- Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:41 pm
#213563
During my trip to Wilimington and Croatan National Forest, I was very graciously given a place to stay with Dan Sheret, Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden caretaker, and his wife, Mary Ames. I cannot thank them enough for opening their house to me and allowing me to use their residence as my home base during my stay in the area.
In addition to providing me with a place to stay, Dan also provided me with the opportunity of a lifetime: to select and legally harvest 3 wild flytraps growing in the Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden. This was a dream come true for me. As a child, after finding out about carnivorous plants, I desperately wanted to make a trip to North Carolina and harvest a Venus flytrap to grow as my own! Now, 30 years later, I have had the opportunity to do so. Thanks so much, Dan!
Initially I was hesitant to disturb the garden and take flytraps that I know many people were enjoying on visits to the garden. But Dan insisted and I knew that I could get these wonderful plants in tissue culture and send back dozens or hundreds of each one so that many more existed in the garden, so I started my search!
I surveyed the garden and selected the three largest flytraps I could find out of the hundreds (maybe thousands) growing in the garden. At the time of harvest, I think they all had traps between and inch and 1.25 inches. That's not terribly large, but wild flytraps don't seem to get terribly large. And these Wild Giants have done extremely well in cultivation! The second plant I harvested, which I labeled Rehder Giant #2, currently has the largest traps in my collection. Almost all of the traps are over 1.5 inches, some reaching up to 1.7 inches. And the amazing part about the traps on this plant is that they are almost as wide as they are long! I measured the largest trap and it was 1.7 inches long and 1.5 inches wide! It's hard to capture that in photos, but I did my best. Photos below!
A bit of history on the garden: Originally there were only a few flytraps growing in the location. I believe most of these were poached at some point and there was virtually nothing left when Stanley Rehder started his garden. He introduced a lot of non-native Sarracenia to the site and rebuilt the population of Venus flytraps. Most of the flytraps in the garden were taken from a site in Boiling Springs, North Carolina and used to repopulate the garden. So, best guess is that these Rehder Giant Flytraps were probably originally natively located in Boiling Springs, NC.
Dan Sheret in the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden. Notice the shovel in his right hand. That is what I'd be using to harvest my 3 chosen Rehder Giants!
Me with the first flytrap I selected, which I labeled Rehder Giant #1:
Rehder Giant #2 after 4 months in cultivation here in southern Oregon:
And finally, a couple photos of Rehder Giant #3. So far, this giant hasn't made traps quite as large as Rehder Giant #2, but the traps are nearly as large (over 1.5 inches in length) and it is much more colorful! I really like this one.
I can hardly wait to get these wonderful Wild Giant Flytraps in tissue culture next spring and send a bunch back to Dan and offer them to other Dionaea enthusiasts to add to their private collections in the United States and around the world!
In addition to providing me with a place to stay, Dan also provided me with the opportunity of a lifetime: to select and legally harvest 3 wild flytraps growing in the Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden. This was a dream come true for me. As a child, after finding out about carnivorous plants, I desperately wanted to make a trip to North Carolina and harvest a Venus flytrap to grow as my own! Now, 30 years later, I have had the opportunity to do so. Thanks so much, Dan!
Initially I was hesitant to disturb the garden and take flytraps that I know many people were enjoying on visits to the garden. But Dan insisted and I knew that I could get these wonderful plants in tissue culture and send back dozens or hundreds of each one so that many more existed in the garden, so I started my search!
I surveyed the garden and selected the three largest flytraps I could find out of the hundreds (maybe thousands) growing in the garden. At the time of harvest, I think they all had traps between and inch and 1.25 inches. That's not terribly large, but wild flytraps don't seem to get terribly large. And these Wild Giants have done extremely well in cultivation! The second plant I harvested, which I labeled Rehder Giant #2, currently has the largest traps in my collection. Almost all of the traps are over 1.5 inches, some reaching up to 1.7 inches. And the amazing part about the traps on this plant is that they are almost as wide as they are long! I measured the largest trap and it was 1.7 inches long and 1.5 inches wide! It's hard to capture that in photos, but I did my best. Photos below!
A bit of history on the garden: Originally there were only a few flytraps growing in the location. I believe most of these were poached at some point and there was virtually nothing left when Stanley Rehder started his garden. He introduced a lot of non-native Sarracenia to the site and rebuilt the population of Venus flytraps. Most of the flytraps in the garden were taken from a site in Boiling Springs, North Carolina and used to repopulate the garden. So, best guess is that these Rehder Giant Flytraps were probably originally natively located in Boiling Springs, NC.
Dan Sheret in the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden. Notice the shovel in his right hand. That is what I'd be using to harvest my 3 chosen Rehder Giants!
Me with the first flytrap I selected, which I labeled Rehder Giant #1:
Rehder Giant #2 after 4 months in cultivation here in southern Oregon:
And finally, a couple photos of Rehder Giant #3. So far, this giant hasn't made traps quite as large as Rehder Giant #2, but the traps are nearly as large (over 1.5 inches in length) and it is much more colorful! I really like this one.
I can hardly wait to get these wonderful Wild Giant Flytraps in tissue culture next spring and send a bunch back to Dan and offer them to other Dionaea enthusiasts to add to their private collections in the United States and around the world!
Good look with the tissue culture! I would be honored to own one of these clones someday.
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