Post by jlechtm on Aug 7, 2017 8:18:24 GMT -5
I live in Northern Fairfax County, VA (Tysons Corner area) and I like to say that I've been growing carnivorous plants since the 1970s, and succeeding with them (more or less) since 1990.
As a kid growing up in California, the local discount store CP that I would bring home to (unfortunately and inevitably) kill were Darlingtonia, not Dionaea, but my trajectory in the hobby has otherwise been similar to most.
Today, I have a large collection of Sarracenia, focusing almost entirely on species and natural hybrids. I also have a number of Heliamphora, as well as Pinguicula, Drosera, Dionaea and native non-carnivorous companion bog plants. I'm actually keeping a pot of Darlingtonia alive on the east coast (still amazes me) ... at least so far, and I have been also surprisingly successful at growing Drosophyllum. I just let my large Dewy Pine die out after flowering and setting seed this year (was five years old) because it was getting too large for my greenhouse (and I'll be germinating seed to start again this fall/winter).
I also grow a number of other examples of odd botany: An ant plant (Myrmecodium), a Welwitschia, an Amorphophallus and a number of Stapeliads. I have a large outdoor growing area (three raised beds with auto irrigation) and a 13' x 26' greenhouse. I also just put in a pond and stream with a wetland filter (but haven't yet decided what, if any, CP I'll be growing in it. If I can get the early-pond algae under control, I'd like to try Aldrovanda.
I first got into the hobby in an organized way when I attended what may have been the last East Coast CP group meeting at Rob Saccillato's Botanique Nursery in Stanardsville, VA in 1995, and I have been involved in the International Carnivorous Plant Society and other, previous attempts at local/regional CP clubs/societies since then. I've been lucky enough to have been able to see every Sarracenia species/sub-species and many hybrids in the wild, and I continue to enjoy finding and photographing them in nature whenever I can.
I like the idea of having a comparatively local group of growers.
Looking forward to meeting more of you :-).
Jay Lechtman
As a kid growing up in California, the local discount store CP that I would bring home to (unfortunately and inevitably) kill were Darlingtonia, not Dionaea, but my trajectory in the hobby has otherwise been similar to most.
Today, I have a large collection of Sarracenia, focusing almost entirely on species and natural hybrids. I also have a number of Heliamphora, as well as Pinguicula, Drosera, Dionaea and native non-carnivorous companion bog plants. I'm actually keeping a pot of Darlingtonia alive on the east coast (still amazes me) ... at least so far, and I have been also surprisingly successful at growing Drosophyllum. I just let my large Dewy Pine die out after flowering and setting seed this year (was five years old) because it was getting too large for my greenhouse (and I'll be germinating seed to start again this fall/winter).
I also grow a number of other examples of odd botany: An ant plant (Myrmecodium), a Welwitschia, an Amorphophallus and a number of Stapeliads. I have a large outdoor growing area (three raised beds with auto irrigation) and a 13' x 26' greenhouse. I also just put in a pond and stream with a wetland filter (but haven't yet decided what, if any, CP I'll be growing in it. If I can get the early-pond algae under control, I'd like to try Aldrovanda.
I first got into the hobby in an organized way when I attended what may have been the last East Coast CP group meeting at Rob Saccillato's Botanique Nursery in Stanardsville, VA in 1995, and I have been involved in the International Carnivorous Plant Society and other, previous attempts at local/regional CP clubs/societies since then. I've been lucky enough to have been able to see every Sarracenia species/sub-species and many hybrids in the wild, and I continue to enjoy finding and photographing them in nature whenever I can.
I like the idea of having a comparatively local group of growers.
Looking forward to meeting more of you :-).
Jay Lechtman
