Leading Australian grower and supplier of   Carnivorous Plants and Water Plants.

Colin and Tina attended the third International Carnivorous Plant Society conference from the 16th to 18th June 2000, in San Francisco, U.S.A.. They renewed friendships that they had made at the past conferences in Germany and Atlanta such as Peter D’Amato (U.S.A.), Charles Clarke (Hong Kong), Professor Katsuhiko Kondo (Japan), Doctor Daniel Joel (Israel), Andreas Wistuba (Germany), members of the German Carnivorous Plant Society and many others. They also had the pleasure of meeting for the first time such notable carnivorous experts as Hawkeye Rondeau (U.S.A.), Barry Meyers-Rice (U.S.A.), Robert and Chris Cantley (Sri Lanka) to name a few. Once again they spent a very interesting three days listening to lectures, talks and viewing slide shows on varying subjects both technical and personal experiences relating to carnivorous plants.

They visited Peter D’Amato’s nursery ‘Californian Carnivores’, north of San Francisco where Peter and Marilee were busy loading up stock to take to the conference for the sales area. Peter, as you may be aware, is the author of the book ‘The Savage Garden’ which has recently won the American Horticultural Society’s Book Award, much to the thrill and delight of its author.

Prior to the conference Tina and Colin flew to the east coast of America where they met up in North Carolina with Professor Larry Mellichamp who kindly spent a couple of days showing them and Jan Schlauer, Heiko Rischer and his wife Kristine (from Germany) around Green Swamp and other areas. They saw many carnivorous plants including Dionaea muscipula, Drosera intermedia, Drosera capillaris, Pinguicula cauerulea, Sarracenia flava, Sarracenia x catesbaei, Sarracenia flava L.var. cuprea, Sarracenia purpurea spp. venosa and Sarracenia rubra. In a drain, to the excitement of Jan Schlauer, he found some Utricularia inflata with yellow flowers. This was a plant that Colin and Tina had not seen before and found it to be a very unusual and interesting Utricularia, especially as they had to ward off a cotton mouth snake in the process of finding the Utricularia.

They then drove to Charlotte in North Carolina where Larry Mellichamp is a Professor at the University of North Carolina. Here Larry showed them some magnificent new Sarracenias that he has hybridized. These are called S. ‘Ladies In Waiting’, S. ‘Dixie Lace’ and S. ‘Mardi Gras’, as featured in the International Carnivorous Plant Society Journal, all of which Colin and Tina were able to bring back tissue cultures to grow on for future sale as Larry’s agent in Australia.

After leaving North Carolina they drove south to the infamous Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, looking for Sarracenia minor f. Okefenokee giant. Unfortunately the area was currently experiencing severe drought, but they were thrilled to find these beautiful plants growing beside the road and glad that they did not have to venture too far into the bush as the area was infested with alligators.

In the three weeks that Colin and Tina were in the United States as well as enjoying their time with carnivorous plants they also found time to experience again the delights of such places as Disney World in Florida, Las Vegas, Death Valley and Yosemite National Park.

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