wobblepip

Temptation got the better of me... Looks pretty healthy but I didn't ask about the water.

I was back in Barton Grange garden centre today. Only 2 Cephalotus left on the shelf...

...I was thinking the same thing!

Hi guys, I came across these Cephalotus today in a regular garden centre. In 35 years of collecting, I have never seen Dutch Ceph clones for sale before, along with the usual flytraps and pings. Paul.

Hi all, I was just wondering whether anyone has tried growing Pleione in a typical Mexican Pinguicula mix (e.g. equal parts peat, perlite, vermiculite, sharp sand)? Paul.

I used a water heater set to 24C. The Aldrovanda grew extremely quickly and even tried to flower. In the same tank I had U. gibba. It grew lightning fast in this warm water and produced lots of flowers and seeds. However, the species which most enjoyed the warm, tropical conditions were the dreaded algae. They out competed all other species and nearly caused a mass extinction. Interestingly, the algae only present a summer problem. Even with the heater on, the water clears in the winter. During this time, only the U. gibba threatens the life of the Aldrovanda. I now turn the heater off during the summer (... but I still have problems with algae).

I searched and searched last year for one of Slack's original weser clones that appeared in his book, 'Insect-eating plants and how to grow them'. The plant that I bought has just opened its first flower. Can anyone confirm its identity for me, please?

Nice pictures - especially number 3! Interesting that you can't really see a ring reflection in the dew drops on the last picture. You're getting quite a natural effect. What camera, lens, flash combo are you using?

... yep, been there done that!

My camera is a Canon 400D SLR and the lens is a 100mm f/2.8 macro. The lens on its own produces life size images on the imaging chip but I also used an extension tube set to get about x2.2 life size ... then I selectively enlarged the 10 megapixel image to get a single drop. After all of that, the image is a bit soft and noisy but it's a start. I have a microscope too so I might try to attach the camera to it tomorrow.

I've just bought a digital SLR and I thought I'd try a few big macro shots of D. capensis. Here's my first attempt: ... I wonder if I can go even closer... :)

It looks just like my P. gracilis ... also see here http://www.pinguicula.org/pages/plantes/pi...la_gracilis.htm

.... and I bet that the funding for such research will be thin-on-the-ground! Anyway, hats off to Slack, he chose an interesting bog to introduce his purps. I wonder if he tried to introduce some Darlingtonia, too?

Hi John, I think the area of the plants is quite large. I 'guestimated' about 20-30 sq. metres, meaning the zone where the main clump is found (rather than actual area covered wall-to-wall by plants). Twenty sq. feet is about the area of my sofa and I would say that the plants occupy a much larger patch than that! I agree with you regarding the drainage. Natural accumulation of debris will also slowly dry out the bog and lead to succession. Given 300-400 years, the Sarracenia may also have the opportunity to spread to other locations as seeds on birds' feet. Interesting that you too have noticed the islands of purpurea. They look quite pretty on their own surrounded by black, peaty water. My concern is that the islands may eventually joint together to make 'continents' of purpurea, making it just a little more difficult for the D. anglica to survive.

I'm not aware of any studies on these plants but the site is also home to many D. anglica, D. intermedia, D. rotundifolia and D. x obovata, not to mention several orchid species. The Sarracenia have spread quite widely since the 1960s (within this bog) mainly following the numerous streams which cross the site (probably via seed dispersal). The main central colony is also fairly dense, covering perhaps 20-30 sq. metres. It's possible that the pitchers are occupying the preferred growing sites of D. anglica and D. intermedia (extreme edges of the streams) and in this way slowly removing their habitat within this site.