[Drosera zigzagia]

Hi All,

My D. zigzagia is flowering for the first time.

And the D. browniana is still going for it! In answer to an earlier question I can detect a faint smell-the typical tuberous Drosera perfume.

Nigel H-C

[Drosera shots]

Hi All,

Thank you for your kind comments. Iggy, the minimum in the main section of the Drosera house is 7 celcius (45 fahrenheit), and the minimum in the tropical end where I have the S. American species, helis, epiphytic Utrics, and Neps over winter is 12 celcius (54 fahrenheit).

Langy & John, email me at [email protected] and I'l send you over a map (when I get round to drawing it!).

Nigel H-C

[Drosera shots]

Hi Dani,

The flowers do not appear to smell. They open for a few days, but only 1 at a time. If the two plants have open flowers I'll try and cross them.

Pity you can't make the open day, but yes, it's a bit of a distance.

Regards

Nigel

[Drosera shots]

Hi All,

Few snaps. Firstly D. browniana:

D. cistiflora:

D. hilaris:

D. lowriei:

D. salina:

D. erythrogyne:

D. platypoda:

D. porrecta:

D. rupicola:

D. afra:

D. tomentosa:

D. viridis:

D. rubrifolia:

D. regia:

D. sect. ergaleium:

Drosera house:

Not much happening in the nursery yet though:

Anyone coming to the open day-Saturday 23rd February 11-2pm?

Nigel H-C

[D. Arcturi Cultivation?]

Hi Jeff,

Mine get virtually no direct sun in the winter, because of where my outdoor bed is situated. But, being dormant they don't need the sun that they require in the summer months.

Nigel H-C

[Utricularia Dunlopii]

Hi All,

These ephemerals are a nightmare! I've just lost the U. georgei I posted pictures of last summer.

I grew and flowered this species about 13 years ago, and was confident I had achieved pollination using a toothpick, but alas not!

Just got some more seed though so will try again.

I wrote an article at the time, and in the same journal Allen Lowrie wrote an artice on pseudo-copulation pollination of this group of species. Perhaps you need more mosquitos!?

Have you noticed the incredible perfume produced by the flowers in the evenings? This is the time when the mosquitos would appear in habitat I guess, and the flowers glow when the setting sun hits them at a certan angle. There are some plants even among our group of botnical mis-fits that really push the limits!

Somewhere I have some pictures I took at the time and will post them if I can find them. I did have one image on the front cover of the CPS journal the following year.

Nigel H-C

[D. Arcturi Cultivation?]

Hi All,

I only have the one clone of this species, and used to keep it in the nursery (unheated) over winter. It grew satisfactorily but never really well. Last winter I left it outside and was treated to several flowers in the spring. It was also bigger than previously at about inches high. The minimum I guess was minus 5 celcius, bu this would have been only once or twice, and certainly not prolonged. I would guess however with a name like the Arctic Sundew it would be pretty tough as Aidan states.

It also produced seed, and this post has reminded me to get it sown soon! Has anybody else had it flower and seed?

Theres something about this species I really like, and it has to be one of my favourites.

Nigel H-C

[Best Cp]

Hi All,

Anyone heard from Kamil lately? I've been trying to get hold of him for a while now.

Nigel H-C

[D.trinervia/ Afra]

What a wonderful early Christmas present it is to see these habitat shots. I'm hoping my D. afra flowers this year, and is the same colour as the dark flowered form which is quite stunning.

Thanks again Fernando and like many wait in eager anticipation for the next instalment!

Nigel H-C

[D.coccipetala & D.zeyheri]

Hi Fernando,

Great-thanks for posting these. I had a plant labeled as D. coccipetala, but inadvertently tipped it in the bin over the summer whilst trying to be a clever sod. Suffice to say, the language that followed cannot be repeated here.

I am desperately after a replacement now (hint, hint).

Anyway, a pleasure as ever to see the finest carnivorous genus in habitat.

Nigel H-C

[The polymorphic D.cistiflora]

Hi Fernando,

Earlier you mentioned the following species:

Debbert's plants were always a big part of our discussions while driving around from place to place in S.Africa. Andreas has just written to me saying he met Debbert and confirmed that we saw D.coccipetala (pics soon) & D.variegata at Caledon (this was the D.cistiflora with shoots at the base of the scape); the red D. cistiflora is what Debbert named D. rubripetala; the massive lowland populations of D.cistiflora at Baineskloof is what he described as D.liniflora; the "yellow" D.pauciflora (pics soon) D.atrostyla, and a large pink-flowered D.trinervia from the Cedeberg mountains (also not pictured yet) is what he called D.afra. The only one we didn't see was D.rubripetala, which is a rosetted species closer to D.aliciae/ slackii.

Can you post the images of some of these species please?

I think of the genus as a whole, these South African plants are the most beautiful.

Nigel H-C

[Tuberous Drosera Acclimatization]

Hi Gian,

Plant your tubers to 1 inch depth, and treat as usual if any grow. Once they die back, I keep them under some shade netting (50%) to prevent them from overheating and dessicating. It is important to water them occasionally over the summer months as they are only 1 inch down and will still dry to much. In the autumn I remove the netting as soon as the first couple are showing signs of growth and treat as usual from then.

I use 2 litre extra deep pots for all of my tubers, and still find that they reach the bottom of the containers, but this size pot allows the plants to dry slowly when they enter dormacy, and to go down far enough so they do not dry too much.

Nigel H-C

[A Part Of My Setup]

Good to see so many sticky things.

Time for a sticky revolution!

Nigel H-C

[Drosera Zeheri]

Thanks Christian, should have looked there first I guess.

Nigel H-C

[Drosera Zeheri]

Hi All,

Does anyone know who described this as a species, and where?

Kind regards

Nigel H-C

[U.reniformis 'large Form' Flowering]

One of mine has just finished flowering. I reckon it's due to the long gloomy summer with low light levels being followed by a month or so of decent sun. The plants think it's spring.

One of my Roridula plants has also just finished flowering out of season.

Nigel H-C

[Drosera Graminifolia Propagation?]

Hi Joe,

I've heard that they produce many seeds, so I guess that will be the easiest way to go. I've tried leaf cuttings but never had any success with them.

Congratulations on getting yours to flower, mine is about 9 years old and still refuses to bloom. It has however divided itself in to 3 this year. It has been smaller in height than usual, but all 3 crowns are growing well, so I'm hoping it will be back to its usual height by next year.

I could attempt to split the crowns-but I'm not going to!

Could you post some pictures?

Nigel H-C

[Is D. Cistiflora Self-pollinating?]

D. cistiflora will strike from leaf and root cuttings.

Nige H-C

[Is D. Cistiflora Self-pollinating?]

Hi Kate,

Thanks, its a red D. cistiflora, and is stunning. I posted some images, see the link below.

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19421

Regards

Nigel H-C

[Is D. Cistiflora Self-pollinating?]

Hi Kate,

They do not self pollinate, but are self fertile so you will need to manually pollinate the flowers. They do take several years to reach flowering size in cultivation, so you'll have to be patient!

Regards

Nigel H-C

[First Few Tuberous Drosera Edited]

Edited to include the D. erythrorhiza subsp. collina flowers.

Nigel H-C

[First Few Tuberous Drosera Edited]

Hi Stephen,

I give them a little water over the summer to prevent dessication but they are in 2 litre extra deep pots so they dry very slowly.

So I guess the answer is yes!

Over the growing season they sit in a little water and get the odd spray with the hose.

Nigel H-C

[Sa Drosera (many Pics)]

Hi All,

3rd one down is definatly D. esterhuysenae to me. 10 the same.

11 is a strange one-look at the size of the flowers and there only seems to be a couple per scape-D. pauciflora maybe? Similar shape leaf to my pauci's.

Whatever they are they're fantastic shots anyway-well done.

Nigel H-C

[First Few Tuberous Drosera Edited]

Hi Sheila,

Yes, they grow at a rate of knots when they get going-one of my whittakeri forms is out so far, but most of the tubers haven't surfaced yet!

I love this time of year, it's like a second spring in the Drosera house.

Nigel H-C

[First Few Tuberous Drosera Edited]

Hi Iggy,

I've just been digging around and it seems to be a number of flowers. I'll post a pic when they surface.

Nigel H-C