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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC
@nicknc.bsky.social
930 followers 460 following 2.3K posts
gardener, amateur naturalist. neurobiologist. mennonite. Views my own. All photos mine. May include predator-prey interactions, spiders, and snakes. https://sweetgumandpines.wordpress.com
sweetgumandpines.wordpress.com
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 23m
The soil was bone dry, but the pitcher plants were in reasonable shape and a few were even growing new pitchers this late in the year.

I didn’t see another human anywhere in the preserve all day long. It was glorious.
🌱 2/2
Savanna with dry wiry grass, pine trees, and scattered pitcher plants under bright sun.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 23m
Sarracenia alata, pale pitcher plant, in Big Thicket National Preserve, east Texas. This is one of the Sarracenia species that don’t grow in NC, so it was fun to add it to my list of species seen in the wild. 1/2 🌱
A tall trumpet like leaf that serves as an insect trap. It is green with some reddish stripes.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 14h
Hibernate it. In the fridge if it’s in a small pot. In a large planter or tub, outside is fine. They are hardy in central NC but won’t like rapid freeze thaw cycles in a small pot.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 14h
To be super safe, look for weird cultivars that do not occur in nature (all red, shark-tooth trap edges, etc.)
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 14h
I’d add a note that it is perfectly fine to buy the flytraps in little pots with plastic lids sold in places like Home Depot. Those are propagated via tissue culture and are great for learning to cultivate carnivorous plants.

And if you see a poacher, aim your kick a little higher than the shins.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 17h
Eastern copperhead. 2 of 2
Closeup of the coiled copperhead. It has a copper colored head.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 17h
Just the best camouflage. Eastern copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix. #herps 1 of 2
A coiled snake with brown and black markings is hard to see among dried fallen leaves.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 3d
I found a leviathan of a railroad worm (aka glowworm, aka larviform female Phengodes beetle) on a rock in New Hope Creek. Biggest I have ever seen

Fortuitously, an elementary school field trip passed by just as I was rescuing it from watery doom, so impromptu show and tell commenced. #invertebrates
An orange, black, and ivory beetle that looks more like a Millipede with only six legs.
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Reposted by Nick in NC
marcveld.bsky.social
Marc Veldhoen @marcveld.bsky.social · 4d
Varicella-zoster virus reactivation and the risk of dementia

Vaccination is more that protection against the pathogen-caused disease.

www.nature.com/artic...
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Varicella-zoster virus reactivation and the risk of dementia
Nature Medicine - Large-scale longitudinal health records reveal consistent association of varicella-zoster virus reactivation with dementia.
www.nature.com
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 4d
Yup. I consulted a health professional:

The pharmacist said, “Flu and covid?”

And I said, “Just covid, I got the flu vaccine at work.”

And she said, “great! Which arm?”
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 4d
Yes. Like the red Lycoris radiata, Lycoris aurea produces leaves in autumn, and ideally, the foliage survives until early spring. L. radiata leaves will take temps down to the teens (F) at least, while those of L. aurea are damaged by temperatures in the 20s
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 4d
You might be able to grow this species in Charleston. i’m sure your winter lows are significantly warmer than in central NC.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 5d
Lycoris aurea. This seems to be the only Lycoris that is not winter hardy in my garden. The bulbs survive, but the winter foliage is destroyed by freezing temperatures. It only flowers if the foliage is protected in a cool corner of the greenhouse. 🌱
Spidery, golden yellow flowers on a leafless stalk emerging from dry soil in a black plastic nursery pot.
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Reposted by Nick in NC
hobogato.bsky.social
ace @hobogato.bsky.social · 6d
Saturday eye catchers - starting with N. zakariana (fusca flared peristome) Mamut BE 3068 and a friend
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 7d
When you steal your sister’s basket because she is little, but you don’t fit very well because she is little. #Caturday
A dark brown cat with some tabby markings and white raccoon mask is squeezed into a small white basket.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 8d
Nice! I grew a plant that looked a lot like your B. crassipes for many years. It had a fragrance like overripe fruit.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 8d
Excellent. Thanks for confirming the ID. Bulbophyllum are such wonderful plants.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 8d
Bulbophyllum species. I bought this as B. mastersianum, but now that it has flowered, I see that it was mislabeled. Maybe Bulbophyllum lepidum? 🌱 🌴 #orchids
An inflorescence of a small Bulbophyllum orchid species. The flowers are arrayed in an arc and have large, flat sepals, so the whole arrangement looks like a pink daisy flower that has been sliced in half.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 8d
I never ever fertilize the roots. The pitchers are “fed” with dried mealworms that we buy as treats for our chickens.

In the greenhouse, I use 20% shade cloth. Indoors, a south facing window and/or bright artificial light. 4/4
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 8d
Water should be low in minerals. I am lucky, because I can use water from our well. The best choice usually is distilled water or rainwater. Chlorinated/chloraminated city water is bad. Water from a whole-house water softener is very bad.
3/4
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 8d
The potting mix should be open and well-aerated. I use a mix of mostly long-fiber sphagnum moss and coarse perlite kept constantly moist but well-drained. The plants are never left sitting in water and never allowed to dry out completely.
2/4
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 8d
If your plants grow for several months or a year and then die, that sounds like a watering or water quality issue, perhaps accelerating breakdown of the potting mix. They don’t like to be waterlogged in a peaty mix like some carnivorous plants. That will rot the roots.
1/4
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 9d
They do have that appearance, although they are non-mobile. The most common explanation is that the wings help crawling insects climb into the trap when it sits on the ground. Pitchers that hang in the trees, higher on the vine, often lack the wings.
nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 9d
Latest pitcher on Nepenthes mirabilis var. globosa x N. ampullaria has opened. This one is somewhat larger than a hen’s egg. Color is *chef’s kiss*. 🌴🌱
A very round Nepenthes pitcher hangs in front of some longer pitchers. The round pitcher is dark red with large fringed wings. The peristome is striped, yellow and red.
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nicknc.bsky.social
Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 10d
Closeup
A closeup photo of the tightly packed rosettes if pointed leaves
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