Category Archives: Video

2015: Reflection

Posted on December 31, 2015 | 6 comments

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! Hope you all are doing well. It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but rest assured there has been no shortage of action.

2015 has been a year of tremendous growth. Both with the plants …and personally. Some of you already may have heard: 2015 marks my last year inside the glass sanctuary I’ve so endearingly nicknamed “The Asylum.” I will greatly miss it. The Asylum has served as a grand and fantastic place to grow over the past 3 1/2 years. Why the move ? (Yes, for those of you that have been following me a while – this is another move.) It was a tough decision… however being so far away from the plants made the greenhouse commute and balancing life an ever increasing challenge. I’m still currently in transition (hence the hiatus from blogging) to a location that is much closer to me, and I’ll write more about this later. Stay tuned for those updates! The new location should give me more time to be with both family and plants. I still dream of the day that I’ll be able to walk into a back yard and be with my botanical babies. *Sigh* one day…

To my family, friends and readers – thank you for your support through the years and thank you for following my crazy journey. Standing on the threshold of a new year, I wanted to take a moment to briefly reflect on 2015.

Here’s a video with clips from throughout 2015. It starts off with recent clips of dormancy and then flashes back to shots of the growing season. Oh the sweet memories… but you know what? I’m excited to see what 2016 has in store. Let’s grow.

2015: Reflection

6 Comments

Posted in Blog, My Story, Video

Tagged 2105, nostalgia, reflection, The Asylum

Winter Greetings

Posted on December 27, 2014 | 2 comments

Winter greetings all! I hope this finds you all well and that this winter season has been good to you and the plants. Now that it is winter and the plants are asleep, activity in The Asylum is ramping up. This winter season is a busy one indeed. I’ve been doing some cleaning, trimming, moving plants about, and even some sorting of seeds (Yeeessss, I know – many of you asked about seeds. And divisions. So stay tuned for that update…)

Here’s a small selection of photos from around the garden. First shot below is a doozy. What a complete mess this is. Yeah, I gots my trimming work cut out for me. Most plants have long since put away the glory of the season past. They are once again clothed in the sleep of crispy crunchy pitchers. Soon enough, this place will be bursting full of life again…

Time for clean up Dormancy

And of course, my trusted garden helper – my katana, puts some work in…

Quick clip: Slicing through Sarracenia.
Sorry for the quality. Filmed in slow motion (120 FPS) on the mobile device.

Sarracenia oreophila section – all squared away.

Dionea clean up Dionaea, Pinguicula, and Drosera (Drosera out of shot in background) cleaned and organized.

Dormancy: Sarracenia oreophila

Sarracenia alata - Maroon Throat Sarracenia alata – maroon throat
A few pitchers still hanging on.

Sarracenia leucophylla x "Eva" Seedling: Sarracenia leucophylla x “Eva” pitcher still vibrant.

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And while the Sarracenias sleep, the Nepenthes crew bask in these cooler temperatures. Watching the Nepenthes and tropicals grow during the winter helps break up the monotony of all the lifeless pitchers. I like them ‘cuz you know, I always have to be growing… *something.*

Nepenthes ventricosa x tiveyi

Nepenthes thorelii x aristolochioides

Nepenthes (eymae x (stenophylla x lowii)) x trusmadiensis

And finally – back home is the grow tank. I turned an unused 50 gallon tank into a refuge for some Heliamphora, Cephalotus, Nepenthes, a Pinguicula and Drosera. There’s a variegated vanilla orchid growing in the corner and a mounted staghorn fern (Platycerium coronatum) that was not taking too well to the cooler temps in the greenhouse. Be looking for updates from the grow tank in the future.

2 Comments

Posted in Blog, Cephaltous, Heliamphora, Nepenthes, Video

Tagged alata, aristolochioides, Cephalotus, Dionaea, dormancy, drosera, Eva, eymae, Grow Tank, hamata, Heliamphora, katana, leucophylla, lowii, nepenthes, ore, Pinguicula, Red Hairy, Sarracenia, singalana, stenophylla, Sword, thorelii, tiveyi, trim, trusmadiensis, Tujuh, ventricosa, winter

Sarracenia – Summer Sanctuary 2014

Posted on August 17, 2014 | 13 comments

Sarracenia – Summer Sanctuary 2014

It’s hard to believe, but summer 2014 is drawing to a close and autumn is right around the corner. I put together clips from the past couple of months to commemorate this Sarracenia sanctuary’s summer. Enjoy!

13 Comments

Posted in Blog, Video

Tagged 2014, sanctuary, Sarracenia, Summer, The Asylum, Video

Surprise, Jerry!

Posted on June 18, 2014 | 7 comments

Back on 6 and 7 Jun 2014, a plan went into effect to surprise one of the wonderful botanical inspirations in my life: my friend, Jerry Addington the GREAT. Jerry was hosting an assemblage of carnivorous plant growers at his place in the Washington countryside and this was something that I did not want to miss. I figured it would be the perfect time to surprise Jerry.

In addition to this, another good friend of mine – the legendary Wes Buckner and his family were all going to be there as well! I saw Wes, Megan, and Caleb a couple of weeks prior to Jerry’s event. They stopped by my place on their road trip out from Tennessee and I got to show them a little bit of the SF Bay Area. Good times!

Anyway, I figured I might as well just surprise them ALL at Jerry’s. Helping me organize this surprise was my brother from another mother – Kinjie Coe. (Yeah, I knowwww – Coe and Co!) I flew out to Portland the day before Jerry’s gathering on Friday, 6 Jun 2014 where Kinjie picked me up and we started on our journey to Jerry’s. On the way up there, Kinjie took me on a little detour to visit another local grower, The Professor. What a way to start a wonderful weekend full of carnivorous plant goodness. (See previous post.)

It was amazing seeing plants, but it was definitely awe inspiring to to meet many other fellow growers and carnivorous-plant-o-philes in person! I am very thankful that I got to meet so many amazing people on this epic weekend.

Below you’ll find a short video (gotta love Jerry’s reaction!) as well as a slideshow and some highlight photos.

Kinjie – thanks so much for helping make this happen, bro. Chiemi, Malia, Bently, and Ipo – a huge thank you for allowing a couple of plant crazed guys into your home. 🙂 Jerry – as always I am filled with gratitude for your hospitality and generosity. I am beyond blessed to know you. Thank you.

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View the full screen slideshow here.

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A Surprise Visit to Courting Frogs Nursery

Operation Addington Surprise - Jun 2014

A Surprise Visit to Courting Frogs Nursery

Operation Addington Surprise - Jun 2014

A Surprise Visit to Courting Frogs Nursery

7 Comments

Posted in Blog, Out and About, Video

Tagged Addington, carnivorous, Carnivorous Plant, Carnivorous plants, Courting Frogs Nursery, Jerry Addington, Kinjie Coe, North American, Pitcher Plant, pitcher plants, Plants, Sarracenia, Washington

Alive – Spring 2014

Posted on March 11, 2014 | 4 comments

Spring is in full force and the deluge of color and growth has begun. This season holds quite a bit of promise and I am excited to see what it has in store.
Let’s grow!

Alive – Spring 2014.

4 Comments

Posted in Blog, Video

Tagged 2014, Growth, new season, Sarracenia, Spring, Video

Dormancy

Posted on December 14, 2013 | 2 comments

This season’s growth and vivid colors have come to an end. A few pitchers still hang on but even they are gradually fading into the congregation of crumbling foliage. Enjoy your rest, my pitchers. Until we meet again in the spring…

2 Comments

Posted in Blog, Video

Tagged 2013, dormancy, Sarracenia

Darlingtonia Trip 2013: Day 2

Posted on November 9, 2013 | 9 comments

Another day of Darlingtonia goodness with my good carni-bro Mike Wang! (You can see the video and photos from day 1 in this previous post .) Without further ado I present to you a few video clips and photos from day 2 of the Darlingtonia expedition. Photos and video from 12 Oct 2013. Enjoy!