NEWS
VCPS show
Another remarkable display of carnivorous plants was put on this year by the VCPS.Even though the weather was not very sunny ,many of the display plants were in flower such as numerous pygmy Drosera,Drosophyllum,South African Drosera,North American Drosera,Utricularia,Pinguicula,Dioneae,Nepenthes,Sarracenia and a few more.The temperature was very comfortable and numerous people were captivated by the display.Special guest Greg Bourke from NSW watched his sale Nepenthes walk out the door and by 10.00am or so on the first day he had sold about half his stock.Greg is a well known expert on carnivorous plants,author and also runs a nursery.It is very enjoyable to chat with him as he is very friendly to everyone,has a lot to say and is quite knowledgeable.It should also be mentioned that many VCPS members put in large amounts of time and effort to make the VCPS annual show a success and even though there are quite a few visitors ,as a long time member of the VCPS I think that the show is underestimated and under appreciated by too many.There's not many other places in Australia where you can see a wide range some of the best cultivated carnivorous plants in one small area.Below are a few photos of some of the plants that were on display.
Results and more photos coming soon here
New pygmy drosera species discovered!
A former member of the VCPS is growing an undescribed species of pygmy drosera in Melbourne.This has been recently confirmed.The new pygmy drosera is native to Western Australia.Below are some photos of the plant.We will try and find out more details and post in the VCPS journal.
Plant of the night
Plant of the night for the VCPS September 2012 meeting was a beautiful giant Cephalotus.It is also known as the Albany pitcher plant and is native to South Western Australia.Plants of this type can be green or red and the red varieties are usually the more sought after.Even though some clones tend to be redder than others most types can change from one colour to another depending on the growing conditions.The red color can be an indication the plant is getting plenty of sun or that it is a little stressed.The non topic plant of the night was Drosera cunefolia measuring 8cm across.This has been a plant of the night before but has grown since then.A beautiful plant and not one that is commonly cultivated.
Plant of the night
Plant of the night for the VCPS August 2012 meeting was a beautiful group of D.platypoda owned by Stephen Fretwell.This plant is native to South Western Australia and is tuberous.The non topic plant of the night was Nepenthes thorelii X trusmadiensis with wonderful large red pitchers.
Plant of the night
Plant of the night for the VCPS July 2012 meeting was a large D.macrophylla ssp monantha owned by Stephen Fretwell.Note the one flower per stalk which is a distinguishing characteristic of the subspecies monantha.The non topic plant of the night was Nepenthes chaniana owned by Justin Thong
Plant of the night
Plants of the night for the VCPS May 2012 meeting were P.laueana owned by Peter Bloem and D.cunefolia owned by Sean Spence
Plant of the night
Plant of the night for the VCPS April 2012 meeting was a large D.schizandra owned by David Bond and D.filliformis "red form" owned by Stephen Fretwell..The D.schizandra has won the award before and has shrunk since then but is still a spectacular plant.This time it had numerous plantlets growing from the sides of the plant,old leaves and old flower stalks.Showing that under the right conditions it reproduces at a prolific rate.David seems to have the conditions right even though he is located in Melbourne ,a far cooler climate than its natural habitat in the tropics of Queensland.David has it in a small domed terrarium that is constantly wet and often fills with water.This is sitting under benches in a darkish position in his hothouse.He has had the plant for several years and spread around many of its descendants.Many VCPS members have had trouble cultivating the red D.filliformis as it hates the Melbourne winters being a tropical plant.Stephens plant is only 6 months old having grown over the warmer half of the year and he plans to keep it alive by putting it in his hot house over winter.The non topic plant of the night was a large P.planifolia owned by Sean Spence.Sean has been growing the plant on a window sill in deep water and has fed it dead insects.It is a nice deep red colour just like the plants in the wild.
There was also a fair bit of discussion about Dr R.Gibsons recent paper on the D.peltata complex.Many people including Allen Lowrie feel that there may be an undescribed species growing in Victoria which is superficially similar to D.hookeri.Perhaps it could be a subspecies of D.hookeri.We look forward to any future investigations regarding this topic.What is certain is that currently there are two very distinct plants under the one name of D.hookeri
They can be seen at Victorian drosera
Plant of the night
Plant of the night for the VCPS March 2012 meeting was a large pot of "Red Dragon" VFTs owned by Justin Thong.There were about 70 individual plants in the pot and all a good size,making for a spectacular display.Non topic plant of the night was won by a large pot of Cephalotus follicularis owned by Adam Strathairn.Contrary to many members Adam keeps his Cephalotus sitting in water all year round and his plants do well which shows that rules can be broken when it comes to cultivating CPs.Adam explained that his plant did go backwards at one stage but he cut the roots back,repotted and it took off again.Justin also brought along some impressive Nepenthes.One plant a N ephippiata X ventricosa had a very nice robust pitcher on it about 15cm long or more with a wide mouth and a beautifully deveolped peristome.He grows most of his Nepenthes in a greenhouse.Below are pictures of the plants
Drosera peltata complex resolved
Dr. R. Gibson has published his long awaited paper on the Drosera peltata complex.It is resolved into numerous species and more details can be found at the link below
Drosera peltata complex research here.In Victoria there are 3 species within the complex ,Drosera auriculata,Drosera peltata and Drosera hookeri.Drosera auriculata can be easily identified as it is the only one in the group with glabrous sepals.Drosera hookeri is quite variable and includes pretty much everything which is not Drosera peltata or Drosera auriculata.Drosera peltata can be identified by the reddish colour,relatively small stature and a relatively long flower stalk compared to Drosera hookeri
More details on the 3 Victorian species below.Victorian drosera
VCPS January meeting
Following a successful meeting at Ron Abernethy's place last year it was decided to do the same this year.The weather was fantastic with a sunny day of about 31 C.Unfortunately numbers were down this year for various reasons with only about a dozen members in attendance but it was still a very enjoyable afternoon.Ron and family were kind enough to supply a lot of the food and hardware and were great hosts in an almost ideal location.Ron has one of the best collections of CPs in Victoria on his large property and was talking of expanding it as every CP enthusiast worth their salt does.It was noted that there is still plenty of space left on his roof.Rons collection is noted for its emphasis on the pitcher plants such as Darlingtonia,Sarracenia,Heliamphora,Cephalotus and Nepenthes.He grows pretty much all of them exceptionally well.Members spent long periods wandering through the greenhouses enjoying the plants and wondering about how they could also grow such great plants.It was also great to see a new member turn up,Bart a young,friendly Nepenthes enthusiast and we hope to see him at many more meetings! Below are some photos of Rons plants.
