U. mannii +

[Apoplast]

Hello everyone - it's been a crazy summer. Moving. House projects. And the typical summer insanity. Slowly life will get back to normal soon I hope. But, I wanted to share some picts of a couple utrics flowers that I was lucky enough to be graced with recently.

The first two shots are of my U. alpina. Sure, it's a pretty easy species to grow, but I'm happy that it has bloomed for me for the past two years. As any of you who grow this species know, it has wonderfully large and beautiful flowers. This is one of the species that give the epiphytic utrics the reputation for having orchid like blooms. See if you agree...





The other utric that was nice enough to flower for me was U. mannii. I have wanted to grow this species for years and I paid a stupid amount to get it this year. But it's all be worth it because it has kindly bloomed for me. I only hope I can keep it going and propagate it so I can share it and keep it in cultivation. It may not be as large and showy of a flower as the U. alpina but it's got a class and elegance no other utric can match. I hope you like this little beauty.





Thanks for looking!

[31drew31]

Impressive utric flowers Apoplast, and good to see you back here. Especially good work with the mannii. Is that another scape coming up to the back left?

[shoggoths]

Hi Apoplast,

Good to have some news from you. I hope you're doing great in your new home.

Really nice utric photos. Did you tried to pollinate it ? I've found out that u. longifolia flower can be kept a long time if not pollinated but they lose the petal only 24 hours after pollination so if you want to looked at them for more time, don't do so.

I just started some u. alpina from seeds and would be interrested by your growing conditions when you find the time.

Epiphytic utric flower give a really nice show in a setup.

[dvg]

Hi Apoplast,

Those are some sweet lookin' bladderwort flowers.

The first one reminds me of a sweet pea flower.

And the U. manni flower kinda reminds me of a Genlisea aurea flower.

Very nice flowers!




dvg

[lloyd]

Love those bladderworts.

[Apoplast]

Thanks Drew! It's good to be back. The piece in the background of the second U. mannii pict is a leaf stolon. The leaf stolons of this species will produce bladder supporting root stolons from their edges. So the leaf stolons of this species are a little less specialized than those of sect. Orchioides. Which is good because I think it'll be easier to propagate if all goes well. I have another basket of this species setup though and it's raising a scape. Hopefully it'll bloom too.

Thanks for the warm words Martin! The new house has surprised me by deciding to reveal itself as a fixer-upper. Surprise - there is work to do! That's been consuming my life. My plants are in a holding pattern, or really a slight decline. Turns out you should NEVER use PVC glue in the vicinity of your CP's. The fumes settle out of the air to form a skin on the water surfaces - as well as presumably the leaves. I've already lots several species and I've got a few more in decline, including my Roridula (Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!). But I've got big plans to bounce back. I'll post some picts of the new setup when it's up and running; whenever that is.

Thanks DVG! You are right the U. mannii bloom is a little like G. aurea. Maybe I can pretend because I don't have enough heat to keep a Genlisea going.

Me too Lloyd. Me too.

[shoggoths]

Whoaaa, that's bad, but thank you for letting us know. I have some work coming in the basement too, I'll avoid this product.

[natchgreyes]

Wow! That U. mannii is gorgeous! You have a great set-up there! I second shoggoths' question and wonder what your setup is that you've achieved such success so quickly.

Here in the states, U. alpina is somewhat difficult to come by. I obtained a tuber a few months ago and it is finally putting out some growth for me. So far so good, but it seems a bit slower than U. alpina x endressii. I somewhat expected that given hybrid vigor and all, but it's nice to see some growth.