The address for the Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society is:
Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society,
C/- P.O. Box 8,
Greensborough, Victoria, Australia, 3088
I'm not sure what the prices would be for overseas members (I don't think we
have any), so it would be best to contact them directly. They've been in
existance for around 7 years. Newsletters are published quarterly (roughly),
and probably don't match up with the ICPS ones since we're only a small group
of collectors. I'm sure they'd be very happy to receive some articles from
growers such as yourself... :)
>Good luck. I'm still trying to work out the right way to grow
>B. gigantea myself. First thing is to get a germination! I've finally
>gotten my fires (crackle crackle) right, and right now am nursing along
>5 seedlings, the tallest is about 2.5cm tall. Part of the problem is
>getting good seed. I got these from Allen Lowrie (of Duncraig, W. Aust.)
Our lone Byblis is the only surviving seedling from 3 seedlings (from a
packet of around 12 seeds), so you're germination problems are pretty
typical. Quite a few seedlings die because they lack a good root system
(overwatering perhaps?) They are also very fragile, so be careful when
you HAVE to water them. BE MEAN with them!
Another problem is getting the pollen to be released so that we can produce
seed. According to Adrian Slack's book, a tuning fork is needed to simulate
an insect's wings, but I haven't got this to work yet. The plant is now around
30 inches high, and shows no sign of stopping! It has been in flower for
several months. Near the base of the plant were the old leaves have died
back, a small side shoot with around 5 leaves is growing - hopefully this can
be removed to produce a second plant.
(Paul---bear in mind that Slack's books are written by a grower in
the UK, and might be best for people growing plants in dank climates.
His instructions on Drosophyllum culture are infinitely more complex
than they have to be for Arizona growers, for example. Maybe in his
climate, the anthers don't dry sufficiently?---B)
>Nice selection. I have a lot of plants myself. I've always got extras,
>and if you want can send you plenty of fresh seed of many species. If
>you are interested, I can send you my plant list (hardcopy). If so,
>tell me your address...
Due to quarantine requirements in Australia, I think only seed can be
sent without a long isolation period. Could you send your list (or a
selection from it) via e-mail? With the Christmas rush, the mail would
take a LONG time to get here ...
> I get the impression that S. purpurea purpurea f. heterophylla
>is easy to come by in your neck of the globe. Oddly enough, it is
>VERY difficult to get in the USA. Do you have any contacts with people
>who might have some extras of those, seeds or otherwise? I'm a real
>purist as to Sarrs, and am interested in pure strains...hybrids are
>less interesting to me. I have specimens of all the Sarr spp. and
>subspecies, and am now playing the game of hunting down nice colour
>variants... S. purp purp hetero and S. leucophylla alba still elude
>me. Of course, I haven't even scratched the surface of the many
>flava variants, although I have about 8+ colour forms...!
I don't have S. purp purp hetero or leucophylla alba. They might be
available but I can't guarantee anything! I have a minor Giant, some
alata "Red Throat" seedlings (no red throats yet ...), and a "flava red
form". I don't know whether these forms are pure or not - one "flava"
we bought appears to be a flava x rubra hybrid of some description!
Some rubra jonesii seeds we bought also contained mostly minor hybrids,
with some seedlings that appear to be the real thing. I would suspect
that you would be more likely to get pure strains in the US.