European Pinguicula

Bought a Pinguicula grandiflora a while ago at a local orchid show.  Don't think it is hardy here but it is a great little plant to have indoors - earns its keep by controlling fungus gnats under indoor lights.  Have given away many offsets and every year it needs to be divided and reset into pots.  One friend I gave it to propagated it and gave pots of it away as favors at a party he had.  Also had Pinguicula vulgarus which is hardy in my small bog.  That one came from somewhere in northern Ontario.  Gone now though, sad to say.    Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

I love pings-hoping to get some of the hardy ones :)
there are some really nice ones growable as houseplants,too, Mexicans, among others..

If you come across some canadian or US species I would be happy to trade for various european forms. Also interested in seeds of Droseras and Sarracenia with loc.

Martin

There are Pinguicula and Drosera in Alberta, but I've never seen any yet!
Kristl (Gardens North) occasionally has some seed from Ontario or Nova Scotia..
here's the only Drosera I have seen in person, and it was while moving from Ontario to Alberta, at a brief stop somewhere in Ontario, on rocks beside one of the big lakes ( I wasn't driving, and frankly was quite vague on where we were most of the time, especially until we got out of Ontario...lol)..
Unfortunately, I didn't get any better shots; the whole plant was only a couple of inches across!

Seems to be growing in a rather dry place?
I know 3 Drocera species from my places and they all grow in bogs or on very wet sites. So do the Pinguiculas I know of. The common P vulgaris is common and growing everywhere! It is a showy plant - especially some specimens can be beautiful :D

I can't say I know the place well enough to say what it is like all year--someone who lives around those lakes would have to comment--it was not dry at this time--while there is not much soil to hold moisture, it also could not really drain away from the depressions in the rock, so when it rains, it would make little pools, I guess, that could take some time to dry up..
on the top of the outcropping there were blueberries, and there were also some mosses..
Maybe in mid-summer it could get dry sometimes? but this was early July, and it was not dry...
A few more pictures of this place (the Drosera was not up on top in the more wooded area, but rather one of the sides of the rock outcropping toward the lake, in a little depression by itself as far as I remember)...
can anyone tell me what the last plant is? I thought it was very nice, but I have no idea what it is!

I regulary gets seeds from Kristl.
Cold hardy north american Pings are rather rare in collections here. I only have the nortensis subspecies from the California/Oregon border area.
In Denmark we also have the usual 3 species of Droseras and 1 species of Pings: vulgaris. We do have some naturalized populations of Sarracenia. I investigated one of these last late summer. Filled with S purpurea purpurea, x catesbaei and (S purpurea purpurea x catesbeai)...

Check this link:
http://public.fotki.com/northern-nursery/sarracenia-in-denmark/
Some of the catesbaei are HUGE.

Here is the common Pinguicula vulgaris in a natural setting. Not yet in flower but this is an early appearance anyway. Usually this spot is covered with snow till mid May.

Nice! We have places nearby (on the farm) with the lovely mosses, but no Pings...lol

Some hardy Pings in flower here now:

Pinguicula corsica
and Pinguicula grandiflora

Sweet :)