Happy 2013! We are finally settled into our new house, and the Sarracenia are finally settling in too. True to form, we picked one of the hottest summers ever to move, and the collection had to cope with several days of 40*C heat. Pitchers and live Sphagnum burned at the tips, but everything has adjusted quickly to the new conditions and are looking marvellous.
The collection is looking somewhat more green than it should, because of the heavy dose of fertiliser I applied late last year, and because of the heat. This photo shows an FRT 1-5 that looks like a stunning coppertop. Except that this plant is nominally an all red S. flava var. atropurpurea. Here is how they looked in mid December 2012:
No more fertiliser for me! Besides, most of the pitchers are now brimming with flies and ants.
Here are a couple of David Martin mystery hybrids. The one at left looks like a S. x catesbei, but I suspect it will probably have something else in it – it becomes a very dark red at any rate. The one at right probably has some rubra alongside the obvious purpurea, an possibly some flava. It has a very unique ‘horn’-like appendage at the tip of the lid.
And some more mysteries! The one at left is a S. purpurea ssp. purpurea open pollinated cross, and the one at right is again anyone’s guess. They also become very red in full sun, but both are still settling in from being in the greenhouse – note the aborted pitcher at lower right.
And to close up, here is a Camponotus ant courting danger on a S. flava var. flava.
