NEWS

May Meeting

The May meeting focused on growing conditions and our best and worst plants. This meeting topic gives us an opportunity learn about how other members grow their plants and lets us both show off our successes and also discuss why things go wrong. Melbourne's climate is ideal for growing many temperate to subtropical carnivorous plants outside, however, many carnivorous plants need more heat in winter, or even cooling in summer, than we can provide outside. Growing plants in greenhouses or indoors lets us control the climate a bit more so those plants can thrive. Our members are growing plants in a range of different growing areas, including greenhouses (glasshouses and polyhouses), outdoors in trays and bog gardens, and indoors in windows, sunrooms or terrariums under natural or artificial lights. Greenhouses were popular but they can give good or bad results depending on position and local conditions. While they can provide much needed heat in winter, in summer they can overheat very easily and bake the plants if care is not taken to control temperatures. The use of artificial lighting is also becoming increasingly popular with several members, especially with the advances in LED lighting making indoor setups much more economical to run.

Amongst the best plants brought into the meeting were a variegated Nepenthes attenboroughii, a chance seedling originating from seed that was collected when the species was discovered. As with a lot of variegated plants, this plant is very slow growing compared to the other seedlings from that batch. The Nepenthes was voted plant of the night. A Pinguicula sp Sierra Mazatecas, which had been grown under LEDs and had coloured up very well, received equal votes with the variegated Nepenthes with one deciding vote going to the Nep. 3rd place went to a Pinguicula gracilis x moctezumae, that was producing a very large flower. Two worst plants were brought in: a possibly dead Cephalotus seedling that was brought in to contrast a 2 YO Ceph from the same seed batch that was very big for its age, and a Utricularia alpina, which had been separated from a larger plant but had been struggling with powdery mildew ever since. The Ceph was voted worst plant after a lone root was found in the media as proof that there was still a plant inside the pot.


The plants benched at the May meeting included:

Cephalotus follicularis Nepenthes attenboroughii Pinguicula emarginata x moctezumae Pinguicula gracilis x moctezumae Pinguicula kondoi Pinguicula laueana

Pinguicula moranensis Pinguicula potosiensis Pinguicula rectifolia Pinguicula "Sethos" Pinguicula sp. Sierra Mazatecas Utricularia alpina

April Meeting

Drosera was the topic for the April meeting. Peter brought in several examples of pygmy Drosera. Though small, this group of sundews can form an attractive pot of plants when grown en masse in a pot, which is relatively easy to achieve as mature plants can be produced from gemmae within a season. Peter's Drosera scorpioides was voted plant of the night. This is one of the larger species of pygmies. Peter's plant was about 5 or 6 years old and the plants had formed stems several inches tall. Florian's Drosera regia was runner up plant of the night. This is plant can be quite temperamental as it doesn't like it's roots to get too warm over summer. 3rd place went to Peter's Drosera capensis. This species is unfairly maligned due to its ease of culture and tendency to become a bit weedy in collections but mature plants can put on a great display. Non-topic plant of the night went to Kelly's Darlingtonia californica. This was a plant that she grew from a division that she received at last winter's repotting day. She was growing it in a ceramic jug-water feature and she uses a pump to flow water through it to keep the roots cool.


The plants benched at the April meeting included:

Cephalotus follicularis Darlingtonia californica Drosera admirabilis Drosera aliciae Drosera callistos Drosera capensis 'Broad leaf' Drosera 'Dorks Pink' Drosera filiformis Drosera graomogolensis Drosera hamiltonii Drosera lasiantha Drosera regia Drosera roseana

Drosera roseana Drosera rotundifolia Drosera scorpioides Heliamphora folliculata Sarracenia leucophylla Sarracenia purpurea ssp. purpurea Sarracenia purpurea ssp. purpurea f. heterophylla Sarracenia purpurea ssp venosa var burkei Sarracenia purpurea ssp venosa var montana Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa var burkei 'Chipola Giant' Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa f. pallidiflora

March Meeting

The topic plants for the February meeting were Nepenthes and Heliamphora. Nepenthes are tropical carnivorous plants, however, many of the highland species experience cool temperatures in the wild and can be grown in an unheated greenhouse in Melbourne. Similarly, most Heliamphora grow on the tepui of the Guiana Highlands in South America where temperatures are mild during the day with nightly drops into the single digits and will also grow well in Melbourne; if anything our hot summers present more of a problem for them. The Nepenthes and Heliamphora were judged separately for plant of the night with Kelly's Nepenthes bicalcarata being voted Nepenthes of the night and Justin's Heliamphora folliculata x ionasi being voted Heliamphora of the night. Nepenthes bicalcarata is a tropical species that likes warm conditions and, for this reason, can be challenging to grow in Melbourne without additional heat. The Heliamphora folliculata x ionasi was one of Justin's own crosses that he made about 8 years ago. Runners up for Nepenthes of the night were Ron's Nepenthes rajah and Justin's Nepenthes edwardsiana. Runners up for Heliamphora of the night were Steve's Heliamphora folliculata and Ron's folliculata x ionasi with Peter's Pinguicula gypsicola x moctezumae voted non-topic plant of the night.


The plants benched at the March meeting included:

Cephalotus follicularis 'Edwards Giant' Heliamphora collina Heliamphora elongata Heliamphora folliculata Heliamphora folliculata x ionasi Heliamphora heterodoxa x folliculata Heliamphora hispida Heliamphora nutans x heterodoxa Heliamphora ionasi x folliculata Heliamphora pulchella Heliamphora Tequila Nepenthes alba Nepenthes albomarginata Nepenthes attenboroughii Nepenthes bicalcarata Nepenthes edwardsiana Nepenthes ephippiata Nepenthes flava Nepenthes glabrata

Nepenthes khasiana Nepenthes lowei x zakriana Nepenthes maxima Nepenthes minima Nepenthes Predator Nepenthes rajah Nepenthes rigidifolia Nepenthes singalana Nepenthes tentaculata Nepenthes talangensis Nepenthes tobaica Nepenthes truncata Nepenthes veitchii Nepenthes veitchii x burbidgae Nepenthes ventricosa x sibuyanensis x merriliana Pinguicula gypsicola x moctezumae Sarracenia alata 'Red Throat' x flava Sarracenia flava var ornata hybrid Sarracenia leucophylla

February Meeting

The February meeting was devoted to Sarracenia and Dionaea. Both genera grow well under Melbourne conditions and are excellent plants for both beginners and experienced growers. Jason's S. x mitchelliana x flava was voted Sarracenia of the night. This plant had nice red, upright pitchers with white fenestrations. Florian brought in a large planter filled with S. rubra which was voted runner up while third place went the Steve's S. purpurea ssp venosa var montana, a very attractive purp with striking venation in the lid. Dionaea muscipula is an iconic carnivorous plant which exhibits a considerable amount of variation for a single species and several different cultivars were benched at the meeting. Ron's D. 'Red Bristle Tooth' and D. 'Angel Wings' were voted 1st and 2nd place VFT of the night. As the name suggests, D. 'Red Bristletooth' is an all red dentate form while 'Angel Wings' normally produces strongly convexed traps although this trait wasn't prominant on the plant that was benched. 3rd place went to Steve's D. 'Coquillage', and unusual prostrate form where the teeth are reduced to small nubs.
The species benched at the February meeting included:

Dionaea 'Angel Wings' Dionaea 'Australian Red Rosetted' Dionaea 'Big Tomato' Dionaea 'Bimbo' Dionaea 'B52' Dionaea 'Carboni Ardenti' Dionaea 'Carolina State Park' Dionaea 'Coquillage' Dionaea 'Crossteeth' Dionaea 'DCXL' Dionaea 'Eyelash' Dionaea 'Fake Dracula' Dionaea 'Fang' Dionaea 'Freaky Star' Dionaea 'Funnel Trap' Dionaea 'G16 x G14 - Clone 10' Dionaea 'Olive Green' Dionaea 'Phalanx' Dionaea 'Red Bristle Tooth' Dionaea 'Red Line' Dionaea 'Red Piranha' Dionaea 'Rouge Sombre' Dionaea 'Schuppenstiel' Dionaea 'Sharks Teeth' x 'Royal Red' Dionaea 'Shell' Dionaea 'Slacks Giant'

Dionaea 'South West Giant' Dionaea 'Spider' Dionaea 'Tall' Dionaea 'Whacky Traps' Nepenthes diabolica Nepenthes edwardsiana Nepethes hamata Nepenthes x harryana Nepenthes ((lowii x veitchii) x boschiana) x ((veitchii x maxima) x veitchii) Sarracenia alata Sarracenia alata var. rubrioperculata Sarracenia flava hybrid Sarracenia flava var ornata Sarracenia leucophylla Sarracenia minor var okefenokeensis Sarracenia x mitchelliana x flava Sarracenia x popei Sarracenia purpurea var montana Sarracenia psittacina Sarracenia psittacina var okefenokeensis f. luteoviridis Sarracenia rubra Sarracenia rubra gulfensis 'Antho free' Sarracenia rubra var wherryi