As a bit of a reminder, both Barry and I live in the hot and dry Sonoran
Desert of Arizona, USA, Sol System (Barry, correct me if I got that wrong :-).
Needless to say, our area is not very condusive to CP growing. The heat is
the biggest obstacle. The air is dry, and our tap water is sure death to
carnivores. Fortunately though, we at least have the sun, strong enough to
bring out the best coloration in any Drosera or Sarracenia.
Barry's greenhouse isn't exactly what you think of when you hear the word
greenhouse. It looks more like an oversized and raised cold frame. You
really can't get inside the thing with any ease, and it is not the best
display presentation for a collection. Nonetheless, Barry has carefully
rigged his greenhouse with a fancy life support system consisting of
a swamp cooler, a water line, a reverse osmosis unit (complete with 55?
gal. storage drum, interior greenhouse switches, solenoids, and other
gizmos). All of this is pretty near required for easy growing in an
outdoor house in Arizona.
Like most people's collections, most of Barry's good stuff is in the
small pots :-). I got my first looks at Genlisea (one was even in full
bloom). I saw several Utric s which were obviously new to me even though they
were not flowering. Barry grows two fine new varieties of Bylblis liniflora
which are quite distict to the common form, and are a must for the Byblisically
inclined!
Also of note were some great specimens of the D. petiolaris complex, especially
petiolaris - Kununurra. Large specimens of D. cuneifolia and D. slackii were
also entertaining.
I was surprised to see a scarcity of tuberous and pygmy Drosera in Barry's
collection, but neither group is too showy at this time of year :-).
Also surprising was the the (apparent) scarcity of Sarracenia - Barry's
favorite! Most of his Sarrs are in small pots, and only a few were big
specimen plants... but if he had many more this size there would be no
room for anything else - a perennial problem! (best solved by growing
annuals ;-)
I'm not a big Sarr fan, but who could not be impressed by large specimens of
S. minor - Oke Giant, S. lecophylla, and (my favorite) an S. psittacenia X
lecophylla X other stuff hybrid with wierdo pitchers!
Yes, Barry's plants do have scale (look, he admitted it himself in a post
just today!) but he doesn't seem too phased by it... in spite of the fact
they just love Sarracenia, and thier second favorite is Utrics like U.
humboldtii!
---To be Continued ----
-Michael