President's Message
I want to thank Dr. Greg Allan for staying up late last month to share his incredible knowledge and experience growing Byblis. We all knew B. liniflora, now we know there is so much more available. And WOW! The Flowers!!!. So far I have only found about 6 people throughout the world with his level of expertise and knowledge. Not to mention the only person I've ever met who proved Darwin wrong on something! (If you missed the meeting he proved that Byblis was an active carnivorous plant, not passive.)
Your BACPS is getting seeds and a major attempt is underway to bring these plants into general cultivation for club members here in the Bay Area! One of the benefits of being a paid member.
The BACPS has been doing its best to lead the way with new ways to bring you exciting news and information on carnivorous plants. We started with virtual meetings with experts first locally and then internationally when we brought Greg Allan to you from the UK. It's been exciting and I want to thank the board and many other volunteers working diligently in the background to make these things possible.
As we stay on the cutting edge, perhaps the bleeding edge, we are now bringing you one of our biggest undertakings yet; The BACPS Annual Show & Sale - Virtual! That's right! It's online and submissions will be nationwide with photographs. New categories have been added and we are expecting some great speakers and buzz around this show. The kickoff is Saturday, June 20th and it will go on for three incredible weeks. More on that below.
With all we are doing, we are looking for more creative people that want to be a part of an exciting and fun group. Not only to participate in meetings but with creating content and coming up with ideas on new ways for the club to spread the word. Do you want to help with some simple but snazzy graphics for social media, or make some short videos? Have suggestions for speakers? Please reach out here.
Please join us for an exciting time and bring your friends!
Stephen
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Upcoming Events
- June 20, 2020 Virtual meeting
- BACPS Virtual Show
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Zoom Show Kickoff Meeting
Saturday, June 20, 2020, 1:00 p.m.
Join us June 20th to kick off our first virtual show at 1:00 p.m. Registration is required here.
James Fong will highlight how the virtual show will work and answer any of your questions.
You can head over to SCCPE's virtual meeting later in the day. You will need to preregister here.
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Virtual Show starts June 20, 2020
Due to Bay Area Social Distancing requirements, the BACPS Annual Show & Sale will be hosted virtually!
Join us for our kickoff show virtual meeting on June 20, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. We will be featuring speakers and photos of previous show winners and answer questions. Pre-Registration required here. After our meeting join our friends in Southern California ((SCCPE) for their exciting meeting and make an afternoon of it!
The show will open for entries on Saturday, June 20, 2020 and close Midnight Friday, July 10, 2020. The awards and a closing meeting will be held Saturday, July 25th. The time will be posted on our social media platforms and in a future newsletter. Expect exciting content and information being posted as the weeks go on.
There will be auctions throughout the weeks of the show so this is going to be three weeks of fun!
We are excited to have Daniela Ribbecke, Fernando Rivadavia, and Jeremiah Harris for judges this year. All three are renowned experts and incredible growers of carnivorous plants in their own right.
We will be mailing ribbons and gift certificates from the kind folks at California Carnivores to the top 3 winners of each category!
Categories:
- Artwork
- Bog Garden (NEW!)
- Byblis, Drosophyllum, Roridula
- Cephalotus
- Darlingtonia
- Dish Garden
- Drosera
- Heliamphora
- Nepenthes
- Pinguicula
- Photography - Plants in Their Natural Habitat (NEW!)
- Sarracenia
- Utricularia, Genlisea
- Venus Flytrap, Aldrovanda
Judging Criteria:
Remember this is a plant contest. The judges need to be able to see the entire plant.
Please use the judging criteria below as a guide to selecting your submissions. You may submit up to 3 entries per category, each entry to have its own submission form. Further instructions on how to take pictures will be posted on our Facebook page and website.
In this virtual plant show, just as with our usual plant show, your entries are being judged on health, vigor, grooming, presentation, difficulty in growing, etc. In other words, the plant itself is what’s being judged. This is not a “photo contest”.
Horticultural excellence will be the primary factor in making awards. Entries that are comparably well-grown will be differentiated by the quality of the presentation.
The difficulty of cultivation will be considered in evaluating horticultural excellence. Rarity by itself is not a consideration.
If you are interested in volunteering your time to help upload the photo submissions to the Facebook group, please email me here. Thank you and looking forward to your participation in the first ever BACPS Virtual Show and Sale!
Horticultural Excellence (70 points)
- Vigor: Maturity, size, form, color
- Health: no diseases or pests; no blemishes from disease, pests, sunburn, etc.
- Attention to details: balance and symmetry, training, spacing, condition of companion plants
Presentation (30 points)
- Overall appearance: aesthetically appealing, eye-catching display
- Grooming: dead leaves & flowers trimmed, weeds removed, pot clean
- Attention to details: container complementary to plant, unobtrusively staked, top dressed if needed.
We trust all of you to enter photos that have not been manipulated or altered to improve the appearance of your plant. All photos (with the exception of Artwork or Photography - Plants in Their Natural Habitat) must have been taken in 2020.
The entry forms are different this year. There will be a specific form for each category and will be found on our website with links posted on Facebook when the show opens for entries.
Follow the Virtual Show on the BACPS Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BACPS/announcements
If you are interested in volunteering your time to help upload the photo submissions to the Facebook group, please email me here. Thank you and looking forward to your participation in the first ever BACPS Virtual Show and Sale!
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Recap of May 23 Zoom Meeting with Greg Allan
Our 2nd virtual meeting highlighted Byblis with Dr. Gregory Allan from the UK. He introduced us to the perennial and annual species with cultivation and propagation tips and pictures.
He also discussed his research in nocturnal digestion in perennial Byblis and the Sectocoris bugs that walk all over the plants without getting stuck.
Greg is among the few people on the planet that can say they have proven Darwin wrong. When Darwin studies Byblis he felt that were passive carnivores at best. Greg proved that the single-cell "hairs" compress and bring the insects to the surface of the leaf so it is NOT passive, and it is an active trapper of insects. He also found that the plant is most active at night. How odd! Who would have even thought to look at that?! It makes us wonder what else is out there to be discovered.
He ended his presentation with a tour of his Byblis plants and suggestions on how to propagate and grow them.
James Fong discussed the new format for the virtual show which you can read about in this newsletter.
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Click here for information on the Sacramento Bromeliad and Carnivorous Plant Society. Or, you can email the President, Ron Nies
Click here for information on the Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts.
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Membership Dues
Thank you to those who are using our paypal button! It's easy! And it doesn't require exact change!
According to the bylaws, the dues are $12 per calendar year (prorated to $6 from July-Dec). You can join or renew online here. Click on the membership tab to get to the paypal button.
As a member, you have the right to vote, access to the library, or access to the club sales table or discounted hobby grower tables at the Show and Sale. If you have questions about your membership dues, please email us.
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Once we are done with SIP, would you like to volunteer some time to the club? It could be a small time commitment or a day event. Do you have an idea or topic we should highlight at a meeting? Do you know someone with amazing knowledge/experience who you think would be interested in speaking at one of our meetings? Would you like to share a picture of you and one/some of your carnivorous plants?
Show & Sale
General Meetings
Community Events
Donate plants for raffles
Your club values you!
Please contact us if you're interested in helping out at events or any ideas/pictures you want to share!
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