Nepenthes aristolochioides always makes me want to crack my back.

Totally eye-popping Nepenthes sanguinea.

Look at that cute little Nepenthes argentii.

That N. sanguinea is huge, and it's one of the prettiest clones I've ever seen. The N. argentii is the smallest nep in the world. Josh has a hilarious story about how he first imported a couple dozen of them when he was just getting started and sold like 5 of them for $20 since he had no idea what they were worth on the market. He uh, doesn't sell them for $20 any more.

Check out the Predatory Plants Facebook page for more sweet carnivores, and I think Josh is on Instagram too, but I don't know for sure. And check back soon for part 2, when I get to look at plants that I actually want to grow!

The fruits of the BACPS spring meeting

Back on the 9th we held the BACPS Spring meeting down in Palo Alto. I was pinch-hitting as secretary and also helping run the thing, so I didn't have much time for photos. However, I did have time to acquire some new plants.

First up is this Pinguicula sp. Tehuacán which was sent down from California Carnivores especially for me, since Daniela knows how I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for new pings.

Cute little guy.

It's all succulent right now, so I'm looking forward to seeing some carnivorous leaves.

I also picked up a new pygmy from Damon. He literally just said "Do you have Drosera mannii? It's got nice big flowers," and I just handed him some money immediately.

I'm a total sucker for pygmies.

I'm nothing if not reliable with regards to my pygmy habit. Damon also told me that Drosera lasiantha is a slow and finicky grower for everyone, which made me feel better about how little mine has grown since I got it in January.

An unexpected bonus came from a fellow from San Jose who was selling a few plants, including this Stylidium debile.

Can't wait to see some cool flowers on this guy!

He also had a Drosera regia that almost tempted me, but I'm taking a month or so off work right now so I decided to stay prudent and not buy it. The S. debile is cool though! I think it's been decided that Stylidium is not carnivorous, but it grows in similar conditions to bog carnivores, and has very interesting flowers that snap together to ensure pollination. I'll post about it if I get blooms!

I also got a couple of plants (that I did not need) from the raffle – a young Sarracenia flava var. rubricorpora and a small Nepenthes ventricosa.

Already showing good color.

I know I won't be able to resist the Nepenthes forever.

Of course, the question of need is a thorny one when it comes to new plants. It looks like the nep is gonna need to adjust a bit to my conditions. That'll be fine though – it should be a pretty easy grower.

The last plant I got on that (a day when I wasn't planning on getting many plants) is this Pinguicula emarginata I bought from Drew Martinez.

I'll post a picture of that flower once it pops.

Drew invited people back to his house to see his collection and buy pieces of it after the meeting, since he's moving to Texas soon. I'll need to do a post about his backyard soon.

Finally, I just want to post my Drosera venusta because damn it's been looking good lately.

This is one of my favorite species, absolutely.

What a beaut!