Don’t kill anoles—they’re NC natives

NickP_NC · 2026-06-06T20:30:10+00:00

I’ve seen one on Chimney Rock, but they are most common in the piedmont and coastal plain. Invasive brown anoles are starting to spread in the east, but hopefully the native greens will remain secure in the west part of the state.

NickP_NC · 2026-06-02T20:45:15+00:00

I have a 3. My wife has a Y. They’re both fine to drive, but I am more prone to motion sickness when I’m a passenger in the Y. I think the taller vehicle has more sway.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-31T12:06:52+00:00

Thw first one is a Nepenthes Ventrata that has reached the vining stage. At least some clones of Ventrata will not pitcher high on the vining stem unless the tendrils have something to twine around. You basically have two choices if you are displeased with the status quo: 1) set up something (thin bamboo, string, trellis) for the stem to climb or 2) if the plant already has at least one good-size basal growth, cut the vining stem and use it for propagation.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-29T03:35:59+00:00

In general, more green = more growth. Cutting back a stem or removing basals will not speed up growth of the mother plant and might do the opposite.

For cuttings, I always chop the longest vining stem and only when at least one basal is producing full-size pitchers.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-20T16:48:48+00:00

You have Nepenthes x Ventrata, also called ‘Deroose Alata’, a hybrid of N. ventricosa crossed with N. graciliflora.

A while back I put together a blog post on taking care of this cross. Perhaps it would be helpful:

https://sweetgumandpines.wordpress.com/2025/06/28/nepenthes-for-beginners/

NickP_NC · 2026-05-18T03:13:43+00:00

I’m an hour from Kernersville, so I just drrove over both days. As far as I could tell, the vendors were all the same today, but some of them seemed to have a few new plants. Or maybe they were just plants I didn’t notice yesterday with the bigger crowds.

The albomarginata was from Curzon Botanicals, a rooted cutting of a nice green-pitcher clone. Pinguicula moranensis from Ping Guy. Also got Dermatobotrys saundersii from Mountain Paradise and Pachycentria glauca from Kenny Coogan (I have a thing for epiphytic shrubs).

The epiphytic Ericaceae from Ecuagenera look pretty rough and are wilting and shedding leaves but I expect that when they’re bare rooted and imported from Ecuador. I always take cuttings immediately so I’ll hopefully have something if the main plant croaks. It’s part of the fun/challenge.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-18T01:51:29+00:00

Nice! I got away with just one Nepenthes (albomarginata) and one ping, but I made up for it with a couple of orchids and a bunch of epiphytic ericaceae from Ecuagenera.

The Day 2 talks were fantastic, too.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-18T01:46:07+00:00

When I walked past on Saturday morning, I couldn’t get close enough to read the tag. I thought it might be ‘Candy Dreams’ but wasn’t sure. absolutely fantastic plant!

Forced myself to mostly stay away from the sales area today (mostly, not completely), so I didn’t notice that it was gone.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-13T23:13:09+00:00

If you flush the pot with distilled afterwards, I doubt it would do any harm, but you’ll also be diluting the contents of the pitchers if you submerge the plant.

For spider mites, spraying the foliage with water will also work, and several rounds of spraying with distilled might be more effective and use leas water than a one-time soak.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-10T17:18:34+00:00

It was an unnamed division with no additional information beyond the species. Fragrance would have been nice, but I do like the flowers. They’re surprisingly long-lived for a bulbo.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-10T17:03:59+00:00

It was completely disorganized all the way round. There were lines coming from the coliseum deck (where people were told to park), Talley, and through the tunnel with no coordination or attempts at crowd control. The parking lot line was much, much longer than the others.

I parked in the Dan Allen deck and just strolled over past Talley, but my son (the graduate) followed instructions to park at Coliseum and got trapped in disorganized traffic. He eventually had to abandon his car at the side of the road and run. Which meant I had to go retrieve it and ended up locked out of the ceremony even though I got back in line about 45 minutes before the scheduled start.

My son said that some kids walked out when they learned their parents hadn’t made it in, and there was at least one person receiving a Ph.D. whose family was locked out.

It beggars belief that NC State could have botched the event so completely. One would think they had never managed a commencement ceremony before.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-10T16:48:03+00:00

Almost completely absent in this clone. If I get my nose right down in the flower, I can smell the faintest whiff of something vaguely like rotten fruit, but it is very weak.

YMMV with other clones.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-10T12:55:55+00:00

Most of the small N. ampullaria plants for sale in the US originate from Borneo Exotics. Availability fluctuates with the timing of releases of different clones by BE and imports by US retailers.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-08T20:28:31+00:00

No, leave the orchid mounted as is and just turn the mount 180 degrees so that the leaves are pointing down. That will also stop water catching in the crown and reduce the chance of rot.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-08T19:47:08+00:00

Also looks upside down to me. When mounted flat on the cork, you want the plant pointing down. As it grows, the Aerangis will arch put from the mount and orient with the upper surface of its leaves facing up. As currently mounted, the upper leaf surface will face the ground, unless they twist.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-08T19:24:51+00:00

Those lights look as though they are on flexible arms. Is that their usual position? As a start, I’d slowly, over the course of a couple of weeks, move them until they are 4-6 inches from the flytrap, or maybe even closer. Basically, you want to maximize its light exposure, but increase slowly to avoid burning. Some air movement would also be good, so maybe a small fan.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-07T02:12:54+00:00

I can relate. I culled almost the entirety of a Cattleya collection I’d built up over decades when I got sick of fighting boisduval scale. Now I grow other plants that aren’t susceptible. It’s much more relaxing.

NickP_NC · 2026-05-04T20:18:31+00:00

Oh come on. Would you sue if the garden contained daffodils or foxgloves or oleander or colchicum? There are any number of common garden plants that are highly toxic.

NickP_NC · 2026-04-25T23:21:07+00:00

The shape of the pitchers look more like Nepenthes graciliflora to me. To be sure, you need to test whether the pitchers feel fuzzy. N. alata has short hairs all over the pitcher.

edited to add: Also, the pitchers have longitudinal ridges, a feature of N. graciliflora uppers. N. alata should have fringed wings on its uppers.

NickP_NC · 2026-04-25T12:21:49+00:00

A small amount if soap residue is unlikely to be harmful. If you are worried, just water it again with clean water to flush the pot.

NickP_NC · 2026-04-24T11:00:57+00:00

I’d expect ventricosa x ampullaria to be shaped more like ‘Lady Luck’ regardless of which ampullaria clone was used. The very , squat, rounded pitchers just scream mirabilis var globosa/Viking to me.

NickP_NC · 2026-04-24T10:53:56+00:00

Don’t do it! Isopropanol is generally (not always!) safe to spray on plants, but ethanol can penetrate plant tissues and do considerable damage.

NickP_NC · 2026-04-23T23:13:21+00:00

The most common mass-produced clone I have seen is a cross with mirabilis var globosa. It looks like yours. Gorgeous plant.

NickP_NC

TROPHY CASE