Hi Eric- I read your item on Michael Catalani on Nepenthes. I used to have one of the largest collections of Nepenthes in Canada...and am interested in seeing who else out in Vancouver is growing these plants. I used to be a regular on the UBC Hortus BBS before the internet and email made these boards extinct. I also started collecting these plants during the early 70's and also purchased my first plants from World Insectivorous Plants (WIP). There is a small gathering of carnivorous plant folks in Vancouver, but alas, it's now slipped into non-existence. Just writing to see if Michael is a local Vancouverite or otherwise. Hope to hear from either of you.
Hi flytrap, If my Google search skills are good, I think Michael Catalani is based out of Tennessee. If other people from the Lower Mainland are growing carnivorous plants, though, speak up and let flytrap know! I'm interested to hear that you were involved with the Hortus BBS at UBC - I've spoken with Jim MacPhail in the past about it. What really strikes me as curious is that these forums were started without knowing that there was a Hortus BBS! (Jim retired before I arrived at the garden, and the Hortus BBS was probably not well-used (if at all) by other staff members, given the general lack of computers here a half decade ago. Too bad to hear about the local group. It's amazing how any venture by a few like-minded people who share a common interest can be made less worthwhile or useful by individuals motivated by profit, greed, arrogance, or any one of a litany of things.
Hey... I'd forgotten I had already intro'd myself here last year! Guess there aren't too many carnivorous plant nuts out there (other than myself and the single handful of people I've met over the years).
There are really alot of folk who are into carns! Just not that many visit these here parts!! Most grow in terrariums/vivs. Myself I prefer Heliamphora to all the rest though I definitely will grow Darlingtonia (got one small plant). I also grow Sarrencia purpurea in a bog and have a plant of Sarrencia psittacina that I bought because it was labelled Darlingtonia!!!!! http://jsionline.freeservers.com/firstpage.html the above link goes to my mug and front page and a banner is to my bog info. Got some sedges that will need id'ing!!
That's a good mug shot of you Terrestrial Man! I've got a mess of Darlingtonia's growing, and am expanding my own bog in my back yard this summer. I reside up near the north tip of the big Island off the coast of BC, and am lucky that the weather is conducive to Darlingtonia up here...cool and moist. I'll shoot some photos and post them somewhere on this UBC bot board. I've got a bit of the plants on this page of my website: http://www.generasian.ca/cp_home.html Your bio states that you've got a degree in Botany (me too ! :-) and Humboldt State College (isn't that the same U that another famous Carnivorous Plant guru, Bob Ziemer is from? ( http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/ )
Hello Flytrap, Yeah I keep wondering if I had escaped from Azkaban in another life!! Now where did I put that wand! Talking about magic! Enjoy your site! Saved it on my favorites so I can check it out more thoroughly. Noticed the flower of S. purpurea. I have S. psittacina and it has opened up and is alot like the S. purpurea but not with the red sepals. Got images still in my camera but will get around to posting. You are right on Bob Ziemer being at HSC but now it is called HSU (U for university instead of c for college). However I graduated in spring of '68 long before Bob showed up at the school. I really enjoy seeing the Darlingtonias you have. That is what I have in mind but not too sure just when. My interest in this species came about from seeing them at the greenhouse at HSC. it was a great set-up with water seeping through them and into the floor-but can't remember if the set up was a recycling system or ??? While the species occurs further up north in California and in Southern Oregon I never had a chance to get there as it was just too far for me to drive there and back in a day's time. What is your field of interest in the major? Mine was in bryophytes, California natives, and the club-mosses. Actually still is! I went on to a professional interest in orchids which became a non-professional interest when I quit the job!!! Love the plants but $$$ was not all that promising!! Anyhow as the Dead say: What a strange long trip it's been (i think that this is the phrase??).
Hi Terrestrial man, Thank you for your kind compliments on my website. My Botany interests took me into looking at plant movement: geotropism, phototropism, gravitropism etc... all this because I was interested in what made mimosa pudica and dionea muscipula moved. I also had a keen interest in bryophytes, and I was fortunate to be under the watchful eye of Dr. Schofield, a well respected Bryophytologist. Again, I was intrigued my the world of moss as it allowed me to venture into the world of sphagnum ...home to many of the local drosera species and also many of the montane nepenthes species. Anyways, my world took me away from botany...and I became an Architect...and in particular, applying my knowledge of Botany and biological systems to my sustainable projects. I do have to admit, I spend a bit of time giving the gears to all of the "Green design" snakeoil salespeople out there...catching them red handed on the mis-information that frequently is associated with trends (which happens to be eco-design or green architecture at the moment).
Greetings Flytrap, Long strange trip indeed! My journey took me into accounting and income tax preparation and I am glad to be approaching the point in which I will say NO MORE WORK! I Retire!! Actually though I have been retired by some accounts who have beat me to the punchline!!! Architect? Then you should know about Buckminister Fuller, geodesic domes, lunar modules, hygroponics, deep space colonization, etc. ???? Or are you involved in pushing hay bales?? Excuse my humor-couldn't help myself! Makes me think of the story of the 3 Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf-huff and puff and blow that straw house down!!! unless of course it is reinforced with concrete! But you are right. $$$$ corrupts even the best of ideas! When the need for $$$$ becomes irrelative then maybe the Age of Aquarius or whatever you want to call it will have arrived. ??? So what has being an architect done with your culture of carns? My own profession has only provided the financial resources to be able to support my interest. Otherwise it has limited what I could do within that interest! So with the reducing workload I now am having the time to do many things and have a whole lot on the back burners. Being on this forum is one of those things that the time has given me a chance to become involved in. Hopefully I will be able to get my webjournal on the mosses that I have online this year-if I don't drag my feet too much or get sidetracked!!
