A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the Sarracenia Northwest (web: http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/) open house with my carni-bro, Kinjie. When I initially really got into carnivorous plant growing yeeears ago, Sarracenia Northwest was a great resource for me and helped set that foundation for me. I had a good time meeting and connecting with fellow carnivorous plant growers as well as getting to see some cool plants at SNW! Thanks again to Jacob and Jeff for hosting! Here’s a few photos from our visit on 10 Sep 2016. Enjoy!
A very cool flytrap sculpture greets you at the entrance of Sarracenia Northwest!
Large tubs of Darlingtonia.
A tub full of carnivores!
Sarracenia “White Knight” originating from Meadowview.
Pools of Sarracenia
Sarracenia ‘Judith Hindle’ en masse.
Drosophyllum lusitanicum
Whoa! Check it – I had a chance to run into the brilliant Nina (Instagram: @_christinanina_86) at the SNW open house. She has some pretty rad carnivorous plant tattoos! Way to represent, Nina!
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.
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, Dahlia and I had a little weekend excursion in Sonoma County. It was a much needed time to relax after all the moving that we recently had to do. We’re settling into our new place nicely – but man… moving always sucks! (Thanks again to everyone who helped out!)
So anyway – what would a mini-vacay be without carnivores?! For me, vacations are never complete without carnivorous plant goodness. Since we were in the ‘hood of California Carnivores we decided to stop by to immerse ourselves in the carnivory. If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend stopping by. It’s always a pleasure to visit this magnificent and magical place. Thank you, Cal Carn for what you do. Continue to embolden and equip us to be better growers!
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. 🙂
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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.
