When I set out to grow carnivorous plants, I wanted to grow them to the best of my ability. I wanted to grow pitchers that large and were beautiful for their colour and form. I wanted to achieve this aim because I think Sarracenia, especially the deep red forms of flava, are among the most elegant and beautiful plants on Earth. Being able to see them at will would be a dream come true.
The red flava bog is the closest I have come to achieving this aim. And all I can say is: WOW!
My absolutely favourite plants – Sarracenia flava var. atropurpurea – are the stars of this bog. In the above photo are no less than three of the seven or so clones of that variety that I grow. The best of these is a clone called FRT 1-1. This is, of course, my favourite plant.
FRT 1-1 has this year excelled itself beyond my wildest dreams. The pitchers are huge and the profusion of pitchers is breathtaking. The cool of spring means they keep their colour rather well and even in mid summer they do not bleach out like a lot of other plants do. Seeing so many of their pitchers like this is absolute tonic for the soul after a tough day at work.
This is another atropurpurea clone contributing to the awesomeness of this bog. Its a cross made by Gotcha! Plants, probably between FRT 1-1 and a red-tube flava or flava var. rubricorpora called FRT 1.
The above photos are flava var. rubricorpora, FRT 1. It, like FRT 1-1 is a David Martin plant.
As good a plant as FRT 1 is, it is dwarfed by Phil Reytter’s flava var. rubricorpora. This plant will probably be on sale at the Plants with Bite exhibition at the Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens is a few weeks.
Also dwarfed in this garden – hopefully not for long – is a clone of S. flava var. rubricorpora I got from Steve Amoroso in Sydney. I like how the red tube gives way to delicate fluoro green speckling.
Also buried in the bog is a clone of rubricorpora I call Helmut’s veined lid. Its lid is one of the more spectacular of the red tubed flava to be found in Australia due to its elegant venation.
To the left of Steve’s plant is another clone of flava var. atropurpurea bred by John Creevey, crossing FRT 1-1 with Phil Reytter’s atropurpurea. Phil’s plant, to be honest, is not such a great grower because it is so small, produced kinked pitcher peristomes regularly and is just… sooooooo… slooooooow! But this outcross is showing signs of being a really great plant.
And to round everything out for the night, here is another var. atropurpurea, a seedling from the Blackwater State Forest Clone. This plant has taken a while to grow – I got it as a year old seedling from Ron Abernethy in 2010 – but it is fast becoming another favourite. So far its not flowered, but it will be crossed with every other atropurpurea I have when it does!
What wonders plants can do for the heart and soul…
