Collection surfing – Day 2, the journey continues! [See prior day, Day 1 – Phil Faulisi’s mindmelting garden.] For day 2 we would continue with our carnivorous plant campaign at California Carnivores where Chi’en C. Lee was presenting on his travels throughout South East Asia. Goodness. To be surrounded by carnivorous plants AND listen to Chi’en present in person on the flora and fauna of South East Asia was most excellent! His talk was fascinating and it was very inspirational. Makes me want to get out there and travel/photograph a bit more! Additionally there were so many fellow carniphiles that showed up at CalCarn; it was absolutely brilliant meeting and connecting with all of you wonderful people that were there!
After CalCarn – Kinjie, Calen and I trekked over to Mike Wang’s place. Yeah! Over at Mike’s place — this was pretty much our reaction throughout the entire time we were there. (Click that link.) We got to Mike’s place as the day was ending but that definitely did not stop these plant nerds from trippin’ out over plants ’till 11pm. No light in the garden? No problem. We bust out the flashlights and continued to get our botanical geekery on. Nightshift status. (Good times, bros… good times.)
Obligitory bridge shot. Crossed en route to CalCarn.
We up in this.
Calen and Damon
Left to Right: Kinjie, Peter, Calen, some weird guy, and Damon
(Thanks for taking the photo, David!)
Aww yeah! Selfie with Peter D’amato!
(A blurry) selfie with Chi’en, Kinjie and Calen. I was probably on a bit of a botanical high or something at the time of this photo.
Left to Right: Calen, Mike, Kate, Kinjie and I
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Crops of Wang.
I think Calen’s phone was dead in this photo and that he was just pretending to take a photo for this shot. (Heh heh! Just messin’ with you Calen. But you gotta make sure your phone is charged next time, bro. 🙂 )
Check out the throat spotch on this baby!
Man, these Flava cupreas — so choclate-y!
The Wangster admires a beautiful pink excellens.
Carnivorous plant geeks in effect.
Sarracenia “Elaine Wang”
Nightshift.
Light ’em up! (Playing around with the wireless flash…)
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
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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!
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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
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
Mountain Creek 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
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
Site 734 – Del Norte Co., CA
Site 734 – Del Norte Co., CA
Site 734 – Del Norte Co., CA
Site 734 – 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
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.
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!
Back on 11 October 2013, I had the privilege of being able to check out some Darlingtonia growing in situ with fellow carnie-bro, Mike Wang. (By the way – if you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to stop by the Sarracenia forum and take a look Mike’s amazing photos in his Darlingtonia posts!) As I mentioned in my last post, this would be the first time I ever saw carnivorous plants growing in their natural habitat. Hey, better late than never right? It was a phenomenal experience. Now I have an even deeper appreciation for these magnificent plants. I can’t say enough about what I saw and experienced during this trip. The overstimulation of seeing these majestic plants growing at all the various sites was pure botanical overload. And yes, I savored every second of it. We only had a few short hours of sunlight to explore by on our first day up there. By the time we arrived it was already late afternoon. We tried to see as much as we could and make the most of the fading light. It turned out to be great timing – the lighting at this time of day hit the plants in such a way to give them an otherworldly glow. Here’s a video and a few photos capturing moments from day one of this fantastic Darlingtonia excursion. Stay tuned – video and photos from day 2 to follow!
Road trip cuisine at it’s finest. Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the road.
Oh joy, oh rapture! The first clump of Darlingtonia I saw growing in situ!
Darlingtonia californica – Del Norte Co., CA
Darlingtonia californica – Del Norte Co., CA
Shooting Darlingtonia – Forest marsh site – Del Norte Co., CA
Darlingtonia californica – Forest marsh site, Del Norte Co., CA
Darlingtonia californica – Forest marsh site, Del Norte Co., CA
Mike admires the scenery. Forest marsh site – Del Norte Co., CA
Darlingtonia californica – Forest marsh site, Del Norte Co., CA
Mike and I at the forest marsh site, Del Norte Co., CA
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Mike doin’ his thing. Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Roadside site – Del Norte Co., CA
We were in the Alpine Farms area a little bit after sundown and stopped for a few mins. I took the opportunity to do some light painting using the flashlight on my iPhone.
Last weekend, carnie-bro Mike Wang and I went on an epic trip to see Darlingtonia growing in their natural habitat. Ironically, this would be my very first time seeing carnivorous plants in situ. Hey, better late then never, right? Anyway, in the past eight or nine years of me consistently growing carnivorous plants, I’ve only known and witnessed them in cultivation. Seeing their habitat and the way they grow there gives me a greater appreciation for these fantastic plants.
Below are a couple shots of the first clump of Darlingtonia that I saw growing in situ. It felt like my mind blew a gasket seeing just this one clump! It really was love at first sight. At this first site. After seeing this, I told Mike that I felt as if my trip was already complete. Little did I know what was in store in those hours ahead. Needless to say, I took “quite a few” photos and videos. Sorry for the delay, but it has been quite a week for me. I’m catching up with a few other projects and I’m just starting to get to this Darlingtonia project now. I’ll be sorting through the photos and videos so please stay tuned for more Darlingtonia goodness!
My Darlingtonias have been off to a slow start this year. I’m guessing in part because I’m keeping them on the shadier side of the greenhouse – where it’s cool. If I move them in the middle, they may burn as it can get mighty warm in the sun. They love light, I know… It’s making me miss outdoor growing where I could have it cool and sunny all day. I should probably throw a couple Darlingtonia out in the bright/hot area there to see how they fare. It’s friggin’ June — and while some of the Sarracenia pods are already ripening – the Darlingtonia are only throwing out their new pitchers …now. Oh well. Better late than never…
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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.
Obligitory bridge shot. Crossed en route to CalCarn.
We up in this.
Calen and Damon
Left to Right: Kinjie, Peter, Calen, some weird guy, and Damon
Aww yeah! Selfie with Peter D’amato!
(A blurry) selfie with Chi’en, Kinjie and Calen. I was probably on a bit of a botanical high or something at the time of this photo.
Left to Right: Calen, Mike, Kate, Kinjie and I
Crops of Wang.
I think Calen’s phone was dead in this photo and that he was just pretending to take a photo for this shot. (Heh heh! Just messin’ with you Calen. But you gotta make sure your phone is charged next time, bro. 🙂 )
Check out the throat spotch on this baby!
Man, these Flava cupreas — so choclate-y!
The Wangster admires a beautiful pink excellens.
Carnivorous plant geeks in effect.
Sarracenia “Elaine Wang”
Nightshift.
Light ’em up! (Playing around with the wireless flash…)
Scene without the camera flash…
… and scene WITH flash.
Crops by night.
Sunset. Del Norte Co., CA
Back on 11 October 2013, I had the privilege of being able to check out some Darlingtonia growing in situ with fellow carnie-bro, Mike Wang. (By the way – if you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to stop by the Sarracenia forum and take a look 
