The Pitcher Plant Project

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

The Garden of Drew

Posted on November 19, 2014 | 7 comments

This last weekend I had an opportunity to nerd-out over carnivores at Drew Martinez’s place with fellow carnie-heads Mike Wang and Josh Brown. It was brilliant getting together with these fellow growers and talk plants. Hella (plant) nerd. With this time of the year, most of Drew’s Sarracenia were on their way out, but many plants still looked great. By the way – you can see Mike’s photos on his thread on The Sarracenia Forums here.

The amazing thing is — THIS. Yeah, click that link. Back in 2012 Mike, Josh and I helped put the greenhouses together and it was quite delightful to see the houses and yard packed. Drew and Selina – thanks again for your hospitality in hosting us carnivorous plant-dorks.

My camera and one of my lenses are still in the shop as noted in the last post, but special thanks to Drew for letting me use his camera body to let me snap a few shots!

View all photos in full screen here. A few highlight photos below!

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15 Nov 2014 - Drew Martinez
DREW IS THE MAN.

15 Nov 2014 - Drew Martinez

7 Comments

Posted in Nepenthes, Out and About

Tagged Cephalotus, Drew Martinez, Heliamphora, Hella, Josh Brown, Mike Wang, nepenthes, Pitcher Plant, Plant Dorks, Plant Nerds, Sarracenia

November Photo Reel – Phone Edition

Posted on November 15, 2014 | 8 comments

Eh… so my camera is currently in the shop getting some repairs. I should have it back sometime soon, just in time to capture more photos of… dead foliage. Heh Heh! Still, that won’t stop me from taking beloved plant photos. (You can always find me and more plant madness on Instagram too – @rco911!) Anyway, enjoy a few photos snapped by the mobile device. Cheers!

Under the Nepenthes dome. View in fullscreen here!

Untitled Sarracenia leucophylla – Franklin Co., FL
Clone A x B, Select Clone. Cross by Wes Buckner.

Seed pod. Sarracenia alata “Red Mustache” x alata ‘Night’
One of the last seed pods of the season.

Sarracenia rosea – veinless. One of the last remaining pitchers that look somewhat decent.

Untitled Nepenthes tiveyi – “Red Queen”
(Thanks, Kinjie!)

Nepenthes ventricosa x talangensis
Just popped open.

Nepenthes “Song of Melancholy”

Nepenthes ventricosa x tiveyi
(Thanks, Paul!)

Nepenthes jamban

Drosophyllum lusitanicum

Amorphophallus titanum
Not carnivorous – but still worth the mention. (Thanks Derek!)

8 Comments

Posted in Blog

Tagged Amorphophallus, Amorphophallus titanum, Drosophyllum, jamban, leucophylla, lusitanicum, nepenthes, rosea, Sarracenia, Song of Melancholy, talangensis, tiveyi, veinless, ventricosa

Darlingtonia 2014

Posted on November 3, 2014 | 17 comments

A few weeks ago Mike Wang and I visited various Darlingtonia sites in Curry Co., OR and Del Norte Co., CA. As always – I am truly thankful that I got a chance to roll with Mike again. It was truly an unforgettable experience. It was pretty much a year since we last visited Darlingtonia country. (Here’s a post to day one and day two from last year!)

We had to do some hiking to get to some of these sites. The trails (and LACK of trails) were quite steep and rugged in some places. Finding the Darlingtonia in these remote regions was definitely not easy, but the grueling trek felt like a very small price to pay to be able to witness the plants growing in their natural habitat. Oh and the scenery? <Insert expletives here.> OMG. Ridiculously good. Melt-your-face-off mind-blowingly beautiful.

I can’t adequately put into words just how outlandishly magnificent this experience was so I’ll stop trying and let you see for yourself. I strung together a few video clips and created some photo slideshows that are sorted by day below. There’s also a few highlight snapshots underneath all that. Enjoy!

Oh yeah, and if you haven’t already done so – please be sure to check out Mike’s posts of our Darlingtonia 2014 excursion here, here, here and here!

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Darlingtonia Video
9-11 Oct 2014
Various sites in Curry Co., OR and Del Norte Co., CA

Day 1 – 9 Oct 2014 Photo Slideshow
Curry Co., OR

Day 2 – 10 Oct 2014 Photo Slideshow
Curry Co., OR

Day 3 – 11 Oct 2014 Photo Slideshow
Del Norte Co., CA

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A few highlight photos follow below. To see all the photos from this Darlingtonia excursion, please view the photo slideshows above!
***

It’s pre 6am. I need to start this day off right. I need to start this trip off right.
It’s all about that PHILZ COFFEE!

The first patch of Darlingtonia that we stumbled across!
FCS Site – Curry Co., OR

The Wangster and I – FCS Site – Curry Co., OR

Seedlings growing out of the water. FCS Site – Curry Co., OR

FCS Site – Curry Co., OR

Above the fog at sunset. Curry Co., OR

Fueling up before the gnarly hike.
The ravenous Mike Wang in action!

Rugged and beautiful. Curry Co., OR

So scenic. That’s Mike in the photo to give you a sense of scale. Here we are hiking around looking for the Mountain Valley Meadow site.
Curry Co., OR

Mountain Valley Meadow site – Curry Co., OR

Mountain Valley Meadow Site – Curry Co., OR

Summit – Curry Co., OR

Haunting beauty. Curry Co., OR

Some timelapse iPhoneography happening here.
An iPhone Gorillapod comes in handy.

Trailside Site – Curry Co., OR

Mountain Creek Site – Curry Co., OR

Roadside Site – Curry Co., OR

Sphagnum.
Sphagnum Site – Del Norte Co., CA

Darlingtonia growing in sphagnum.
Sphagnum Site – Del Norte Co., CA.

Skeleton.
Sphagnum Site – Del Norte Co., CA

Darlingtonia seed Pod.
Sphagnum Site – Del Norte Co., CA

Red.
Alpine Farms – Del Norte Co., CA

Alpine Farms – Del Norte Co., CA

Seedlings!
Alpine Farms – Del Norte Co., CA

Goldmine Site – Del Norte Co., CA

Pinguicula macroceras growing vertically on a rock face!
Goldmine Site – Del Norte Co., CA

Goldmine Site – Del Norte Co., CA

Mike admires the Darlingtonia growing vertically on the rock face.
Goldmine Site – Del Norte Co., CA

Site 734 – Del Norte Co., CA

Young plant/seedling growing next to charred piece of wood.
Site 734 – Del Norte Co., CA

Brilliant yellow.
Site 734 – Del Norte Co., CA

Check the mustache out on this bad boy.
Site 734 – Del Norte Co., CA

Site 734 – Del Norte Co., CA

Left: My preferred footwear – hiking boots.
Right: Mike’s preferred footwear – CROCS.
My mind can not compute how hardcore Mike is to be able to even hike in friquen’ Crocs… CROCS! Seriously. Now that dude is a beast.

Thanks again for everything, Mike!

17 Comments

Posted in Blog, Darlingtonia, Out and About

Tagged 2014, California, Coffee, County, CROCS!, Curry, darlingtonia, Del Norte, Native, Oregon, out and about, PHILZ, Pitcher Plant

October Update

Posted on October 21, 2014 | 2 comments

Hi all! I am still alive. Geez, has it really been over a month since I’ve posted anything up on here? Yeah, it has been a busy month so far – and now that dormancy is fast approaching, things in The Asylum will get even busier! Divisions, repotting, cleaning, and reorganizing are all things that I hope will be done while the plants are asleep. (By the way, you can always catch me on the Instagram – @rco911 – in between blog posts.)

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Before the photo updates, just a couple things worth mentioning…

– A core member of BAPP and dear friend… moved to Oregon. I’m currently babysitting Derek’s plants. For the time being, his plants and my plants are getting along and playing nicely.

– Mike Wang and I went on a lil’ Darlingtonia excursion earlier this month. Photos and video to be featured in a future post. You can read about *one* of the sites we visited in Mike’s post on the Sarracenia forums. Stay tuned for a future Darlingtonia update!

– Not plant related, but SF GIANTS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES! AGAIN! YEAHHHHH!

***

So anyyywayyyyyy… at this point in time, much of the greenhouse looks like this. Fugly.

October Dormancy. Time to bust out that katana blade and slice through this madness soon.

BUT! There are still a few gems in that mess.

Although *most* of the Sarracenia pitchers are fading, things are still looking OK in the mini-greenhouse. This is a small 6 x 8 greenhouse with it’s own micro climate. Read more here. It’s more humid than the main house, and the temperatures seem to be a bit more stable. It does not get so hot in there during the day and (I am hoping) it does not get too cold in there during the winter. I can line this with bubble wrap and stick a small heater in there if need be during winter. I would not want to find myself stuck in the same cataclysmic-cold-snap situation like last year. See link above. Anyway, some of Derek’s plants have moved in here. So far, so good.

Nepenthes House Inside the dome.

Nepenthes tiveyi "Red Queen" Nepenthes tiveyi “Red Queen” – from Kinjie Coe

Nepenthes ventricosa x tiveyi – from Paul Barden

In the realms of Sarracenia – couple things still looking decent in the wreckage of burnt out foliage. I haven’t had a chance to photograph some of the leuco/leuco hybrids that are still OK but on their way out. Hope to provide an update on that later.

Sarracenia moorei “Orange Glow” x ‘Adrian Slack’ – one of my crosses from a few years ago. Still a young plant that I finally put in it’s own pot! Let’s see what that extra root space will do next season.

Sarracenia “Saurus” – Fall pitchers. Cross by Phil Fauilsi. The Spring pitchers were even more massive.

Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa – a cross between two different S. purpurea ssp. venosa clones by Mike Wang. I’m diggin’ the ruffles.

Stapelia in effect. Not a carnivorous plant, but boy does this mofo smell. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to experience this awesome odiferous wonder, Derek! OMFG does this thing staaank.

2 Comments

Posted in Blog

Tagged Adrian Slack, moorei, nepenthes, Orange Glow, purpurea, Red Queen, Sarracenia, Saurus, Stapelia, tiveyi, venosa, ventricosa

A Visit to Phil’s

Posted on September 17, 2014 | 14 comments

This past weekend I had a chance to hang with one of the great growers that has been such an inspiration to me – the legend: Phil Faulisi. His plants never cease to amaze! Enjoy a few highlight photos and the slideshow below, or view the slideshow in fullscreen here! (Phil – thanks again for everything!)

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A visit to Phil’s Sarracenia Wonderland! 14 Sep 2014
(Also note, you can use your arrow keys to go back and forth… )

Phil Faulisi - 14 Sep 2014

14 Comments

Posted in Blog, Out and About

Tagged Carnivorous Plant, Faulisi, Phil, Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia

S. (leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava var. rubricorpora) x ‘Adrian Slack’

Posted on September 5, 2014 | 3 comments

Sarracenia (leucophylla "Purple Lips" x flava var. rubricorpora) x 'Adrian Slack' Sarracenia (leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava var. rubricorpora)
x ‘Adrian Slack’
A cross I did in 2012, showing off some nifty coloration!

3 Comments

Posted in Blog

Tagged Adrian Slack, flava, leucophylla, purple lips, Red, rubricorpora, Sarracenia

Winter Greetings

The Garden of Drew

November Photo Reel – Phone Edition

Darlingtonia 2014

October Update

A Visit to Phil’s

S. (leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava var. rubricorpora) x ‘Adrian Slack’

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