After a number of years growing carnivorous plants, I have eventually decided to finally become a formal member of the International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS) rather than just being a member of several carnivorous plant Facebook groups. I believe that my interest into these plants have grown from simply being curious to becoming more passionate about it.
Within the first few months that I have been an ICPS member, I have attended webinars which discussed (1) carnivorous plant care and pest management as well as (2) a good presentation on Byblis (rainbow plants). I look forward to participating into future activities and interacting with ICPS members from all over as well - sharing best practices, overcoming cultivation challenges, and just having a good time growing carnivorous plants together.
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| Carnivorous Plant Diseases, Pests, and Cures with Damon Collingsworth |
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| Growing Byblis Successfully with John Ende, February 22, 2022, 8pm-9pm EST |
Today, I just received the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter's 50th Anniversary Issue which has Allen Lowrie (1948-2021) on its front cover. Drosera lowriei can also be seen at the back cover. Being a landmark issue (50th!), the initial pages featured the brief history of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter which shares the hard work placed to produce the newsletter continuously until today.
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| Carnivorous Plant Newsletter: Journal of the International Carnivorous Plant Society Volume 51, No.1 (March 2022) Allen Lowrie (1948-2021) is on the front cover - taking a close up photo of a Drosera. |
As can be read in the Table of Contents of the newsletter, the quarterly also focused on Allen Lowrie's immeasurable scientific contribution to the field of carnivorous plants. It can be seen that he was awarded with the Posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award which is a well deserved recognition. One can read more about it in the following pages of the newsletter. His work was described as "enormous...unparalleled" (Nunn, p.15), and "...will continue to be a vital resource for researchers and hobbyists for generations to come..." (Bourke, p.19).
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| The contents of this landmark issue. |
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| Being into Utricularia recently, I love the close up photos which can be found on pages 52-69. Moreover, one can read about a father's experiences on growing carnivorous plants together with his son in the article "Cultivating Kids: A Passion for Carnivorous Plants". |
The newsletter ended with three new cultivars for Sarracenia and Dionaea - Sarracenia x moorei 'Prof. Goetghebeur', Dionaea 'CCCP Sea Scallop', and Sarracenia 'Mocha Dick'. Setting a number of goals such as making hybrids and becoming a better grower, being able to register at least one new cultivar has now been added to my carnivorous plant bucket list.
Checkout the website of the International Carnivorous Plant Society here.
