I’ve rather fallen in love with the carnivores in the limery… not so much the Venus fly traps (which I expected to be very exciting, but are, in fact, fairly dull), but the Sarracenias (pitchers) and Droseras (sundews). These amazing plants are thriving – they have all grown since their arrival and have been working hard, with the sundews being particularly effective at catching small insects and the pitcher consuming the larger flies (houseflies, horseflies etc).
Unfortunately we have had rather a lot of flies indoors this year because the field behind us has had livestock in it for the whole summer. So, despite the pitcher doing its best – with a little help from the Nepenthes tropical pitcher, which needs to be kept in a vivarium to maintain high humidity – we still have rather too many insects for my liking. Which has given me a great excuse to get some more plants (it was always on the cards once the limery was finished). So, let me introduce the four newbies:
Sarracenia purpurea ssp. purpurea – Purple pitcher plant
Sarracenia flava – Yellow pitcher plant
Sarracenia catesbaei – S. flava x S. purpurea (hybrid of the two above)
Cephalotus follicularis Albany carnivorous Pitcher Plant
The Sarracenias are bigger plants than the one I originally bought and are in 9cm pots, but should grow significantly bigger. The Cephalotus is very small as yet – only a few centimetres across – but also should get much bigger.
The structure and morphology of all these plants fascinates me. I could spend hours simply looking at them in wonder…
I now can’t remember which of the builders it was who suggested carnivorous plants, but whichever one it was he truly sowed a seed for me…
The Snail of Happiness 
davidprosser
/ August 28, 2015It was obviously an inspired suggestion for you. These plants have always fascinated me too.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 28, 2015It’s amazing, isn’t it, how a chance remark can kindle a real interest, I have to confess I waste lots of time just looking at them!
xxx hugs xxx
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Ann Laken
/ August 28, 2015We have 2 happy venus’s here – Steve seems to have the knack for looking after them. Or should I say letting them look after themselves. Outside May ish to Oct ish, when they pig out, then into the kitchen over the colder months. Rainwater only, and that’s about it.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 28, 2015The Venuses are doing fine – the new traps that are appearing are about twice the size of the old ones, so they must like the conditions (I too am only using rainwater), but somehow they don’t pique my interest in the same way that the pitchers do. Having said that, I love all of them and can imagine getting quite obsessed!
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Nanette
/ August 28, 2015I can see why you love them, they’re quite exotic and alien, beautiful colours.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015I’m really loving having the chance to grow something so exotic… I’ve never had the chance before and it’s really lovely to be growing things for their own sake rather than just to eat.
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katechiconi
/ August 28, 2015What you need is a little Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. No more flies… Ever! Your pitcher plants are beautiful.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015In the past few days the original Sarrecenia has caught three quite big flies… it’s currently the best contender to be Audrey II! Must keep my fingers well out of the way when I water it 😉
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katechiconi
/ August 30, 2015I think it would take a fully grown Audrey II to deal with our insects, which are completely outsized… The geckos and frogs can only deal with so much!
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narf77
/ August 28, 2015I come from the place where they discovered Cephalotus follicularis! The little fellow has made it halfway around the world. I am sure his mam would be dead proud of him 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015You too must be an exotic creature in that case! The limery is turning out to be quite a cosmopolitan place!
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narf77
/ August 30, 2015Not exotic and more “swampy”.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015You can be both!
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narf77
/ August 30, 2015Sort of like the “Albany swamp hag?” I could also add “Mythical creature” to my bag then 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015I think you make a fine mythical creature, but you could be a sprite rather than a hag.
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narf77
/ August 30, 2015I don’t know…at certain times of the month… 😉
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anne54
/ August 28, 2015Fantastic plants. They have everything going for them — shape, colour and a little macabre. The yellow pitcher plant looks sensational against the blue wall. I think that paint colour was an inspired choice.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015I’m so pleased with our choice of colour… I did wonder whether it would be a little too dark, butit’s not a problem since the room is mainly glass anyway.
I am developing a deep fascination with these plants – the veins in them do look remarkably as if they could be carrying blood and the complex shapes are amazing. I wouldn’t have believed I could spend so much time just gazing at a few small plants!!
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arlingwoman
/ August 29, 2015I remember seeing pitcher plants growing in parts of Little River Canyon in northern Alabama as child. We found them fascinating and would spend part of our swimming time checking to see if anything had been caught. So glad these are successful in your limery.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015I would love to see them in the wild… must head further south next time I am in the States!
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arlingwoman
/ August 30, 2015Well, here’s a link for planning purposes. Below the video of the falls, they talk about the endangered pitcher plants! http://www.nps.gov/liri/learn/photosmultimedia/index.htm
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KerryCan
/ August 29, 2015Kate beat me to the reference to “Little Shop of Horrors”–don’t let those plants get a taste of you!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015Being very careful not to bleed near them!!
Amusingly, I did see a a note on one website that I was consulting about their care that they should not be fed cheese. The mind boggles about who might think they would like cheese!
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Lori Fontanes
/ August 29, 2015Being that my daughter just played the role of Audrey II last night (coincidence or fate? 😉 ), I hesitate only slightly to endorse carnivorous plants. But, heck, yours are (still) pretty small. Just don’t get *too* close.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 30, 2015Well, I promise not to invite any dentists round!!
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