Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 21:56:51 -0800 From: Stephen Davis <stephend@ricochet.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg848$foo@default> Subject: Re: ultra highlanders in the south
I believe we have no idea just how far we can push these plants
beyond the prevailing wisdom. There just haven't been enough of them
and they have been so expensive. We simply try to create their
"known" enviornment as closely, and blindly as we can. Now that more
are becoming more readily available, perhaps some of us can start
trying to grow outside their boundaries.
I know of one individual that tried a very small Nepenthes rajah
outside in the San Francisco bay area (one of the more mild areas at
that) and failed. However, it died in one of our 10 year "big
freezes." It might have survived in the more common winters, and
perhaps, as a more mature plant it would have survived even the "Big
Freeze." This year it almost surely would have survived as it was
incredibly mild.
I am just brain storming here, perhaps someone has some facts to add.
As the Darlingtonia californica requires cool roots, while the leaves
can survive blistering heat, could it be that some of the Nepenthes'
leaves can deal with the cold, as long as it's not so long that their
roots get too cold too?
Do any Nepenthes grow in bog conditions. The heat held by a bog might
create a microclimate that would certainly help.
Does anyone think Nepenthes could survive in normal garden soil, or a
heavy clay cursed soil that we have in the SF bay area? Worth
thinking about?
Do I sound like an amateur Barry, or what? :-)
Does anyone have an extra flask or two of some promising plants they
want to distribute over multiple zones to let people test in their
gardens, patios, and decks?
I suppose hybrids have the best potential.
Stephen Davis
http://members.aol.com/stephend7
San Jose, CA USA
USDA Zone 9
Sunset Zone 15 - Home of the Giant Redwoods...before we used them to
fence in our properties.
>
>I grow some highland nepenthes outdoors in Santa Monica, California,
>about a mile and a half from the coast, where the winter temps get
>down to the mid-40's at night in winter, and up to the mid-80's,
>rarely into 90's, on summer days.
>-----Snip ----
>-- Chuck Bigelow
---Snip----
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