Omgs, I promised myself I would absolutely NOT start sketching this Sarracenia flower until AFTER I finished preparing for this interview, and I hate making myself be responsible, it sucks rotten craptarts.

Celia is starting to do the gradient thing again. Her baby pitchers displayed a full range of her potential colors, with very little green. This one might fade a tad before it opens, but that might make the yellow come out a little for a bit of a sunrise effect.

My first Sarracenia flower, on a purple pitcher plant, has finally opened enough for me to see the cool trick I've heard about. Photos I've run across didn't show enough for my curiosity to be satisfied. To prevent self-pollination, insects must pass over a modified stigma before it reaches the pollen from the flower itself, pollinating the flower from an outside source, before it reaches the flower's pollen. Then it escapes under the petals, not passing the stigma again.

#gardening #nature

Donate money to pantries rather than food, when you clean out your own pantry and want to donate it, a soup kitchen might take it to add to a pot.

I really need some proper clutching pearls to grasp when someone says something Republican. I can go retro with the hair so it's just right.

Spider mites came back, so I ordered some predatory mites, given how I think of my indoor garden as my little microbe forest with little waterbears clambering on the mosses, I feel like I'm releasing wolves into Yellowstone.

I'm used to seeing spiders on my pitcher plants, but this little masked beauty is a species I haven't seen before. They delighted me by jumping on my opening flower, which is nearly ready for her photoshoot.