We went to the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society Show last Saturday. I have always been fascinated with these plants and enjoyed viewing truly wonderful specimens during the show. Sharing here some photos:

Fabulous! Thanks for posting these pics Tarev. Now I see how the one you got with the upside down umbrella bloom would lure the bugs and the pitchers would trap them. That 3rd picture with the beautiful red bloom is truly stunning.

Glad you liked them Jonna! I wish I bought the other type of Sarracenia, where the pitchers are more upright, so it is easy to see if it is digesting something.

Do they eat only insects? When I viewed a couple of those photos, I felt the need to hide Itty Bitty. I didn't want her to fear that I was considering bringing one of them home. But now you have me curious about seeing one of those in person. More than a couple of those photos were beautiful to view. I am glad you shared.

I have read there are some Nepenthes which may trap and eventually digest rats, mice, lizards, frogs. I guess it will depend how big that pitcher has grown enough to accommodate bigger feed.

extranjera said:Fabulous! Thanks for posting these pics Tarev. Now I see how the one you got with the upside down umbrella bloom would lure the bugs and the pitchers would trap them. That 3rd picture with the beautiful red bloom is truly stunning.

Although the flowers would lure some insects to the traps, the traps have their own way of luring insects, such as coloration, scents and even fluorescence
.http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21459520
All the flowers in the photos above are missing their petals. Here is Sarracenia alata with petals intact.

The flowers of pitcher plants are as interesting as the pitchers. In the photos above the parts that spread over the top are the sepals. The upside down umbrella is the style and stigmas. The stamens would be attached between the ovary and sepals, and when the pollen falls off it is caught in the cup formed by the pistil. An insect has to crawl under the petal to get inside where the pollen is, and when it does, it's beating wings scatters the pollen causing in to land on the stigmas. There is a cross section of the flower on this page so you can see how it works, so you can get a better idea of how it works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

I've always wanted to grow these and have tried a few times on the kitchen window, and always fail. Anyone else have any luck?

So far my pinguiculas grow okay on my north side window and okay with tap water, attracts the fungus gnats a lot!

But the Sarracenias, they require full sun, so the one I got from that carnivore show last June is outside and I only use distilled water for it. For now still alive.

Try some Nepenthes, I think those ones are also okay for window sill growing.

Nepenthes are so cool looking! I'll definitely try one out. Those plants from the show are very pretty, I hope yours flourish

Thanks SCurtis And I hope you get your Nepenthes too.

Just try to use if you can, rainwater, reverse osmosis water or distilled water. I have to use distilled water for my Sarracenias, no rain here in our area.

I have a rain barrel that is full I'll make sure to use the water from there. Thanks for the advice