>Any chance of uploading a copy of the article - perhaps to the
>archive if it is too long for the list. Some of us won't ever get
>to see 'Fremontia'.
I second that :) or is the magazine available internationally?
Sounds fascinating - and a white-flowering form too?
>I agree that Darlingtonia discussion soon tends to die out. Maybe
>because only one species?
Though if that were the only reason, Dionaea ought to be neglected
likewise...
>It seems easy to grow in England - I had no
>previous experience of the plant but have grown it over a few years
>from a small tissue cultured bit from a garden centre to a flowering
>plant. A friend also has one which is trying to burst out of its pot.
>If it's warm weather that it doesn't like, then maybe that's why
>England suits it (and as Peter Cole says, it does OK in Wales as
>well). I keep mine in the greenhouse, but the friend keeps his
>outside - it doesn't seem to matter.
It's a funny old life innit? My first Darlingtonia cost me 15 quid
as an established specimen, and I lavished every care on it ( potted
in finest sphagnum, roots rinsed through with chilled water twice
daily, pride of place on my best sunny windowsill, etc. ) Of course
it died within 4 months. Sheer bloody-mindedness I expect.
My current plant was bought as a small tissue-cultured sprout
( Vesutor, ) for 2 pounds, labelled 'Cobra Lily' - and since the
first of these 2 years previously had turned into a hybrid? Sarracenia
I had assumed the company wouldn't know a Cobra Lily if it jumped up
and bit them.
So I stuck it in a trough of D. Anglica, D. Rotundifolia, P. Vulgaris,
P. Grandiflora, S. Flava, S. Purpurea, and S. XCatesbaei ( all in
waterlogged peat, ) in the back garden, and forgot all about it
( well, the other plants don't mind the winters here. ) Last winter
peaked ( troughed? ) at about -15C for several nights, with gales,
hail, heavy frosts and LOTS of rain. And I gave the sprout no more
thought.
Until, in late Spring, I happened to observe the first of several
adult pitchers and realized that this was not 'just another bloody
pitcher plant' as I had thought. So, winter's here again, and the
sprout is thriving - it's continued to grow perceptibly right up to
Christmas ( It's been unseasonably warm this year, ) and I have high
hopes ( 8 adult pitchers from 3 distinct clumps. )
So if you live somewhere hot and dry, I can suggest only two courses
of action:
1) Move to Wales, or
2) Give up Darlingtonia and try your hand at cacti instead :)
I sort of wonder if it would be practical to build a refrigerated
terrarium for the more boreral species, though my absence of need
has thus far hindered my experimenting. Any thoughts anyone?
--
PETER COLE - SWANSEA, WALES (9 inches of rain since Boxing Day! -
ought to try my hand at U. Vulgaris :)