I found this pitcher plant for $5 at a local nursery. Usually all I find are fly traps and nepenthes. I think this is a Parrot Pitcher Plant. I also think I saw a pic from Heather that she has these growing wild in her backyard...*sigh of jealousy* :roll:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a93/tdrollo/2005_1004Image0004.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a93/tdrollo/2005_1004Image0003.jpg

That is very nice nepenthes with a nice price tag!

Mmmmmmm......veiny!!! 8)

Wow, that's very cool. I've never seen anything like that in stores around here. Just in my backyard! :lol:
Incidentally, I met with a photographer at work yesterday who does photo cards and she had some nice images of pitcher plants and their flowers, and also Cyp. acaule. I said I would be interested in seeing/buying more for myself personally, and just got an email with thirty really nice images of them. Looks like she has a real nice colony growing in her back woods!

Great grab! Thanks!

Nice Sarracenia sp

Paphman

great color, mine are mostly green

Sounds like paphman910 knows what its is. Also send a PM to one of our new members Dionaea. He is really into CP's, and could probably tell you what it is.

It's really neato

Yeah, I would love to know also. It looks exactly like what is in "my" bog.
Incidentally, they seem common here. The woman who is sending me photographs of her Cyps for notecards also has these blooming. If anyone is interested....

Well I am sure that it is a Sarracenia, I am just not precisely sure of the exact type. Mine has no white on it, that's why I think it is the Parrot Pitcher Plant. But I guess it could be a random hybrid. All I know is it is WAY cool! :D

It looks to me like Sarracenia purpurea, but then again I'm not an expert.

RZu.

I love pitcher plants !!! I have some myself 8) 8) 8)

RZ is correct, S. purpurea at a great price.

Beautiful veination!

thanks

you might have to put it in the freezer for the winter
i think they require vernalization

Yeah I was thinking about sticking it in the fridge. I was reading that they need 3-4 months of dormancy with temps under 50 degrees. I hope my husband doesn't accidentally eat it.... :ohmy:

No! No! Don't put it in the fridge! :shock: Much better to cool it off outside for the winter. Really they don't need a really heavy cool period, temps in the 40-50F range are fine for 2 or 3 months. The one you've got is v. venosa, a more southern form than the ones you see in the northern bogs. It grows naturally as far south as Florida. I'd place it on a cool to cold well lit window. These guys are full sun plants in the wild. Keep it a bit drier in the winter as well, but not truly dry. Come spring give it full sun with lots of water, wet in fact. If you grow it in any shade it will turn much more green, the pitchers will get elongated and floppy, and the vigor of the plant will diminish. The best way to grow them is in an outside peat based bog garden.

Tom Velardi

Ok, good news that I don't have to put it in the fridge...but here in sunny San Antonio it will only be 40-50 degrees for a few days at a time before it goes back up into the 80s for a week or so. Maybe it will get into the 20-30 range for a day or two at a time, but never for long. That's "Winter" in South Texas. If you think it will be ok to just leave it where it is, that's what I'll do. Right now it's outside in 100%peat in a dish of R/O water. It never dries out and is in full sun for most of the day, hopefully dining on fungus gnats and mosquitos.

Teresa,

That sounds fine, just don't let it dry out completely. Also, don't worry if the leaves get beat up and raggedly looking by spring, that is normal. In spring increase watering so the plant is essentially water logged. It will flush new leaves and flowers quickly. A nice feature of this species is that it tends to grow new pitchers all summer long while other species don't grow many after the spring flush.