Category Archives: Blog

The Red Queen Glows Blue

Posted on October 5, 2013 | 11 comments

New Nepenthes

Recently my fellow carnie-homie Kinjie Coe contacted me saying that he was sending some stuff my way. Shoot – I was surprised to come home to not one, but *two* boxes full of some very rad Nepenthes. (Dude!! Thanks so much, Kinjie!) One of the plants that he sent my was a Nepenthes tiveyi “Red Queen” – such an amazing beauty. Since I was at home and it had a nice pitcher attached to it, I decided to photograph her majesty – in regular light AND short wave UV light. Check out this post for some more photos Nepenthes under short wave 254nm UV light, as well as this Vine video. By the way, for those asking, *yes* I’ve tried Sarracenia under the light, but there really wasn’t much “glow” to those babies. I haven’t had time for a proper UV light shoot at the greenhouse (I actually shot the Nepenthes in my bathroom), but will still try to shoot the lack of glowing from Sarracenia sooner or later. Perhaps I need another lamp to make the Sarracenia glow blue, but I don’t feel compelled to drop a few hundred for a new UV lamp at the moment. Anyway, I captured the below photos using a long exposure – 30 seconds at f2.8, 50 mm. Mouse over the photo to see the photo under regular light.

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Nepenthes tiveyi “Red Queen”


Nepenthes tiveyi “Red Queen”

Nepenthes tiveyi “Red Queen”

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Under the Olloclip: Sarracenia Seeds

Posted on October 3, 2013 | 1 comment

Sarracenia PodSarracenia seeds, behind the shell

My wife Dahlia recently surprised me with a very cool present – an Olloclip! (Thanks so much, hon!) I used this new toy to snap this photo of Sarracenia seeds behind the pod. I had to carefully peel that shell off. Seeing the plant have a successful pollination and produce seed is so worth it. I’ve waited all season for this moment. The thoughts and ideas that I’ve entered into this year with are now tangible and made manifest. These seeds have only begun to answer the “Yo, so what would I get if I crossed these plants?” question that haunts me each season.

I’m pretty impressed with the quality of the Olloclip – you can see the texture on these seeds pretty clearly. Dude, I really don’t know why I didn’t get an Olloclip sooner. (In fact, the Drosera capensis that’s on the package actually originated from my garden. I gave the Drosera to a fellow plant geek and next thing you know, the Drosera capensis is famous!) Anyway, don’t get me wrong – I still love shooting with my DSLR. With my day to day stuff, I use the phone quite a bit. Now I’m able to capture macro, wide angle, and fish eye shots. I can tell I’m going to have some fun with this!

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September

Posted on September 30, 2013 | 7 comments


Thank you September, I’ll see you next year.

September is a month that I’m quite partial to. Perhaps it’s because of the change in season, in weather, and also in pace as summer slowly fades into autumn. My affinity for September could also stem from the fact that this is my birthday month after all.

And of course, gotta love the plants during September! Many of the S. leucophylla and S. leucophylla-influenced plants are still putting on a nice display at this time of the year. This is the final show before the plants head off into winter sleep. I have also done a lot of Sarracenia seed harvesting this month – with only a few more pods left for harvest. I truly enjoy harvest time. This is when those breeding ideas which I’ve had at the start of the season finally come to fruition. Those ideas physically manifest themselves as tiny (yet so very monumental) seeds within the Sarracenia seed pod.

September now draws to a close. I look ahead and quietly devise a plan of attack for the impending onslaught of activity that will ensue once dormancy commences. That is when I do a lot of work with the plants: repotting, dividing, cleaning… I know, it sounds somewhat masochistic, but it’s what I love to do. For now, I will sit back and simply enjoy this calm before the storm.

For your viewing pleasure, I put this short September video together with a few clips from inside the greenhouse. (By the way, not all plants in the video are carnivorous. If you know anything about me, it’s that I enjoy all sorts of botanical radness. I wanted to include a little bit of that here.) Enjoy!

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Sunset

Posted on September 23, 2013 | 10 comments

If you haven’t already done so, check out the October issue of Sunset Magazine! (Go and buy it now!) I’m so grateful and humbled to be featured in the October issue of Sunset. I’m truly honored to know wonderful folks like Johanna Silver and Lauren Dunec, You’re both freakin’ amazing. A huge thank you to my wife, Dahlia for her continued love, support, and patience with this crazy plant dude! Last, but not least – I just wanted to thank all of YOU who follow/read my blog. You’ve been there – growing along with me through the lows and the highs. You’ve shared your stories and even your plants with me. You’ve inspired me to keep doing what I do, and to continue to share this botanical madness with you. Thank you all so much. Let’s grow.

SunsetSunset Magazine: October 2013

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Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x (flava var. rubricorpora x leucophylla) – Clone 2

Posted on September 20, 2013 | 1 comment

Sarracenia 'Reptilian Rose' x flava var. rubricorpora x leucophylla) - Clone 2Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x (flava var. rubricorpora x leucophylla) – Clone 2
Cross by Dr. Travis H. Wyman – 2008

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Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Bris’

Posted on September 19, 2013 | 2 comments

To some, the mutants and monstrosities of the Sarracenia world are hideous and repulsive. I know that many aren’t into this sorta thing, but that’s ok. Everyone has their own taste. For me, I find these curiosities fascinating and beautiful in their own way. Let’s take a look at Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Bris’ for example – oh what a FREAK. More information about this … this… this THING can be found on the International Carnivorous Plant website. This is still a very young division and I’m really excited to watch it get freakier as it grows. And yes, of course I’m looking forward to breeding with it when that opportunity presents itself.

Sarracenia leucophylla 'Bris'
Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Bris’

Sarracenia leucophylla 'Bris'
Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Bris’

Sarracenia leucophylla 'Bris'
Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Bris’

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Nepenthes: In Different Light

Posted on September 17, 2013 | 8 comments

Ever since this article on glowing carnivorous plants was written, I’ve always wanted to try photographing the plants under UV light. I’ve tried various types of black lights, but most of those lights didn’t really produce that visible glowing reaction that I was looking for in the plants. Turns out I needed a short wave UV light. Scroll down a bit in this wiki to see what I’m talking about when I talk UV wavelength in nanometers, or “nm” for short.

At first I tried out a black light LED flashlight, as well as a common fluorescent black lights bulb; both of which I found at my local hardware store. Those mostly bathed the plant in this purple ambient light and did not create the visible glow I was looking for. I would guess that those lights were emitting in the 380-390 nm range. Next I bought a light off eBay that said it was 365 nm. Ehhh… that was a little better than the previous lights that I had, but didn’t quite have that glowing “oomph.” After doing more research and digging, I ran across this post on the International Carnivorous Plant Society forum and from there I started looking for a 254 nm UV lamp of sorts. I found one that was relatively inexpensive in comparison to some of the other laboratory grade UV lights out there. ($50 vs. $300+ lights.)

I took two photos of each of the photographed plants below. One under regular light and the other under 254 nm UV light, both of which you can see below. Mouse over the photographs below to see the photo in regular light. And yes, I also noticed that some Nepenthes were “brighter” than the others under this light. (By the way, check out my Vine video. The Vine link might not work in Firefox, but you can view in Chrome and IE browsers…)

I haven’t had much time at night to work with the Sarracenia just yet, but from what I’ve noticed there hasn’t been much fluorescence that is visible to the human eye with this particular lamp that I have. I’ll try to get some photos next time with the Sarracenia.

Photos below are 20 – 25 second exposures of the plants under the 254nm uv light. Mouse over the images to see the plant in regular light.


Nepenthes “Benevolence”


Nepenthes ventricosa x tiveyi


Nepenthes “Song of Melancholy”


Nepenthes “Enigma”


Nepenthes “Troth”

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Special thanks to Paul Barden and Kinjie Coe for being my “mentors” in Nepenthes growing! Thank you both so much for your patience and generosity … y’all got me HOOKED!

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