I recently had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow Sarracenia addict-bro-dude-legend, Phil Faulisi. As always, my mind was blown by all of the fantastic specimens that I witnessed. Phil is an extraordinary and phenomenal grower, and has such an impact with my breeding efforts. Here’s a short video I put together as well as a slideshow from my visit over at Phil’s spot. And… uh, don’t mind the Bourbon. With Phil, it obviously has a profound effect on his creative process when he thinks about Sarracenia breeding. (Phil – just kiddin’ bro! Or maybe not? Heh Heh! Whatever you’re doing to come up with all of these wonderfully insane plants, keep it up!)
I can’t adequately put into words all of the fantastic-ness that I saw there… so I won’t even try to explain. Here are a few photos for your carnivorous plant viewing pleasure!
Phil – thanks again for everything bro! Thank you for your hospitality and your generosity. You ROCK! BACON. Josette – great meeting you as well! Nice car, but better watch out ‘cuz Phil may want to turn it into a planter, Hah!
I recently returned from a family vacation up in Seattle, WA. I love it up there! While I was up there, I had the privilege of visiting my friends Karen Oudean (Oudean’s Willow Creek Nursery) and Jerry Addington (Courting Frogs Nursery.) While at Jerry’s I had the grand pleasure of meeting Pheadra Dunko and Kinjie Coe. It was great meeting you both! (Brie – sorry I just missed you! Next trip!) I put a short video of clips from each place together above. Hope you enjoy it. Below are slide shows from each nursery, and a few highlight photos from each visit.
Karen and Jerry – Thank you as always for your kindness and hospitality!
Last weekend a few of the carni-heads got together to assit fellow grower and carni-phile Drew Martinez in constructing/covering his greenhouse. It was nice to get together with Mike, Mike, Josh, and Drew & Selina to take part in this greatness. I know first hand what it’s like to move and expand the grow area – always fun stuff and know that an extra set of hands can be useful. I headed over to Mike Wang’s place first to see how his crops were doing before we headed off to help Drew. Mike’s crops indeed were blingin’ as usual and a nice prelude to the full work day ahead of us.
Below are a couple slide shows and highlight photos from that day. The first show is of Mike’s blingin’ August crops. The second show is a photo documentary of Drew’s greenhouse being pieced together and partially covered. Drew and Selina – thanks again for having us over. 🙂 Can’t wait to see these new greenhouses packed!
So, last month, I had the honor and privilege to visit Donnie’s carnivore heaven. I was actually in town for a wedding that I was photographing for two rad and awesome friends. (Maria and Cameron – congrats again!!!)
Anyway, since I was in town, the day after the wedding I had a chance to swing by and visit another fellow friend and grower, Don Elkins. His place is freakin’ phenomenal. I was at a serious loss for words and my head was spinning from all the Sarracenia and carnivore insanity that abounded. Everywhere I turned there was something amazing going on. Talk about carnivore overload! It was truly mind blowing and nothing short of spectacular. I won’t bore you with my attempt to explain – cuz’ I really can’t! See for yourself… (to view full screen, press the icon lower right that expands the slideshow…)
Enjoy…
Donnie: Thank you so very much once again for your hospitality and for your kindness. I am grateful. It was fun, and I really appreciate you taking the time to inspire this Sarracenia addict. 🙂
This post is a little bit off the Sarracenia path. This is a tribute and a thanks to a few individuals that inspire me in doing what I do.
Grow on, homies… Grow on.
[Slideshow: BAPP | Plantgasm Gardens]
This past weekend I had the honor and privilege to get together with a few fellow Bay Area Plant People (BAPP) at the Gardens of Plantgasm. It is a place of amazing botanical wonder, indoors and out! Now, you if you know me, I’m not much of an indoor grower, but after my visit, I think I’ll try a couple more plants indoors. Everywhere I turned at Derek’s place, there was something growing. Climbing a wall. Hanging from the ceiling. Growing in the coffee pot. Jumping off a bookshelf. Something was growing. The perfect setting for this gathering of plant addicts.
I’m really glad I was able to attend and meet up with my garden heroes. We’ve been talking about getting together, havin’ a beer, and just chattin’ plants for quite some time, and I’m glad we finally were able to. I would sincerely like to thank Derek and Heather for opening up their home and hosting this event. Derek (twitter: @plantgasm) is a wonderful source of great garden inspiration; his passion for the plant is quite contagious. Be sure to visit his site (http://plantgasm.com) and prepare to be moved.
It was also very nice to kick it with Meg and Matti (twitter: @sfgardengirl, @FOFmatti, @faroutflora | web: http://www.faroutflora.com/), Heather (@hchamp) — as well as meet new plant friends: Magdalen, Michelle, Kevin (@joescales), Chuck (@back40feet | http://back40feet.blogspot.com), Carri (@betweenthelimes |http://readbetweenthelimes.blogspot.com/), Kristi (@notsocrafty | http://notsocrafty.com/), and of course Bug and Chieka! (The awesome chihuahua duo!) I can’t believe we were all in one place… ha!
Yes, I grow Sarracenia. That’s my addiction and obsession. That’s what this blog is about. I’ve always been intrigued by the carnivores ever since I was a kid. My interest in carnivores and support from my grandparents led me into the world of gardens and the love of growing – not just Sarracenia, but rather all things that I could possibly grow. My yard indeed is covered in Sarrs; however you can find everything from bamboo to bromeliads, mosses to maples, and cacti to carnivores lurking there. Meeting with other like minded plant lovers yesterday was simply phenomenal and motivational. I will continue to plant and grow.
As Derek says, “The second best thing about growing plants is getting to know other people with the same passion. The first best thing is growing the plants.”
[Plantgasm, Far Out Flora, The Pitcher Plant Project] (Photo by Heather… Thanks Heather!)
[Slideshow – Sarracenias of Wang. For a larger view, try going full screen by pressing the expand icon. It’s the bottom right icon in the slideshow. Enjoy!]
Last week I had the honor of visiting my home-boyee, Mike Wang. He’s a rad plant genius and a freekin’ fenom when it comes to Sarracenia. The blue pools of carnivore wonder are nothing short of captivating. I am thankful I got to witness some of his blingin’ Sarrs! It’s always a spectacular sight! His plants never cease to amaze and impress me. Oh, and quite frankly, he’s just one awesome individual.
Mike: Bro, thanks! Always fun. Thank you so much for your kindness and hospitality bro! I appreciate it! Ahem, … “cuz we be ghetto like dat!” HAH! WORD!
***
Also, a very special thanks to Derek who authors http://www.plantgasm.com. He showed me how to do slideshows! This post would not be if it were not for him. Hah hah! Thanks so much Derek!
Note: If the video is a bit choppy, try turning off the HD by clicking “HD” in the lower right corner.
Back in February I had a nice visit to my other favorite city, Seattle. Whenever there, I always travel out of the city and visit two very good friends and inspirations in my growing: Jerry Addington (Courting Frogs Nursery) and Karen Oudean (Oudean’s Willow Creek Nursery). I took quite a few photos and put together this small montage with only a fraction of the photos and video clips that I took. Bear in mind that these photos were taken in the cold still of winter, and the plants are all still dormant. There were even solid frozen water puddles here and there at Jerry’s place. Snow eventually fell that evening as well, and that’s always nice to this California boy who never sees snow. The pitchers you see are mostly remnants of last years growth. You’ll see a lot of S. purpurea and purpurea hybrid pitchers for example as it’s one plant that can withstand the cold. Even outdoors the S. purpurea’s shrugged off the cold as if it was nothing. At Karen’s place, her outdoor growing areas were covered in frost cloth as an extra precaution to protect the plants. Winter was a nice change of pace to visit Seattle, Jerry, and Karen. Hauntingly beautiful place. But, I must say that visiting their places during active growing season is quite a sight to behold; it’s simply amazing and I hope to return again soon to see it all in it’s full growth glory!
Jerry and Karen – thank you again so much for your kindness and hospitality!
All photos/images posted on this blog are the sole property of The Pitcher Plant Project (unless noted otherwise) and is protected under US copyright law. Do not use, print, download to hard drive, or copy any image from this blog without prior permission. If you like it, link to it. Thank you.
Blog warning: I am not a plant expert. No freekin' way. I just love growing these plants and sharing what may or may not work for me. I consider myself a student - always learning, and always growing, sharing what I learn along the way!
The plant material I distribute is propagated by me. I have not, and do not collect field specimens for propagation, for sale, or for any other purpose. I do not sell plants or seeds that have been field collected by me or my contacts to fill plant orders.
