Two Bees, One Coming and The Other Going!

Venus Flytrap 'Mammoth' with a Bee trapped halfway, with it's head in.

Venus Flytrap 'Mammoth' with a Bee trapped halfway, with it's head out.

    This Venus Flytrap 'Mammoth' has caught two bees. Although the traps are pretty good size, it only trapped half of a bee at a time. The first bee was trapped with it's head in the trap and about five weeks later the second bee was trapped with it's head out of the trap.

Venus Flytrap 'Mammoth' before it trapped the Bees

    Here is a picture of Venus flytrap 'Mammoth" before it trapped the Bees.

A Bee in The Euphorbia bubleurifolia (Pine Cone Plant)

Bee in Blooms of Euphorbia bubleurifolia (Pine Cone Plant)

     Today I noticed a bee among the blooms of this Euphorbia bupleurifolia (AKA Pine Cone Plant).  This plant was a gift from Carol Knight.  Thanks again Carol, and the Bee thanks you too!  Bees come and go quickly, so I had to act fast and took these with my iPhone.  No seed will come of this as this plant is not self-pollinating and who knows how close the nearest Euphorbia bupleurifolia is from here!

Euphorbia bubleurifolia (Pine Cone Plant)

Bee in blooms of Euphorbia bubleurifolia (Pine Cone Plant)

Euphorbia bubleurifolia (Pine Cone Plant)

Lithops AKA Living Stone Plants

 

Lithops

    I enjoy the challenge of growing Lithops (AKA living stone plants) and here I some in a pot with stone just to make it confusing!  These plants are about the size of a US quarter.  If I can keep them alive more the two years I consider it a great success, and these are in their third year of my care!  

Mourning Doves Nesting

 

Mourning Doves - One Adult and two babies 

Mourning Doves can pick some odd places to build a nest and here is one of those odd places.  This hanging wrought iron plant holder is next to Mike's greenhouse and he walks by it multiple times everyday.  Since doves raise multiple broods in a season, it will be interesting to see if they use this nest again.  

Mourning Doves

Mourning Doves

Mourning Doves

Fanfare Blooms!

     

matucana madisoniorum

    I've had this Peruvian cactus Matucana Madisoniorum for a long time.  It's a slow grower but a regular bloomer.  I like the almost smooth like texture with few spines and the fanfare trumpet shaped blooms!

matucana madisoniorum

Cactus - Blooms and Spines!

     I like this overhead picture showing the contrast of the soft blooms and the sharp spines on this cactus.

Plumeria Color

     I have several Plumeria growing on the balcony and here are some pictures of the blooms.  The red one was just a cutting seven weeks ago!

Plumeria

Plumeria

Plumeria

Plumeria

Activity Around the Trigger Plant!

 

A small winged insect hovering around the bloom of Stylidium debile AKA Fragile Trigger Plant

    I was tending to some carnivorous plants when I noticed, a tiny winged insect flying around the bloom of a Stylidium debile (AKA Fragile Trigger Plant).  That's the plant in my post from April 30, 2025 (click to see post), where the reproductive column "smacks" an insect when it is triggered, transferring pollen to the insect as part of the reproduction process.  I watched as the tiny winged insect landed in the middle of the bloom and triggered the reproductive column!  It was fun to watch and it looked like the column gave the insect a 'one arm hug'! It held for a few seconds and the insect didn't seem to be bothered by the action.  Oh I wished I had my camera with a close-up lens to capture that moment.

After a minute or two, the column reset and the insect returned to enjoy the bloom, but it didn't trigger.  After some observation I learned that after resetting, there is about a 15 minute window before the column smacks again.  The picture below is with my iPhone and after the insect got "smacked".

A small winged insect on the bloom of Stylidium debile AKA Fragile Trigger Plant

Red Bug Blooms!

Sarracenia x 'Red Bug'

    Sarracenias have unusual flowers, and this S. x 'Red Bug' has four blooms in different stages.  This is a compact carnivorous plant and the leaves/pitchers are only six inches tall.  The most developed flower is just above the pitchers at eight inches tall.  Based on last years performance, it does a great job of digesting ants!

Sarracenia x 'Red Bug'

Sarracenia x 'Red Bug'

Sarracenia x 'Red Bug'

German Empress - Seven Day Bloom!

 

Disocactus phyllanthoides the nopalxochitl or German empress

    If your a regular visitor to my blog, you know that I like epiphyllum plants and Mike has several varieties through out the garden.  The blooms are in different colors and sizes, but unfortunately only last a few days.  I was very surprised when I realized that this bloom had been looking great for seven days!  This variety is called German Empress and Mike gave it to me last year.

Disocactus phyllanthoides the nopalxochitl or German empress on a bench with other cactus and succulents.

The View A Hummingbird Gets!

    Mike has a Epiphyllum German Empress growing by the side of the house that gets covered blooms.  And as you can see below it looks great!

Disocactus phyllanthoides the nopalxochitl or German empress

Sundew - Drosera coccicaulis

 

Sundew - Drosera coccicaulis

     Here is one of my buys from Sherman Gardens Plant-O-Rama.  It's Drosera coccicaulis, a rosetted sundew with spoon shaped leaves.  It's a carnivorous plant that traps small insects in the tiny tentacles tipped with sticky mucilage.  The newer leaves tend to be more erect while the lower leaves hug the soil and you can see more mucilage on the newer leaves. This plant is native to Africa and will become redder in bright light.  I have it in full sun so it should become dark red.  

Sundew - Drosera coccicaulis with US Penny

     The plants will grow to 2-3 inches in diameter.  Here you see two of them are about the size of a penny.

A third very small Sundew - Drosera coccicaulis

     There is a third plant in the center foreground, that is about the size of the perlite in the soil mix.  It's so small I didn't see it until I was processing the pictures on my computer.  Three plants for the price of two!

Begonia Mr. Hunt

 

B. Mr. Hunt

     On Saturday we went to Plant-O-Rama at Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona Del Mar, California.  I bought a couple of carnivorous plants and a couple of terrarium begonias to add to my collection.  It's always fun to tour the garden to see what's new and to my delight they have some very healthy specimens of Begonia Mr. Hunt.  It's named after me and was hybridized by Brad Thompson (Female Parent: B. Connee Boswell and Male Parent: B. Little Brother Montgomery).  I've seen this plant here before and it great to see it doing very well!

B. Mr. Hunt

B. Mr. Hunt

Sarracenia Hybrid

 

Sarracenia leucophylla “red” x minor ‘Giant’

    This is the second growing season for this Sarracenia leucophylla “red” x minor ‘Giant’ (American pitcher plant).  Last year the pitchers were only 3-4" tall, but this year some pitchers are up to 17" tall. The tall pitcher on the left is fully open and collecting bugs.  The tall pitcher on the right is nearing it's maximum height and the pitcher will start to open up.

The open pitcher.

The pitcher will remain closed until it reaches the final height.

The backlighting shows of the "bug fill line", on this pitcher.

Venus Flytrap, Blooming and Digesting!

Venus Flytrap

    This Venus Flytrap has five bloom stalks, and all blooms are well above the traps.  Yesterday I saw a bee visiting the blooms, and it stayed safely away from the traps below.

Two Bugs In A Venus Flytrap

    A double helping?  This backlit picture of Venus flytrap shows the silhouette of two bugs in the trap.  I doubt the trap caught two live bugs at the same time.  Most likely one is the exoskeleton from a previous capture and it may have helped attract the second bug.  So, I would say this trap is digesting a "second helping"!

 

Rock Rose Visitor

 

Rock Rose

    I'm a big fan of Rock Rose.  Mike has a several Rock Rose plants and they grow really well on the hillside.  I like the bright color of the blooms and the crinkly texture of the petals.  While I was looking at this photo on my computer monitor, I noticed the white spot in the bloom.  Zooming in I see it is a common White Garden Spider!

White Garden Spider

Drosera binata Blooms!

 

Drosera binata

     This carnivorous plant Drosera binata is blooming.  Just like the other carnivorous plants in my collection, it's blooms that attract the pollinators are well above the sticky tentacles that attract and digest other flying insects.  

Drosera binata Blooms

     This is the first time I have seen this plant bloom and I think it's interesting how it compares to the other Drosera (sundews).  Here multiple blooms open at the same time where the Drosera capensis blooms open one at at time (see picture below).

Drosera capensis blooms open one at at time

     Both types of Drosera catch and digest plenty of flying insects.  Below you can see some flying insects stuck in the sticky tentacles of the Drosera binata.

Drosera binata