Utricularia roundup, February 2016

Everyone knows that Drosera is my favorite genus of carnivorous plants. I mean, it's in the name. The number 2 spot goes back and forth – sometimes it's Pinguicula, but lately I think it's been Utricularia. It's funny, because when I was first first starting out I didn't get Utricularia at all. I had no idea why anyone would bother growing such weird, dumb little plants. Incidentally, I still feel that way about the aquatic species (but don't tell anyone).

Why Utricularia? Well, as with sundews it's a big, sprawling, cosmopolitan genus. There's a huge variety out there to explore, and several different cultivation styles to master. And of course, the flowers are a real treat, whether it's cute little spray from the easy terrestrials, or a more impressive display from larger/touchier species. Of course, the fact that very few people seem to specialize in Utricularia just makes them that much more attractive.

In any case, I decided to check in on my collection today. This collection of Utricularia lateriflora flowers got me started with the pictures.

Such delightful purple flowers.

This is one of my favorite species right now. It flowers pretty freely, and the flowers are adorable – dark purple with a white splotch.

Next door, my Utricularia cornigera is doing very well.

Those are some nice-looking leaves.

I'm glad these have recovered from dying back a few months ago. Based on how I've seen new leaves come up on this one, I feel like it would favor an airy LFS planting in a net pot. Maybe I'll do that once it gets a chance to grow in a bit more.

My other plant from section Orchidioides, Utricularia humboldtii, has put out a new leaf.

I like the venation on those leaves.

This one is pretty slow to make new leaves, but I understand that's pretty normal. I should trim all the dead growth and messy stolons to get a better picture of what it looks like. By the way, this plant has been found at elevations of more than 8000 feet (2500 meters). That's really high!

Nearby, the Utricularia heterosepala flower stalk fell over after I jostled it recently.

Man, it would be awesome if another flower popped too.

I'm seriously impressed with this plant. It's been holding both of the flowers for a while now, and there's no sign of giving up. Really fantastic grower, looking forward to getting more blooms from it.

Utricularia calycifida has a somewhat similar flower, although the bloom stalks typically support only one at a time.

This flower has awesome patterning on it.

This is the first time it's rebloomed since the last big show. I really feel like I should repot this plant into pure LFS. It's been so hard to find time to do serious plant stuff like that lately! Alas.

One of the plants that I've never been able to flower is Utricularia praelonga.

This is one of those plants just just hangs out, waiting to do something.

This oddball utric grows two different kinds of leaves, and is notoriously difficult to flower. I've seen some in bloom in cultivation though, and I'm trying to get some tips. The flowers are supposed to be large and yellow.

Utricularia sandersonii is one that flowers for me, but very weakly. This first pot has had like 2 flowers, and is covered in a really robust moss of some sort that I do not like.

Seriously overgrown pot.

Whereas in this next pot, it's definitely losing the fight to Utricularia subulata.

REALLY seriously overgrown pot.

Not sure what the problem is with this one for me. I know people who can't help but get a big carpet of bunnies. Maybe I should try some in a windowsill.

Speaking of U. subulata, my big, proper bloom is looking so good right now.

U. subulata always breaks your heart.

I wish wish wish it would do this all the time. This is a fantastic flower! Ah well. Maybe the fleeting quality of it makes it more special.

One thing I did recently was break up a few of my well-established plants to share around and propagate. Here's my Utricularia gramnifolia getting started again.

Looking forward to this filling in and blooming again.

The submerged aquatic setup in an undrained pot seems to work pretty well for this plant. I suspect a lot of the terrestrials would like this treatment, actually. Might be fun to try them in teacups, like the Carnivore Girl.

This tray has starts from some of the pots I broke up, as well as a couple new specimens I'm just getting started.

So much promise in these pots!

Clockwise from top left: Utricularia 'Betty's Bay' (a large-flowered form U. bisquamata), Utricularia blanchetii, Utricularia fulva, Utricularia pubescens, Utricularia cornuta, Utricularia livida. I've been flooding this tray to try and jump-start these guys.

Finally, I took a picture of some U. bisquamata among my wide-leaf Drosera capensis.

I love how the flowers all face towards the lights.

It's just too cute. Even though it's a weed, it's a wonderful plant. That's true of both of them, actually. No respect at all!

Incidentally, my Utricularia longifolia is blooming. It's not in my collection right now because I brought it for display at the Pacific Orchid Expo. I'll feature that one later.

I don't understand large Utricularia

I feel like I'm pretty good at growing the small, terrestrial Utricularia. That's sort of like saying you're good at playing Candyland, but bear with me. The larger species though, they are a bit odd.

I've got a couple new leaves coming up on Utricularia humboldtii.

Utric "leaves" are so funny and weird.

This is an odd species that I've been growing for around a year now. It put on a couple of leaves last spring, but since has sort of just been holding steady. Not sure what it needs – maybe more water? Brighter light? Possibly nutrients? No idea. It's found at quite high elevations in Brazil, so cool temperatures are definitely important.

Another member of Section Orchidioides I've been growing for a bit less than a year is Utricularia cornigera, which has also been known as Utricularia reniformis 'Big Sister'.

I hope the additional water helps this guy get back into gear.

I know why this one has been stalled out. It had been sharing a tray with a large Drosera 'Marston Dragon' that had a bunch of Selaginella and ferns that were very thirsty. That tray goes dry all the time, and that is definitely not what this plant wants. I've recently moved it to a much wetter tray that hosts a number of other utrics, so hopefully it'll get better soon.

Last year I had really good success with Utricularia longifolia.

I tend to spill a bit when I'm watering this plant.

It sent up two big flower stalks and had a nice bloom show going on, but it also contracted a nasty case of aphids on the flowers, and that definitely set it back. The yellow and brown leaves are from last year. This year's growth is smaller, but that could be temperature. I should just put this in an enormous pot to see how big it can get hahahah.

Finally, my other plant from Section Foliosa is Utricularia calycifida.

I feel like I should separate this guy out and see how many rosettes there are.

I got a very nice, long bloom show from this guy, but it hasn't sent up any new scapes in a few months. I may try potting it in long-fiber Sphagnum rather than the peat:sand mix that I'm using now. Maybe the warmer weather will kick it into gear too. Fertilizer? Who knows.

Utrics are fun. Very enigmatic plants.

Utricularia longifolia putting on a show

It's been almost exactly a month since I first noticed a flower stalk on my Utricularia longifolia. Today is the first day with a fully open flower, and man is it pretty.

Beautiful U. longifolia flower.

There are two stalks on the plant, and lots of buds forming.

The stalk is 18 inches (~45 cm) tall!

Unfortunately, I'm dealing with a pretty serious aphid problem right now, and they keep finding their way onto these flower stalks. I've been spraying Take Down around my collection (on the recommendation of Damon Collingsworth at California Carnivores) and hopefully the aphids will get beaten back before they can do too much damage.

In the mean time though, let's look at other Utrics flowering in my collection, because Utricularia flowers are the coolest.

First up, Utricularia subulata and Utricularia calycifida from a recent post.

I like these U. subulata flowers more than the cleistogamous ones (obviously).

U. calycifida looking elegant as usual.

Then a few from today – Utricularia livida, Utricularia bisquamata, and Utricularia sandersonii blue form.

U. livida still blooming up a storm almost a year later.

U. bisquamata amongst the Drosera capensis red form (with a D. capensis 'Albino' weed as well).

Angry bunnies and cleistogamous U. subulata flowers.

That U. sandersonii pot is a bit messy, but at least the angry bunnies are cute.

Flowers!

There's a lot in bloom right now. It's spring!

Drosera helodes.

Sarracenia flava.

Drosera omissa with lots of flowers.

Utricularia calycifida.

Drosera sessilifolia (probably).

Utricularia subulata.

Drosera natalensis.

And it's not just carnivores that are in bloom. Peep this Cleistocactus tupizensis.

C. tupizensis.

Nice!

Sundews Etc. one year in

One year ago today I made my first post here on the blog, about my blooming Drosera capillaris.

D. capillaris, 3-7-2014, from Flowers and D. capillaris "Alabama".

Things were so much simpler back then.

Here are some Fun Facts about the Sundews Etc. blog:

• Around 17% of my traffic comes from Ukraine. Thanks for tuning in, Ukrainian growers!
• Both of my Grower Interviews are among my top 10 most popular posts. I guess I should do some more.
• Based on the labels (to the right) I talk about Drosera burmannii more than any other species (big surprise), but pygmy sundews as a group are a close second.
• There are just shy of 1100 photos of carnivorous plants on this blog for 153 posts, around 7 per post on average.

Now, let's look back at some old posts and see how far we've come.

March

Dionaea muscipula, 3-12-2014, from Things are growing!

April 

Drosera scorpioides, 4-3-2014, from Pygmies and D. adelae.

May

Drosera 'Marston Dragon', 5-26-2014, from The Housefly and the Dragon.

June

Drosera allantostigma, 6-20-2014, from I really love Drosera allantostigma.

July

Drosera capensis 'Albino', 7-4-2014, from Repotting a few sundews.

August

Drosera helodes and Drosera allantostigma, 8-26-2014, from Checking in on various plants.

September

Drosera adelae. 9-11-2014, from Drosera adelae is offset crazy.

October

Praying mantis and Sarracenia leucophylla, 10-25-2014, from A thief among the Sarracenia.

November

Pinguicula laueana × emarginata. 11-21-2014, from Pinguicula roundup, November 2014.

December

Utricularia calycifida flower, 12-6-2014, from A few new blooms.

January

Drosera ultramafica × spatulata, 1-27-2015, from Some progress shots.

February

Drosera venusta, 2-9-2015, from Random pictures of pretty sundews.

Finally, here are a few more posts I noticed looking through the archives that might be of interest to newer reader.

• BACPS Annual Show and Sale Part One: The Juried Show
• Field Trip: California Carnivores
• 100th Post! I photographed the whole collection!
• Field Trip: Nepenthes at the Conservatory of Flowers

And of course, there are Plant Profiles, Cultivation Guides, and Grower Interviews on my Blog Series page.

Thank you all for reading – sharing pictures and talking about my plants with fellow growers makes everything a lot more fun. Here's to another good year!

Carnivorous plant blogs you should be reading

Pinguicula moranensis developing some nice scalloped leaf margins.

The carnivorous plant community is bigger now than ever, but it's still pretty niche. That means there aren't that many blogs – especially compared to, say, gardening blogs, which are legion. Luckily a lot of new blogs have come online in the last year, and just recently several that appeared to have gone dormant have woken up. This post covers all the active blogs I know about – let me know if you know of any more!

By the way, all the pictures in this post are of my collection – I'm including them to make the post more fun to look at.

Very pretty color on this Drosera spatulata 'Kanto' flower.

Natch Greyes Carnivorous Plants

Between updates on his collection, field trips to carnivorous plant habitat, and growing guides this is a great all-around blog for the carnivore enthusiast. Natch has also expanded his little shop into an online nursery that has a particularly nice selection of terrestrial Utriculatria.  A bit of a Nepenthes focus, but Natch grows everything.

The Carnivore Girl

Maria has a lot of Venus Fly-Traps, and takes very cute pictures. She also hunts around for old drawings and engravings of carnivorous plants, as well as contemporary stuff. A fun read, and the only place I know of online where you can buy a Cephalotus throw pillow.

Sarracenia x 'Abandoned Hope', displaying its classic "wailing of the damned" posture.

The Pitcher Plant Project

 

A blog for the Sarracenia obsessed. Rob has a large hoop house and grows lots of anthocyanin-free clones, as well as some real weirdos. Updates usually once or twice a month, but the posts are loaded with pictures that make up for the waiting. Also has cool videos!

The Pitcher Plantation

 

An Australian Sarracenia blog that had been dormant for months and recently woke up. John is an enthusiast of Sarracenia flava, and he put together a great series recently on building artificial container bogs. As a bonus, his pitcher plants are awake while mine are dormant.

Utricularia calycifida blooming away.

Zone 6b

 

Carnivorous plants are not fragile, finicky plants that can't handle real-world conditions. Carl proves that by growing Sarracenia, Dionaea, Drosera, and Pinguicula outdoors year-round in Ontario, Canada. Quite impressive, and the plants all look great.

Hooray Plants

 

Another blog that has recently awoken from a long dormancy. Melody grows succulents, orchids, and other weird plants in addition to her Nepenthes, Sarracenia, and assorted carnivores. Lots of activity lately, and I hope she keeps updating!

Lots of action on Drosera x Carbarup (along with other pygmies).

ExB

 

Loads of phenomenal carnivore photography, especially crystal-clear macro shots of Drosera, Pinguicula, and Utricularia. I don't really understand how Tumblr works, but I love seeing the new photos. Highly recommended.

These are all the active, established carnivorous plant blogs I know of right now. Let me know if you know of any more worth watching. If you're interested in blogging about your plants but don't know how to get started feel free to shoot me an email at sundews.etc@gmail.com. I'd love to see more blog action (especially if you grow pings or utrics, but really the more the merrier)!

A few new blooms

A couple days ago I noticed a little patch of yellow over in my Drosera capensis red form pot.

It's like a whole ecosystem in this tray.

It's Utricularia subulata! And this time with a proper flower, rather than the cleistogamous ones I've seen around my collection in the past.

I love looking at my plants up close.

These are nice, colorful flowers, and they'd be very pleasing in a dedicated pot, I think. I feel conflicted about the weedy Utrics – I do like to see them, but I don't really want them in every pot in my collection.

I also noticed a little something forming in my Drosera adelae bush.

Looking forward to seeing the unique red flowers of D. adelae soon.

Aww yeah, it's a flower stalk. This is exciting, since it's my first on D. adelae. I think I've heard before that this species likes to wait until the pot is sufficiently large and sufficiently full of plants to bloom. I guess I know what that looks like now. More photos as events warrant!

The coolest thing I noticed today was that the Utricularia calycifida flower that has been developing for a while has finally popped, and it's a looker.

U. calycifida is an awesome plant. What lovely flowers.

This is great! And there are several more flowers on the way. This pot is going to look fabulous by the winter BACPS meeting.

Flowers!