Pictures of Pitchers

A while back, I placed an order for 13 bare root sarracenias from California Carnivores, a nursery owned by Peter D'Amato. Well, I wound up with 19! Of course, the catch is that none of them were labeled, so I'll have to do a bit of scouting to identify each one. I have pitchers on all of them, but not all the pitchers are mature just yet. Here's one with some mature and immature pitchers:

I also got Sarracenia oreophila, which is a rare, endangered North American Pitcher Plant native to North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.  Because it's endangered, it's illegal to sell, so it was included as a gift from the nursery.

If you happen to hit California Carnivores during their special rhizome sale, I highly recommend purchasing tons. The rhizomes are large, and you'll wind up with more than what you bargained for. I had to quickly run around and make up more carnivorous plant potting mix and prep extra pots! That part wasn't so much fun because washing sand isn't my favorite thing to do. However, it's paid off. I'm very pleased with my plants, and I hope to enter at least one into the upcoming garden show.

It seems a lot of nurseries are buckling from the strain of the poor economy, and this is certainly one I would hate to lose along with many, many others.  My purchases from Lowe's and Home Depot have decreased, and most of my purchases are being made at local retail and mail order nurseries.  If you're itchin' to buy some plants, here are a few other nurseries I can recommend:

Yucca-Do
Plant Delights
Old House Gardens
Airplants4U
Chile Pepper Institute

I think between all those nurseries, there's something for everyone!  And I believe we all have a little more time for some extra plants before the heat rolls in full force.