Rob, I may not be the most objective person in this regards. I really
like pygmies. They fall into two general forms, the flat rosettes like
pulchella, pygmaea, etc, and the erect plants which are more like
miniature capensis, i.e. dichrosepala, barbigera, scorpioides. A real
attraction of these plants is their flowers. If you get tired of the
infinite procession of little pink or white flowers you get from
Drosera, the pygmies provide a great relief. White, pink, orange,
yellow, black, often two colours to a flower---petals may be white
tinged with pink at the edges, orange with black centers, the
style-stigmas may be brightly coloured---deep red, white, yellow, etc.
The plants themselves, grown in bright light, will be intensely coloured
in greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and even though tiny are delightful.
The flowers are sometimes bigger than the rosettes! Anyway, this is all
subjective. If you were interested I suggest you check out Lowrie's
volume II on pygmies. It's a good description of the species...
>Now I'm really in agony waiting for that seed from the bank.
I'm gonna track down Gordon this weekend and get his new address. I've got
stuff to send him so I'll find out what's the scoop with the seed bank. I
hear that he may be getting a lot of gemmae soon and that should be
distributed quickly (and probably at prices cheaper than mine!).
>Oh yeah, anybody ever have a D. capillaris reproduce like D. prolifera?
>One of my plants is putting out a rosette up on the flower stem.
Davin, I've seen this plant do this for two reasons. Both cases were when I
was growing them in a very very hot terrarium with high humidity---the first
time it was just an abberation. But once a plant in this terrarium produced a
seed capsule which leaned against a glass wall, and condensing water
germinated the seeds. I had a huge mass of seedlings growing against the
glass wall, held there by the scape. I could daily inspect the growing roots
against the glass---a fine botany lesson in root development. Then the moist
dead scape rotted away, and over the next few *months* the plantlets slowly
slid down the moist glass wall to the Sphagnum below and rooted properly.
Only about 5 plants survived the tortuous descent, but by the time they
were there two had grown to flowering size and were doing just that!
Weirdly entertaining in a watching-the-paint-dry sort of way!
>luggage. By the way, are Darlingtonia typically collected
>or green house propagated? I would rather not buy
>a threatened plant if it was collected.
Good for you. But I think you can only rely on the reputation of the grower
since plant theft is so easy. I would wait until spring to get Darlingtonia
because they are dormant now and, like Sarracenia, might be easily shocked
in this state.
>Can anybody recommend an introductory botany textbook
>for example those used in university botany classes?
>Michael, surely you must have a favorite.
Scott: I went to a couple of used book stores and picked some up there.
I've got one I'm pleased with and which is always yielding interesting
tidbits. I'll get the title for you if you want. But I'd buy whatever
you can get used. Who wants to spend $45 bucks on some book you don't
*need*! (that you could spend on a copy of Taylor)
I got my 1992 Mellinger's catalog. This is a place I've gotten some things
from, like a few wildflowers and seed packets, flats, and other items.
Some products which may interest members of this group are:
Darlingtonia ($2.95 each but probably tiny)
Plastic pots (round and square) 2.25''---10'', reasonable prices
(i.e. 100 4'' pots $12.20) but I don't know colour or sturdiness
Various plastic flats
Pyrethrins (conventional wisdom says CP-friendly) insecticide $3.19
Gibberellic Acid
Plastic Pot labels about $4.00/100
Max/Min thermometers $23.00
And (Mike take note) a LOT of ways to make cheap greenhouses out of
polyethylene etc.
I recall Earl had bought some Sphagnum (dead, long fiber) from them some
time ago at a good price, and the Sphagnum was OK but it had some leaves and
dead grasses in it which decreased its quality some. Earl, did that turn out
to be a good deal? How were shipping charges to Hawaii?
I recommend this place for Garden supplies. They've been in business since
the twenties and are fast shippers with reasonable shipping costs.
Mellinger's Inc
2310 W. South Range Rd.
North Lima, Ohio 44452-9731
(216)549-9861
order line: 1-800-3221-7444
BAMR