Fall pitcher season approaches; the seedlings are leading the charge (though there are a couple nice small traps on my remaining ‘Waccamaw’ too) but the season’s only begun.
In order:
S. alabamensis wherryi x leucophylla “original yellow flower, Washington Co. AL”
“Brooks Garcia OP” x “Wilkerson’s Red” OP
‘Saxapahaw’ x leucophylla
“Wilkerson’s Red” OP x ‘Adrian Slack’
leucophylla (forgot the clone) x rosea “ornate”
‘Leah Wilkerson’ x ‘Mega Mouth’
leucophylla x alata “nigropurpurea”

#sarracenia #americanpitcherplants #pitcherplants #seedgrown #carnivorousplants #temperate #strangeplants #hybrids #rareplants #botany #plants #horticulture #plantsathome #botanical #plantsmakepeoplehappy #gardening #carltoncarnivores

The mascot wanted to share another plant! Embron is showcasing here a hybrid I made years ago (and the only survivor I know of from the cross), Nepenthes Rokko “Exotica” x (spectabilis x mira). We still haven’t seen it bloom and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen actual uppers either, because it loves throwing out new basal vines more than anything else. Not that this is entirely bad either, because it means it is constantly loaded with the squat, rich purple lower pitchers it makes. It has just been trimmed and repotted though so maybe a bloom will finally be triggered somewhere.

#nepenthes #tropicalpitcherplant #pitcherplant #hybrid #carnivorousplants #seedgrown #strangeplants #purple #plants #furry #tropical #indoorplants #exotic #plantphotography #botany #plantsathome #savagegarden #plantsmakepeoplehappy #horticulture #botanical #gardening #carltoncarnivores

One of several surprises I returned home to…Nepenthes x alisaputrana does not regularly have pitchers on it for me (partly due to the warm summer temps it gets, which most highland plants are a little unhappy right now under), but when they’re made they are spectacular. This is the biggest one so far…though I imagine once I repot the plant they could get bigger really quick, since the whole plant is a monster at 3+ feet across. The leaves take over everything.

#nepenthes #nepenthesalisaputrana #tropicalpitcherplant #pitcherplant #naturalhybrid #carnivorousplants #colorful #strangeplants #borneo #rareplants #tropical #plants #exotic #indoorplants #botany #plantsathome #savagegarden #plantsmakepeoplehappy #horticulture #botanical #gardening #carltoncarnivores

New video out! A little later than usual due to having been away filming, but this week, it's a highlight of one of the most historically important and iconic sundews! The species that Darwin himself was obsessed with, that he used to prove carnivorous plants were, actually, carnivorous, and one of the most widespread species in the world, the roundleaf sundew!
Find the video here: https://youtu.be/tHEkFUcQF7A

#drosera #droserarotundifolia #sundew #carnivorousplants #strangeplants #botany #plants #horticulture #plantmakepeoplehappy #educational #gardening #botanical #carltoncarnivores

Tall skinny black pitchers; if you’re only allowed to grow one, which do you choose? In order: Nepenthes Black Dragon (izumiae x truncata), ramispina x truncata, or ramispina x robcantleyi.
Luckily I don’t have to choose :)

#nepenthes #nepenthesramispina #nepenthestruncata #tropicalpitcherplants #pitcherplants #hybrids #carnivorousplants #darkcolors #strangeplants #tropical #rareplants #exotic #plants #botany #indoorplants #horticulture #plantsathome #botanical #plantsmakepeoplehappy #gardening #carltoncarnivores

Another set of plants starting to do very, very well: Stenocereus thurberi, my seedling Organ Pipe Cacti. Two of them are approaching 4 inches tall, and a third finally decided to escape the top soil layer. At about 3 years old, they’re definitely slow-growing (not quite as slow as my saguaros that have also just decided to start showing good life), but most of that growth has also been within the past 6 months or so. The texture of the stems and spines are mesmerizing to me, and I can’t wait to see them when many year down the line they’re 10-25 foot columnar clusters.
If there’s interest, I have a handful of seeds left and might consider trying to sprout more (though I probably need to find space for the other cactus seeds first…and sell off all the extra Agave).

#stenocereus #stenocereusthurberi #organpipecactus #cactus #succulents #strangeplants #rareplants #seedgrown #plants #sonorandesert #plantsathome #botany #bloomscrolling #horticulture #gardening #carltoncarnivores

A brand new flower has graced the collection, from a genus I have been trying to establish for years (one other species also here but has refused to bloom): Calceolaria tomentosa, the Hairy Yellow Slipper Plant.
Calceolaria is a huge genus, primarily found in the South American Andes, and this one is no exception. A highlander from Peruvian slopes, it doesn’t like warm days or nights but if kept cool (and a little shady) can become a mass of scrambling, fuzzy vines with small toothy leaves up to 6 feet long. Along their ends, they throw out glowing chartreuse yellow flowers that look like a balloon mockery of a slipper (or perhaps a Peeps marshmallow?) but are structured more like a Utricularia bloom. If have yet to find out if they self-pollinate, or if I must somehow figure out the odd structure inside and assist, but I may also test whether cuttings can take.
I also hope I can get more species to succeed as well, as many of them look wildly different from each other. While this one is a subshrub or vine, the other species I currently have biflora grows more like an African violet, with broad fuzzy leaves in a rosette before it blooms.

#calceolaria #calceolariatomentosa #slipperplant #seedgrown #strangeplants #flowers #rareplants #peru #plants #tropical #indoorplants #exotic #plantsathome #botany #plantsmakepeoplehappy #horticulture #educational #gardening #carltoncarnivores

In the greenhouses here, ferns are more often irritating weeds than anything else (they look nice but tangle up roots of other plants that they appear amongst). But, there are a few exceptions that are more showy and controllable, like my rabbit’s foot, Staghorn….and this, Pteris cretica var. albolineata, or variegated Cretan Fern.
A tropical Eurasian native (and not at all tolerant of frost), the species in general is a slower-growing, less spore-prone and east plant to maintain, but IMO the standard version is not particularly attractive. The variegated version though, and it only becomes variegated once mature size and established, is spectacular. White middles and mint-green margins along relatively thin branching frondlets make for a complex high contrast presentation and a decently sized plant, at around a foot and a half tall and 2-3 feet across.
As it’s become quite a large specimen recently I’ve begun debating whether to attempt dividing it or not, but despite the size my glimpses at the base suggest it’s still very much one cohesive central clump, so may yet be a while.

#pteris #pteriscretica #fern #plants #variegated #strangeplants #botany #plantsathome #horticulture #botanical #plantsmakepeoplehappy #gardening #carltoncarnivores #educational

Haven’t posted tuis one in a while, but a particularly nice pitcher was hanging out in the open from Nepenthes benstonei. This Peninsular Malaysian species is not common in the trade still, and often overlooked in favor of its relatives sanguinea or the Indochinese group (which it might be a link between). This clone at least is worth a look though, with blood red pitchers and similarly dark rusty leaves.

#nepenthes #nepenthesbenstonei #tropicalpitcherplant #pitcherplant #malaysia #carnivorousplants #species #strangeplants #red #rareplants #nature #plants #botany #plantsathome #horticulture #botanical #plantsmakepeoplehappy #educational #gardening #carltoncarnivores

What do you get when you cross a daisy with a thistle?
Well, nothing because they are unrelated and could never cross…but if they could it would probably produce something like this: Berkheya purpurea, a giant thorny South African daisy relative. Hardy to Zone 7 (but not around here where it’s more annual if left outside), this spiky monstrosity makes rosettes of bristly leaves up to almost 2 feet across, before sending up a stem to 3 feet tall that bears multiple blooms in succession, each one a ring of thin pale to rich lavender petals surrounding a puffy center ball of purple anthers and stamens. When in full bloom one plant is pretty impressive, but even more so is when multiple plants with several stems go off at the same time.

#berkheyapurpurea #daisy #flowers #seedgrown #strangeplants #educational #botany #gardening #plantsathome #plantsplantsplants #botanical #plantsmakepeoplehappy #horticulture #carltoncarnivores