Sunday, February 26, 2012

Autumn splendour: Sarracenia alabamensis ssp. alabamensis

S_alabamensis_1

While spring is great for Sarracenia flava, they are more or less finished serious pitcher production by mid January. By the time February comes around, they are getting quite floppy and starting to produce phyllodia. It is this time of year I enjoy members of the Sarracenia rubra complex, which do the inverse of Sarracenia flava  - produce floppy, phyllodiform pitchers in spring and summer, followed by nice pitchers in late summer. Growing a mix of spring- and summer-peaking species is great – it gives you a spectacular show year around!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Revenge of the mealybugs!

A few years ago, I picked up a plant – not sure where exactly – that had mealybugs on it. They have been the bane of my plant growing ever since. Every year, they re-surface on one poor plant or another, appearing without much warning in their hundreds. By this stage, they will already be on plants nearby, and if I’m not quick enough with applying pesticide, they will be on every plant in my greenhouse.

mealy_flava_1