Rare Haircuts for Sarracenia purp montana

[bluesboy]

Hi All,
Ever lust over the photo of that rarer than rare Mountain Purple Sarr. from Georgia that Barry Rice wrote of in the ICPS a few years ago. Anyway, I did, so it is my great pleasure to be able to see a ton of them here at Meadowview- they are beauties! Not only that, but I'm so privledged to be able to be their own personal stylist.

Some might call it grooming, but these aristocratic plants prefer the term, having a 'trim'. So in other words I'm cleaning these guys up of last years pitchers, and red maple seedlings, etc. I wanted to let ya'll in (see, I'm turning Virginian already ;D) and see some of the cleaning. I really do feel very lucky to be able to have the chance to be around, and interact with plants that I thought at one time I'd only be able to read about and see pictures of.

Here is a picture of the client as they walked in to the studio; notice that this client will need more than just a trim


here's a photo for completeness' sake, showing the odd adornments rising high off the head of the client, which I believe they refer to as 'flowers'


all in all, not a hard customer by any means- this is one of the 'after' shots


and the climax- here she strikes a pose- a true beauty!


of course with glamour there is always the cleanup- "where's the assistant to sweep this up?!"


So, that's the process. I find this fun too! Hope you enjoy! You like? Take care, Nick 'bluesboy'

[kby]

So, to ask the experts (that I assume you got the instructions from)...

For a plant in this state it is considered good form to remove all of the partially dead stuff from previous seasons (even the non-dead parts of partially dead leaves)? In moderate climates (like Southern California) I find that often Sarracenia often take YEARS for some leaves to turn completely brown. I have an S. minor that has phyllodyia-like or partially formed pitchers (didn't get enough light last year and had been repotted as well) that are now orange/red/yellow but not brown (except the tops that have already been cut back); also S. rubra jonesii that has pitchers where the tops are gone, but the rest is a nice deep maroon color. I know trimming all the partially dead stuff back will make the plant look better, and it certainly has nice growth for this year, but I would also like to make sure that all the nutrients that need to be transported down have been, plus there is presumably still some residual photosynthetic activity in those leaf portions.

Weighing against keeping the old stuff is the cosmetics and also not providing breeding grounds for fungal pests and stuff like that.-kby

[bluesboy]

Jun 5, 2008 20:53:02 GMT kby said:

So, to ask the experts (that I assume you got the instructions from)...

For a plant in this state it is considered good form to remove all of the partially dead stuff from previous seasons (even the non-dead parts of partially dead leaves)? In moderate climates (like Southern California) I find that often Sarracenia often take YEARS for some leaves to turn completely brown. I have an S. minor that has phyllodyia-like or partially formed pitchers (didn't get enough light last year and had been repotted as well) that are now orange/red/yellow but not brown (except the tops that have already been cut back); also S. rubra jonesii that has pitchers where the tops are gone, but the rest is a nice deep maroon color. I know trimming all the partially dead stuff back will make the plant look better, and it certainly has nice growth for this year, but I would also like to make sure that all the nutrients that need to be transported down have been, plus there is presumably still some residual photosynthetic activity in those leaf portions.

Weighing against keeping the old stuff is the cosmetics and also not providing breeding grounds for fungal pests and stuff like that.-kby

Hi kby,
I took this photo today, July 30th, of the above plant I did a haircut on, June 5th of this year.

Hopefully it will dispel some of the apprehension you have, and perhaps others have, that Sarr.s are very sensitive, and every move must be made carefully around them. Being at Meadowview really showed me this especially. They're really robust plants when grown under correct, but simple, conditions, and a 'haircut' for spring can make for a full head of hair come summer. I didn't need instructions from experts either. You do get to know your client well (ie: montana purp) when you've been growing them for most of your life. Enjoy, Nick 'bluesboy'