Back on 16 May 2015, I had the pleasure of visiting my bro Kinjie’s garden. This visit was quite the whirlwind weekend in the Pacific North West (PNW.) I managed to see both Kinjie as well as my friend, Derek in a time span of about 24 hours before heading back to the SF Bay Area. This mos’ def was not enough time! Kinjie has a brilliant collection of Sarracenia and I’m honored to have been able to witness his garden in person. (Kinjie, Allison and Siri – thanks for having me over!)
Hope you enjoy a few of these photos from the Garden of Coe!
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.
Last week I was in the Washington countryside on a covert operation to surprise a great botanical mentor and friend – Jerry Addington. (I’ll have more details on this surprise in my next blog post. I’m working on it; photos and video to follow!) The day before visiting Jerry, my friend Kinjie and I took a little detour to visit another local grower – “The Professor.” Carnivorous plant class was in session as The Professor, Kinjie, and I were discussing everything from the cultivation, to the genetics of these fascinating plants. This visit was a phenomenal prelude of things to come.
Enjoy a few frames (shot with both DSLR and iPhone) from our visit! Professor – thank you again for your kindness and generosity! Hope to visit again soon. 🙂
Recently my family and I visited the SF Conservatory of Flowers and got a chance to see the Chomp! exhibit. If you ever find yourself in the area, I highly recommend stopping by and immersing yourself in the beauty that is the SF Conservatory of Flowers. Below is a slide show featuring a few shots from around the conservatory, as well as a few highlight shots from the exhibit. Chomp! runs from 11 Apr 2014 – 19 Oct 2014 so be sure and visit soon! (And in case you didn’t already know – plants in the exhibit are from none other than California Carnivores… sweet!)
Hope everyone’s been having a good 2014 so far! Two weeks in there hasn’t been much plant action on this end – other than the massive cleaning and re-organizing efforts that are currently underway in The Asylum. Here’s a few snapshots of how my 2014 is going so far.
*** The Asylum. The left half of the house has been trimmed. I’ve taken The Dome down on the right and I’m currently finishing up construction of 3 more water tables.
Looking fresh and clean!
The wreckage of dead foliage. I still have a lot of work ahead!
Burnt out heads of anthocyanin-free formosa.
Special thanks to Karen Oudean for sending over some brilliant specimens of Darlingtonia californica – Coos Co., OR
Drosera binata var. dichitoma awake and unfurling new traps.
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.
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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.
A man and his plants.
Oh Hai!
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 
