D. ramellosa is back (and other surprises)!

Aw yeah check this action out:

Drosera ramellosa (finally) emerging from dormancy.

I was sure I had lost all of my winter-growing sundews. I started hydrating them back in late October, and after almost 3 months of nothing I had pretty much given up hope. But here we are! Now I need to feed this guy aggressively to try and get some good tuber development. Nothing yet from Drosera rupicola or Drosera cistiflora, but I'm still holding out hope.

In terms of other surprises, my Pinguicula 'Aphrodite' is blooming for the first time.

That color is absolutely unreal.

It's also looking like, fantastic right now. This is one of my favorite pings, easy. I'm excited to see the flower!

The Pinguicula lusitanica that started blooming back in November ripened, spilled a bunch of seed (I managed to collect some), and has already germinated.

And so it begins.

Look at all the little babies! You can see the dead mother plant there to the right of the large plant. Barry Rice said that this species could be an "entertaining little weed" and I think I agree with him! I'm considering making an outdoor mixed bog at some point, and this would be a great species to just toss thither and yon.

Finally, my Pinguicula rotundiflora × hemiepiphytica. I didn't feature this plant in my recent year-to-year comparison post, (because I didn't have it last January) but I should have. Look at this!

P. rotundiflora × hemiepiphytica, March 2015.

P. rotundiflora × hemipiphytica, January 2016.

 That's like, 10 months of growth. Incredible little hybrid! This is why you shouldn't be afraid of getting pings as very small starts – they grow in just fine.

Exciting day over all I think.

South American Drosera roundup, January 2016

I've become quite keen on South American sundews lately. They're a sort of intermediate difficulty – rarer than the South African subtropicals (Drosera capensis etc.) and harder to propagate. However, they haven't proven all that much more difficult to grow, at least not in my conditions. In fact, they seem to like my conditions quite a bit. Drosera felix is even blooming for me!

Incredible red color and a fuzzy flower stalk. What's not to like?

Look at at that flower stalk. It's so fuzzy! Apparently lots of people consider this plant synonymous with Drosera kaieteurensis, but I'm going to keep referring to it as D. felix because that's how I received it (in case taxonomy gets reshuffled again), and because it's an adorable name.

My Drosera graomogolensis root cuttings are going well!

Two so far. They're big too!

I think I can get 2 or 3 more plantlets out of this root, so I'm going to leave the humidity tent on for a while more. Very pleased with the progress so far. Really looking forward to being able to harden this guy off.

My largest Drosera tomentosa seedling is still pretty small.

So little still. Good luck buddy!

I've fed these guys once or twice, but I think I should do it again. This is the perfect size to start really feeding. Gotta be careful about mold though – lately that's been much more common when I'm feeding my sundews. Not sure why.

Drosera sessilifolia is another South American species, though I almost forgot about it for this post. I group it with Drosera burmannii in my mind, since they're both in Drosera subgenus Thelocalyx.

There are a lot of flower stalks going on in this pot. I need to address that somehow.

Those two in front got a heavy feeding recently, which is why they're not showing as much color. They also got a lot of mold on the food, I think because I had ground it a few days prior and left it out to accumulate mold spores. Lesson learned!

Finally, my favorite of the South American plants, Drosera spiralis.

I really, really like this plant a lot.

It's perennially difficult to get a good photo of this plant, since it grows right up into the lights. That's actually a problem I need to solve soon, since I want to start prepping it for the BACPS show in June. I guess I can always raise the lights a bit. Killer plant though, it's supporting almost 6 leaves right now. That's a lot for this species!

If you've had success with Drosera for a year or so I strongly encourage you to try out some South American forms. They're quite nice, and very satisfying. And if you grow any SA sundews, hit me up! I'd love to trade and talk shop.

Plants pulling through

Here's a silly story:

A few weeks ago I was rearranging my collection and I took my small pot of Pinguicula gigantea × moctezumae out of its tray and set it on top of my shelves. In the dark. In a dry tray. Over two weeks later I was walking to my car, looked in the little window in my garage door, and noticed my plant. I rushed back inside, and put it in a proper tray, in the water, under the lights.

It's totally fine.

There's even a leaf pull that struck in this time.

It's barely even etiolated. This pot was in the dark for over 2 weeks. The soil was bone-dry and rock hard. And a couple days later you can't even tell. This is an offset from a plant that my friend Anne got when she was 11, and is the only carnivore she never managed to kill. Great plant!

Another plant that's getting over a rough patch is my Drosera 'Emerald's Envy'.

One of my favorites! Glad it's coming back.

This plant bloomed hard, sending up two flower stalks in quick succession (from which I was able to harvest a healthy amount of seed). Right then we had our last heat wave of the summer, and I think the combination just stressed it out. It had sat around with no traps, just petioles, for over a month, but now it's getting back to business. I've been feeding the new traps in order to give it a good burst of energy.

I've also begun to re-hydrate my Drosera cistiflora pot.

Fingers crossed!

We'll see if I'm successful with it. My tuberous pots aren't showing any sign of life so far, but I'm still holding out hope. This one as well – it went to sleep late, so it didn't get a particularly long dormancy. We'll see!

On the other side of things, my Drosera brevifolia have germinated!

There are at least 4 seedlings in this pot. Try and spot them!

I noticed (and took this picture) a few days ago, and given the size of the seedlings I'd say they probably germinated sometime in early November. That means it took something like 18 weeks from when I sowed them back in late July. Don't give up on your seeds too quickly! Now I'm just waiting on those red Drosera filiformis.

The nearby Drosera burmannii (Gunung Keledang) have had a bit of a head start, and one in particular is looking excellent.

Loving that color combination.

I should finish hardening these off and get some serious feeding started.

The last set of seed is the one I'm most excited about, Drosera tomentosa.

Now they just need to out-compete the moss.

I hope this is one of the forms with extravagantly fuzzy flower stalks. They're so cute! I'm trying to find South American sundews right now, btw, and would be happy to trade for plants, roots, leaf cuttings, or seed. Email me at sundews.etc@gmail.com!

Finally, it's that time of year again. I've spotted the first gemmae of the season! These are Drosera leucoblasta.

The first gemmae forming is the real sign of autumn.

Pygmies are my favorite, as I've said before. And since I already mentioned trading earlier in this post, I might as well say that I'd love to do gemmae swaps with all comers this season. Here is my current list of pygmies:

D. allantostigma
D. barbigera
D. callistos, Brookton large form
D. × Carbarup
D. dichrosepala
D. × Dork's Pink
D. enodes (Scotts River)
D. grievei
D. helodes
D. leucoblasta (Brookton)
D. leucostigma
D. mannii
D. nitidula
D. occidentalis var. microscapa
D. omissa, pink flower
D. oreopodion
D. palacea, giant form
D. patens
D. pulchella, orange flower
D. pygmaea
D. roseana
D. sargentii
D. silvicola
D. scorpioides, pink flower
D. spilos

And these are the plants I'm looking for this season! The ones in bold are the ones I'm most excited about.

D. androsacea
D. citrina
D. closterostigma
D. echinoblastus
D. eneabba
D. gibsonii
D. hyperostigma
D. lasiantha
D. microscapa
D. miniata
D. nivea
D. parvula
D. pedicellaris
D. platystigma
D. pycnoblasta
D. rechingeri
D. sewelliae
D. stelliflora
D. walyunga

I love trading! Feel free to hit me up to trade whenever.

Seedlings and more

Back in July or so (I'd have to check the tags to be sure, but that seems right) I started some seed of a few different species. Currently two have germinated – Drosera burmannii (no surprise there) and Drosera tomentosa (that one's a bit surprising). The seedlings are putting on some size.

It's been a while since I've had D. burmannii seedlings. I like them this size!

New South American species! I want some more SA 'dews.

The D. burmannii is a form from Gunung Keledang in Malaysia. We'll see if it varies at all from the Australian forms I currently grow. At this point I'm most interested in finding a persistently green form of D. burmannii. The D. tomentosa seed I received in a trade forever ago and finally sowed, and I'm pleased I've gotten plants out of it. I've fed both of these sets of seedings, so I'm hoping things start popping off soon. The other two pots I sowed (Drosera filiformis Florida Red and Drosera brevifolia) have, alas, not germinated.

A somewhat older seed-grown plant is this Drosera indica. This is one species that did not appreciate the period of neglect during the summer.

Keep strong, lonely little leaves.

A number of plantlets conked out after not having been fed. Just look at what the pot looked like initially. I think that D. indica is one species that absolutely must be fed. These two only made it because I got them a bit of fish food a week or so before this picture was taken. I've fed them again since, and am looking forward to healthy plants going forward.

I've started trying to wake up the tuberous sundews I picked up back in January and which went dormant in April.

I still need to remove the moss cap.

I have no clue with tuberous dews. They're really really cool, and I'd love to be able to grow them. There's definitely a finesse to it though, and we'll see if I've got the touch. I really hope they start to re-emerge soon!

One plant that is 100% not coming back out of dormancy is Drosera intermedia 'Cuba'.

It was a good run, D. 'Cuba'.

They went dormant last December, and just never came back. They stayed alive for a long time though – as recently as mid-April I was convinced they'd wake up any day. However, that black color is pretty definitive. Oh well, it makes a bit more room in my collection. Maybe I can harvest those last few flower stalks and start a new pot.

I've actually been quite good about feeding my plants lately, and my Drosera capensis red form has decided to reward me with a flower stalk!

This looks like it could be a really good flower stalk. I'm excited.

When I noticed this I gave it a really heavy feeding, because I'm hoping to get lots more seed from this. Josh has observed that the red form of D. capensis is the least fertile form he grows, and is the only one that will regularly yield no seed at all. I want seed though, so this sucker is getting fed.

Aphids: My Tiny Foes

This aphid thing is getting out of control.

Aphids all over Drosera capensis Baineskloof.

There are several pots in my collection that look like this. Limited applications of Pyrethrin haven't proven effective, and I'm not willing to use it more heavily, considering that several different species reacted poorly even to the light applications. I've ordered some Bayer 3-in-1, which is a rather toxic systemic. Luckily this is my indoor collection, so I'm not too worried about hurting pollinators or anything. I just...I need to get rid of the aphids. I've been busy lately, and the aphids are just another discouragement when it comes to spending time with my plants.

Okay, let's cheer ourselves up. I've got a couple Drosera tomentosa germinations!

It's easier to see if you click through to the large sized photo.

Just a couple, but this seed sat around for a while before I got around to sowing it, so I'm happy with anything.

I picked up a really nice wide-leaf Drosera capensis on my last visit to California Carnivores.

I feel like more people are digging D. capensis lately. That's awesome.

Big, strappy leaves. You can never have too many D. capensis varieties.

My Drosera ultramafica × spatulata was looking spectacular so I had to take a photo.

A prize-winning plant! Love this hybrid.

Easily the brightest red plant in my collection, and an easy grower to boot.

Finally, my Drosera natalensis pot is also looking excellent during this period of neglect.

Fluorescent lighting really shows the dewdrops well.

So dewy and perfect! I like the nice color contrast with the moss as well.

Okay, I feel better now. I'll feel a lot better once I get this infestation under control though.

Some of my NASC auction acquisitions

As I mentioned a bit ago the NASC held its annual benefit auction at Terra Forums about a month ago. I donated several plants, and bid on several plants. I'm still waiting on some of my flytraps to arrive, but I'll just go ahead and post about the plants that have shown up.

First up is the most exciting, and the one for which I paid the most, Pinguicula reticulata.

So small, but so full of promise!

It's not huge now, but it's very attractive when mature. Also, the flowers are beautifully veined.

Another ping with a beautiful flowers is Pinguicula rotundiflora.

Let's see some strikes on those leaves.

I cannot wait until I have a little pot full of these guys in flower. It's adorable. There were lots of leaves to try as pullings when it arrived too, hahahah.

This next plant is Drosera capillaris, which I already have. This, however, is a very different long-arm form, and it came with location data I couldn't resist: Tate's Hell Swamp.

I had to get at least one sundew.

I've said it before, but Drosera capillaris is a very underrated species.

The grower from whom I received the P. rotundiflora and the D. capillaris (as well as a Pinguicula debbertiana that, alas, didn't survive shipping) sort of messed up shipping, and in his second package he sent along a handsome bonus: Drosera slackii!

When it rains it pours I guess.

I'm really hoping this is a different clone from the one I got from California Carnivores recently. That would leave the possibility of someday getting seed, if I provide excellent conditions and get lucky.

This last acquisition is actually one I split with my friend Anne, who works at the Cactus Jungle. It's a seedling plug of several little baby Sarracenia leucophylla f. viridescens, aka anthocyanin-free S. leucophylla.

Sarracenia seedlings take longer, but that just builds anticipation!

Little babies! I'm going to grow them out a bit under my lights and then we'll divide the plug between us. These are going to look awesome in a couple years, see if they don't!

I can't think of anything better than buying carnivorous plants for charity, hahahah.

A few annual species

When I first started growing carnivores I didn't really like the idea of growing annuals. Having to resow your pots every year seemed like it would be a real chore. However, I've reached a point now where I'm interested in all sorts of plants I didn't think I was interested in before. Plus, the whole thing about annuals is that they grow super quickly. Case in point, Byblis liniflora.

Little B. liniflora sprouts everywhere.

There are at least 10 total in the pot, maybe more.

These seeds were sown less than 2 weeks ago, on February 19th. I hadn't even begun regularly checking this pot for germination yet – they probably actually sprouted a couple days ago, perhaps 10 days after sowing. That's quick!

I started some Drosera indica at the same time, and while it's not quite as dramatic, there are definitely several sprouts in the pot.

Look for the tiny green dots.

Now, of course, I want to get all the different species in what was once the D. indica complex – Drosera hartmeyerorum, Drosera serpens, the lot. That's the fundamental addiction of collecting.

I also love how serious annual species get about flowering. Consider this Drosera brevifolia (which, while not strictly annual, has a lot of annual-like characteristics, especially in habitat).

I should really get a clean pot of D. brevifolia going.

It's almost totally engulfed in Sphagnum (which I should really trim back), but damnit it's going to bloom. That's a plant with moxie.

Finally, Bloom Watch: Utricularia longifolia has moved into its second week. Buds are forming and color is developing.

I am so excited about this.

Nice! It's gonna be a great show.

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!)