A few ping flowers

My Pinguicula 'Pirouette' flower has opened!

Ping flowers are so cheery.

It's very pretty, and a nice complement to the plant itself. It also confirms the identity of this plant for me – I wasn't 100% sure this was actually P. 'Pirouette' until I saw the flower.

Nearby, it sure seems like Pinguicula rotundiflora wants to bloom.

This plant is very adorable.

That little nub in the middle looks like a flower, but it's been hanging out for over a week. I hope it makes a move soon.

Pinguicula 'Aphrodite' is flowering again too.

I guess I really like pinkish pings.

I'm a bit ambivalent about this one flowering actually. I grow it mostly because I love the color and shape of the foliage, and it seems to have shrunk after the last couple of blooms. Oh well. It's still nice!


Finally, Praelonga Watch: 2016 has entered its 3rd week.

Not my best photo, I know.

It wasn't easy to photograph, but the Utricularia praelonga flower stalk is now almost 5 inches tall. Let's see those flowers!

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.

Cute little ping pullings

I think Pinguicula are the most fun carnivorous plants to propagate. You don't need to prepare any pots or get all messy, and if the propagation attempt fails it's really not that big of a deal (unlike, say, dividing Sarracenia rhizomes). Also, the plantlets are so cute! Consider this Pinguicula esseriana:

I can't believe how tiny these are.

All of those little tiny leaves fell off when I was mailing off a plant for the NASC auction. Look at all the babies!

Another ping that has done really well at making babies is the Pinguicula rotundiflora that I won at said auction.

One of my favorite pings. Great leaf margins.

These guys have really taken off! That's like 5 or 6 for the price of one.

Let's see how my other recent leaf pulls are doing.

Pinguicula 'Pirouette'. I think the mother plant is thinking about dividing as well.

Pinguicula gigantea. This is one of the most popular plants in my collection. It's a charmer!

Pinguicula agnata looking pretty fine.

Pinguicula laueana, another contender for the "leaf pulling champ" title.

That's quite a successful batch of pullings!

One plant that I've never yet successfully propagated is Pinguicula "Yucca Doo 1717".

I'll have to keep trying with this guy.

The leaves seem to wither very quickly. Maybe I'll just have to wait for the plant to divide itself naturally.

Finally, as I was taking pictures for this post, I decided to yank a leaf from Pinguicula sp. Tehuacán.

Carnivorous leaves ahoy! This is gonna be a cute one.

If you do leaf pullings every few weeks you'll always have backup pings to grow and share. And they're so adorable!

Pinguicula leaf pull update

Back at the end of April I yanked a couple leaves from various Mexican Pinguicula. I've had some decent success since then.

Pinguicula laueana is really a hero when it comes to propagation – this picture is from May 4th, just 5 days after I took the pullings.

P. laueana leaf pull after 5 days.

And here we are now:

Same leaf pull after 2 weeks.

This guy has been very reliable for me when it comes to leaf pulls. This bodes well for the future.

Next up is Pinguicula 'Pirouette'. If you look very closely at the leaf base (click the picture for higher resolution) you'll notice some little bulges that are definitely strikes.

P. 'Pirouette' leaf pull after 2 weeks.

I donated some plantlets from an earlier leaf pull to the NASC auction. Now I've got to get some started for the next BACPS meeting.

I haven't seen any action on the Pinguicula gigantea or the Pinguicula agnata that I started at the same time, but the Pinguicula rotundiflora that I posted about last night is getting right to it.

So many little plantlets.

I'm well on my way to ultimate cuteness.

In other ping news, the Pinguicula gigantea × moctezumae that Anne gave me a couple weeks ago have already put on some nice new growth.

Almost time for a bigger pot.

And the Pinguicula cyclosecta that received back at the beginning of February are showing excellent color, and the largest one is starting to fill out its rosette very nicely.

That lavender color is so lovely and unique.

Thank you for visiting Pinguicula Etc.

Pinguicula leaf pullings

I just started some new leaf pullings on my Pinguicula. It's always good to be propagating, and pings (especially Mexican pings) are some of the easiest carnivores to propagate. Just take one of the newest leaves, pull gently until it pops out, and set it down somewhere. I usually just set it back down on the media in the pot where the mother plant lives. This apparently works best with succulent leaves, but plenty of people have had success with the carnivorous leaves as well.

Yesterday I started new pulls of Pinguicula 'Pirouette', Pinguicula agnata, and Pinguicula gigantea.

The color on this plant is wonderful.

P. agnata doesn't get enough attention on this blog.

I want to give a P. gigantea to all my friends.

As you can see, I've done successful pullings of P. 'Pirouette' before. My last P. agnata pulling failed to strike, and I've never propagated P. gigantea before (intentionally). I'm looking forward to seeing how these turn out!

Back in March the Pinguicula moranensis I bought from California Carnivores (last July) went through a very brief succulent phase, so I did a pulling. It's coming along!

This plant has come so far in the last 9 months!

The plantlet is down at the bottom, tangling with some invading Drosera capensis red form. I think it's already started to root among the moss and Utricularia biquamata, which shows that it has gumption.

I acquired this Pinguicula laueana back at the BACPS social in February (mentioned in this post). One leaf had fallen off already, and I did another pulling shortly thereafter. The resultant plants are on the right and left of the mother plant, respectively.

The leaves have gotten nicely red under my lights as well.

I also did a new pulling (that big leaf there) just a week or two ago, since it was growing in sort of funny. I hope it strikes too!

In other ping news, my friend Anne (the driving force behind the carnivore section at the Cactus Jungle in Berkeley) recently gave me this sweet little pot of Pinguicula gigantea × moctezumae. Anne and I have a very destructive relationship where we constantly convince each other to buy more carnivorous plants.

The two plants in this cross couldn't be more different. Quite funny!

Apparently she's had the mother plant for more than 10 years. That's pretty rad! I'm looking forward to growing these guys out.

Finally, I've really come to adore Drosera cistiflora. It's popped out a bunch of new growth since its recent feeding, and isn't showing any signs of going dormant for the summer.

Look at all that new growth.

Looking great!

Last week of the NASC benefit auction

Every year the online carnivorous plant forum TerraForums hosts a benefit auction for the North American Sarracenia Conservancy. The NASC is really cool – they restore habitat, perform controlled burns, and organize ex situ conservation to maintain genetic diversity (and in the hopes that sites may be restored and repopulated in the future).

During the auction people put plants up for bidding, and the winning bid is payed to the NASC, though the person donating the plant usually receives money from the winning bidder for shipping. Last year I spent a lot of money during the auction! This year I'm planning on spending somewhat less, but I'm also able to donate a lot more. The following are all plants or seeds you could win from yours truly.

Plants

Drosera capensis red form offset.

Two Drosera 'Marston Dragon' plants.

Pinguicula rotundiflora × hemiepiphytica.

Pinguicula esseriana.

Pinguicula 'Pirouette' (plantlets to the right of the mother plant).

Seeds

Drosera anglica CA × HI.

Drosera intermedia 'Cuba'.

Drosera burmannii (Humpty Doo, NT, Australia).

Most of the items can only be shipped within the US, but you don't need to be a TF member to bid. Anyone can bid as a guest, provided you leave an email address so you can be contacted if you win an auction. Go forth and bid! There are lots of rare/uncommon plants available, and it's for a good cause.

Expect an update on my winning bids in the next few weeks, hahahah.

Propagation updates

It's been a little quiet around the blog lately, since I've had a number of non-plant things getting in the way of my plant time. This usually sucks, but it has the benefit of allowing me to be surprised when I have time to spend with my collection again. A number of my propagation efforts are going fairly well!

First up, my Drosera ×"Andromeda" (which is Drosera schizandra × prolifera) water-float leaf cutting had developed enough that it was time to transfer to the media, in this case a pot of living Sphagnum.

Had to transplant the cutting before the mother leaf wilted away.

Blending in well among the moss.

The cutting that I started directly on the Sphagnum hasn't struck, but neither has it wilted. I'm being philosophical about it.

Several of my Pinguicula pullings have also taken, including a few which I had thought had withered.

Pinguicula moranensis leaf pull.

Pinguicula 'Pirouette' leaf pull. I thought this one wasn't going to take at all.

Successful Pinguicula laueana pullings on either side of the mother plant.

More Pings: always better.

I've also had almost too much success with those Drosera indica that I started a few weeks back.

Quite a carpet of D. indica here.

I have no idea whether or not it will be reasonable to separate this pot out later.

The nearby Byblis liniflora are doing well, but are less ridiculous.

Now I want to add more Byblis to my collection.

Can B. liniflora be transplanted? I suppose I'll soon find out.

Finally, the Dionaea 'B-52' leaf pull that I started back in November may finally be ready to lose the humidity tent, since I think I've pulled every last plantlet out of that guy.

Cute little D. 'B-52' plantlets. Little babies!

Now I just need to let them grow out for a season.

I've been threatening it for a while, but I think it's almost time to expand to one more set of lights. I'm hesitant, but there may be nothing else for it. In the meantime, my outdoor growing is going great. I'm going to wait to do a big Sarracenia post until we have a nice overcast day, but check out this goofy-looking Sarracenia flava var. cuprea.

Love that funky pitcher mouth.

What a funny plant.