Question
Hi Jeff and Jacob,

I recently added three mature rhizomes to my collection and I am not sure how long ago they were divided.  All three have started to flower and I am wondering what to do.  Now I normally cut the flowers off of new rhizomes I get, but these three I would like to try and cross with my other sarracenia.  Since I am not sure when they were divided, would it seriously affect their growth to let them flower?

Answer
Hi Jon,

Here's the situation.  It varies a bit by species.  For instance, S. rubra varieties don't take as long to recover since they tend to be a bit weedy anyway.  If you have one of those, leaving a flower should be fine.  Species with big rhizomes such as S. flava and S. oreophila really have their energy sapped when they bloom after division.  Usually they won't die, but growth will be very stunted for the season.  If you don't care how the plant looks, and just want the flower for breeding, it's probably ok to leave the flower.  I've found it typical for a single crown Sarracenia flava that was just divided to only produce one or two pitchers the entire season.  So, the bottom line is that it's a judgement call.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com