Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 22:02:25 GMT From: "drosera drosera" <droseradrosera@hotmail.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2640$foo@default> Subject: Holiday and unexpected CP competition!
The time had come for my weeks holiday this year so I took my family (wife
and daughter) off to Devon (S.W. of the UK). As usual I packed the
essentials... spare socks, clean T shirts and gallon can of rain water.
The latter was not only because I tend to look out for plants in garden
centres but also I had pre-arranged to visit South West Carnivorous Plants.
A big thanks to Alistair and Jenny to making us welcome. I purchased a
couple of nice droseras (including D. slackii which needed replacing after
my last one keeled over), a clone of VFT that I had been wanting since I saw
their stand at Chelsea Flower Show and a fine S. flava.
I have not grown many Sarras before and had read about their wasp catching
capabilities. I left the plants outside in the garden of the farmhouse where
we were staying. By the next afternoon the pitchers were full of dead flies
and struggling wasps.
I was very jealous because the garden in Devon had a lawn about 40 feet
(12m) by 80 feet (25m). A small natural stream of pure soft water (no
limestone!) ran all around top and side of the lawn forming natural bogs. I
was assured that it never dries out. A couple of handfuls of seed and you
could have had a perfect hardy CP garden!
During the week we also visited Tavistock. It is a small town in Devon just
west of Dartmoor. It has a pretty covered market that we had been to before,
so we popped in. No market as it turned out but it was the day of the town
flower show.
For those of you outside the UK I should set the scene a little. Flower
Shows are generally local events, where there are good home-made cakes to be
bought and an apparently quaint competition with many different classes. I
say apparently quaint but the classes for home produce often cover a secret
world of fearsome battles... will Mrs Miggins Gooseberry Jam beat Mrs
Bloggins Raspberry Conserve in this years Jam-One Jar Any Type class? etc.
And the fruit and vegetables are also fiercely contested.
To my delight I could see some fantastic looking pitchers rising above the
trestle tables. Tavistock Flower show is unique in my experience but it was
true... Class 168 - Three Types of Carnivorous Plant. A fine display, with a
number of very good looking entries. There was also a chap with his
collection on display and a sales table. Sadly I ran out of time before
being able to talk to him.
On my return home I found to my delight that one of my S. purpurea plants is
putting up a flower bud. As I said, I am fairly new to Sarras so I am
looking forward to this. Is this the normal time for these to flower in the
UK? If not is that going to be a problem?
Good growing to All,
Steve
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