Far Out Flora, Thank You.

Last weekend I got a chance to stop by Meg and Matti’s –  (Gawrsh durn it, I miss y’all!) and picked up some rad cuttings at their going away plant sale.  I am going to pot up these plants and have a shrine dedicated to Far Out Flora.  And for you readers out there that haven’t immersed yourselves in the Far Out Flora awesomeness, it would behoove you to do so. Right now. Go check it. Now.

Succulent cuttings from Far Out Flora!

See, my garden is a living and breathing repository where life’s events are recorded.  Sarracenias and carnivores are at the heart of this, but I grow a few other things too.  I’ve said before that each stem, each petal, and each leaf blade is a poem waiting to be discovered. One just has to watch and listen. My garden is my journal – the collection of my memories that is open and read by all. Each plant is an icon of an event: they are the witnesses, they are the scribes, and they are the story tellers. I am honored to have a few plants in my garden from Meg and Matti.

Check out a few shots of Meg and Matti’s garden deconstruction and transplant preparation in the slideshow below. I am familiar with garden tear downs and it’s never an easy task. But… packing plants up and road tripping them from the Bay to WI? Now THAT is so insanely hardcore and awesome…

FOF Transplant Preparation!

(Left to Right: Johanna, me, Matti, Meg, Derek)

One last group photo before Far Out Flora gets transplanted! I was honored to have met the awesome Johanna during the FOF sale. And dude, I seriously love Matti’s shirt. “HUG.” Kinda makes me want to indulge in this hugging awesomeness. ( <-Funny video.)

I know this post is a little bit off the carnivorous path.  I wanted to thank Meg and Matti for their inspiration. See, without Far Out Flora, there really wouldn’t be the awesome inspiration for The Pitcher Plant Project.  It was the first plant blog I stumbled across that really got me going.

My blog started when my rad wife, Dahlia, goes “You should start a blog about your carnivores.” I thought she was nuts.  So I say,”What? Really? Plant blog? A carnivorous Sarraceniaphile plant blog?  Eh, that’s just dorky.” Forreals, I was totally clueless. That ish just sounds so plant-nerdy straight up, right? Anyway, wifey knows best and I’m thankful for her encouragement to get me photographing and writing about them. Sooooooo, I go online and  Google “Bay Area Plant Blog” – and lo and behold, I clicked on Far out Flora.  “Ohh Em Gee. Damn, this was aweseome!” One thing lead to another.  I was so enamored by their passion of plant radness that it prodded me to share my own addiction with you all.   And from there I began to connect with all sorts of freakishly awesome folks who share the same plant-dorkiness I do.

I ran into this post on Gunnera soon after I started to follow Far out Flora.  And that eventually lead to this. (And YES, Matti’s hair did amaze me.)

Gunnera. (Thank you Ingrid for taking the photo! 🙂 )

Through writing and sharing my passion with Sarracenias and carnivores on this blog, I began to connect with so many wonderful people, and fellow plant addicts from all over the world, as well as locally.  (You know who you are.) For you, I am also thankful.

The BAPP (Bay Area Plant People) meets are always awesome, but it will never be the same without FOF up in the mix. Oh the memories – BAPP 1, BAPP 2, the grand BAPP 3 hosted by Meg and Matti! (Slideshow of BAPP 3 below.)

Without FOF, I wouldn’t know as much I would today about the awesomeness of loam.  Check out as Meg and Matti clarify the loamy subject…

So, Meg and Matti — I wanted to say THANK YOU for all you have done and for your inspiration.  Thank you for sharing your passion and your knowledge of plants as you spur us on to continue to grow. You truly are a blessing, and the SF Bay will never be the same without you. You will be missed. I look forward to reading about your new adventures, and being even more inspired as you and your growing family take root and grow in your new garden. Far Out Flora, thank you.