Blogging in Myrtle Glen

well, almost wordless…. isn’t she pretty? , yes it is a female Black Swallowtail. She just hatched and is so perfect! 

Host plants for her caterpillars are Fennel and Dill  I planted throughout the flowerbeds.  

It’s a rainy Friday, so I created a few collage pictures with some of the flower photos I snapped  yesterday

Curcuma ‘Siam Ruby’, Plumeria ‘Tri-Mark’

the Vanda insignis blooms on and off throughout the year , a curious Anole, Passiflora Incense 

 Dendrobium ‘Burana Green’, Rabbit foot fern

Black Swallowtail caterpillar munching happily on the Fennel greens, Nong Nooch vine, and the little green frog sleeps the day away 

Plumeria pudica or Bridal Veil plumeria flowers throughout the summer, Hoya carnosa,

Hoya pubicalyx ‘pink silver’,  one of my large Alocasias…. is it the Bornero Giant, I am not sure at the moment…

Chrysothemis Pulchella, yellow Water Snowflake, Costus pictus,

Guzmania ‘Kapoho Fire’,  Angelwing begonia ‘Mandarin Orange’,  Globba schomburgkii

Monday close-up:

nepenthes rafflesiana

Flower on my Nepenthes rafflesiana.
I am not sure why this flower did not develop into a long inflorescence  as it does on my other Nepenthes plants.

not very showy

This Nepenthes, or pitcher plant grows well in a hanging pot in well draining mix of orchid bark and soil. It likes to be kept warm, in light shade and with high humidity, so when temperatures drop below 35F I bring it inside.

nepenthes rafflesiana

nepenthes rafflesiana

Nepenthes are not grown for their flowers but for the pitchers, those pitchers are heavily modified leaves.
Insects crawl into the pitchers searching for nectar. Once inside, the pitcher walls are too slippery for them to crawl back out.  They drown in the liquid and digestive enzymes released by the plant do the rest.

pitcher of Nepenthes rafflesiana