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Post by mabudon on May 1, 2007 9:22:40 GMT -5
I figured we could make one thread to put all our early spring/summer observations in- this could also help a few of us get some ideas of how our plants might behave differently in differing micro-climates etc.
I have LOTS of flowers coming up. On the S.flava and some hybrids, the stalks are roughly 3" tall. On S.purpurea ssp purpurea, the buds are just now beginning their upwards journey.
My outdooor sundews and my lone P.vulgaris are all ready to start eating tho I haven't actually observed any captures yet
Only thing that is odd and causing me consternation (that means it's ticking me off, just to save some headaches for the resident Francophones) is that a BUNCH of seeds I've stratified and left out there seem to be dead or something, D.linearis, D.intermedia and lots of S.purpurea seeds are all just sitting there doing nothing
I have a feling that MAYBE the stratification I put them through was a bit too harsh- anyone know if this is possible??
Anyways, post your pics or general observations here- I would like to get a fairly exact sense of when flowers on what species open up, might have to start a new thread for that tho. How's it looking where you are ??
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Post by Flytrap on May 1, 2007 10:27:49 GMT -5
My sarrs are also all in bloom - flavas with 10" buds, purps and oreos with 3" buds, leucos just starting to bud out; darlingtonias had been set back since last summer's drought, only five plants in bud with 6" spikes. I've got my minors in the greenhouse, so their flowers have opened up over a week ago. The only rubras starting to flower up are the ssp jonesii, and they're just in bud. I lost almost all of my rubra v rubras last year when we had severe hot and dry conditions here. Considering that my rubra v rubras were once considered a weed (I had hundreds of them) in my bog... that says something about how quickly things can turn on you. All the anglicas and rotundifolias have unfurled out with massive working traps. I think all my outdoor binatas and capensis are dead ... usually a few of them survive each winter from live roots, but this year might have done them all in. All my outdoor VFTs have gone to the big compost heap in the sky... bugger too, as I had some nice old ones that had been in there for a long time. None of my seeds have germinated. ...even though I left them all out doors all winter. The slugs have all returned in force, and I am now making my daily slug patrol every morning. I also just installed a rain barrel yesterday to collect rain water from my gutter systems - good for the plants, and good for the environment (so we've been told). They're price fairly at $75 - from your local municipal government. It's also my insurance policy against water shortages (!) on the rainy wet coast. Here are some photos from this morning: s flava buds with fossilized clams at the back young darlingtonia stolon close up of darlingtonia flower #1 darlingtonia flower #2 s flava flower bud S purpurea 'montana' bud drosera anglica (lower) and d rotundifolia (higher) at bog's edge S oreophila new flower buds with old seed capsules from last season magnolia flower with water contained... note drowned bugs within (carnivorous magnolias here we come!) unknown, but pretty weed. Anyone know what plant this is? It's everywhere in my garden and they're also in my nep / sarr pots. The leaves are also quite pretty and kind of thick and fleshy.
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Post by lloyd on May 1, 2007 15:49:21 GMT -5
www.paragon-press.com/pixf/spgbty.jpgI think that's a claytonia but I'm not sure of the species. Great pictures of the flowers & buds. I thought that stratification was supposed to be harsh. I think if the seeds don't germinate they're probably old.
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Post by Syble on May 1, 2007 19:55:27 GMT -5
Mabudon; I wouldn't give up just yet on your seeds. I was looking at my waterbottles on the weekend and was thinking the same thing, looked a bit closer and saw tiney cracks/splits on the ends of the sarr seed. they're comming just apparently slow! So be patient, I think your a wee bit colder then me? Flytrap; Thats horrible, do you mulch and such? Just curious as to the harsh dieback, I do realize we had an awfull winter thought. The damage at work is horrible! magnolias haven't looked this bad since I can remember! But man oh man did the chickweed thrive! got to hate winter annual weeds! Sib
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Post by mabudon on May 2, 2007 9:12:49 GMT -5
Those pics of Darlingtonia flowers are real nice Flytrap, never seen pics of that stage of their development And thanks all for the seed observations- the first winter stratified seeds actually FINALLY sprouted yesterday, some albino D.filiformis, so I expect the rest to catch up soon- I don't think I could have killed D.linearis seeds with what I did to 'em but ya never know
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Post by martin on May 2, 2007 10:06:31 GMT -5
Very nice pictures, thanks for sharing!
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Post by mabudon on May 9, 2007 9:21:32 GMT -5
It's lookin even more sweet out there- I am doing a perpetual rain-dance right now, there's clouds on the horizon and rain in the forecast but I am at a fairly critical juncture for water, it BETTER rain by monday or so darn it!!
It looks like almost everything is about to flower- the S.flava buds are lookin like they'll pop at any time.. and speaking with another local grower yesterday I was told somebody nearby actually has fully opened flowers- if I didn't know better I'd swear he was just sayin that to "get" me...
Can't WAIT to smell that oddly disgusting smell that is produced by S.flava, the only Sarr I have really been able to smell- hopefully one of the other fragrant ones will open this year and I can expand my horizons
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Post by vraev on May 9, 2007 11:56:45 GMT -5
wow....real nice pics! I missed this thread somehow...I guess becos it dealt with "outdoor growing" when I was busy with my indoor planting ! Anyways...great looking plants and especially AMAZING looking MOSS in that pic with the darlingtonia flower david. Its beautiful. I think I just have 2 shoots of that moss...I carefully repotted it with my other cp's. Hope it grows. Its sooo beautiful.
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Post by Flytrap on May 9, 2007 14:57:01 GMT -5
Thanks Varun - I got some bad news... some slugs found their meal with my darlingtonia flowers a couple of days ago, and the scapes are no more. F&*%@* $# !!!! REmind me in an email to send you over some moss. David time for a beer bath for the slugs
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Post by mabudon on May 10, 2007 8:30:01 GMT -5
Sorry about that-- you guys have some SERIOUS slugs out there, right?? I know the ones I saw while out there were almost scary- 6-7 inches long and all sorts of crazy colours- our slugs are miniscule in comparison, so they are no danger to full-sized plants, more menacing to VFTs and Pings, but now that you jogged my memory of the west-coast slugs I have even more appreciation of what you're up against out there Good thing you got pics- IF it's possible, could you snap a pic of one of the "culprits" if you get the chance?? I never got a good pic of one while I was there
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Post by vraev on May 10, 2007 9:37:18 GMT -5
I'm sorry about the flowers david. The flowers looked really cool . Yeah carl, even I have like 6 inch slugs in my backyard.....my mom's rose bushes and other flower bushes are all dessimated by the slugs. The backyard now has nothing more than grass. wow...thanks flytrap. I will send an email rightaway. I love moss ;D
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Post by Flytrap on May 10, 2007 10:23:26 GMT -5
Yep CPs rule in my heart... and moss comes a distant second. Back in the days of the dinosaurs, I did an undergrad in Botany, with Bryophytes as my specialty. Now back to my slug / snail / caterpillar problems Here are some pics I took yesterday: Nothing seems to stop these pests... everything is yummy... from old traps to especially, young growth They seem to like the flower buds the best S flava darlingtonia and now mould is alsogetting a free ride with the slug bite. It may be good ol' Nature... but it still sucks David
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Post by vraev on May 10, 2007 11:20:34 GMT -5
oh man! That is just sooo bad....beautiful CP's damaged ruthlessly. Have u tried anti slug drugs or something to get them out of the bog? I I were u...I would remove all the plants, pot them in seperate pots for the time being.
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Post by brian on May 10, 2007 17:52:52 GMT -5
If you top dress the bog with a layer of silica sand wouldn't the slugs lose their slime and get all coated so they die?
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Post by mabudon on May 12, 2007 11:38:52 GMT -5
WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! No joke, after a HARD rain on thursday (today bein saturday) I went out to look at the bog and LO AND BEHOLD... PITCHERS!!!!! they're only 4-6" tall right now (tho I haven't looked again today-YET ) but rising FAST and looking good- should have inflation before next weekend on a few of them, I am SO excited!!! On the minus side, I was so busy putting out my jugs to fill up that I forgot about my little stratifyin dish- it got the crap pounded out of it in the rain and it olike I lost everything that was in there- I imagine the Sarrs seeds might pop up eventually, but lal them sundews are likely not going to re-appear from under all that crap- oh well, NEXT year I'll use the damn pop-botle method- I should have done so this year but I am stubborn, and wanted a big surface area to have the germination all in one dish ...... Anyways, hopefully have pics of open flowers and pitchers in the next week
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