I’ve just returned from a 10 day expedition to the South with my friends Mike Wang and Axel Bostrom. I’ve known Mike since we were teenagers. We’ve both grown carnivorous plants as long as either one of us can remember. He’s become a famous grower in his own right and maintains one of the best personal collections of Sarracenia out there. Axel has volunteered at the nursery since he was 12. He graduated high school this Summer and has been a full-time employee at California Carnivores ever since. He’s quick to pick up the subtle magic/science of running California Carnivores and I already feel like I couldn’t run the nursery without him. This was Mike and I’s second trip down South, but Axel was a great addition to the team.

On this last trip that you’re about to take with us, we drove 1600 miles in 10 days of exploring and photographing remote carnivorous plant habitats. I’ll be posting the trip in parts with lots and lots of photos, so it will almost be like you took the trip with us!

The locations of all the sites will be kept extremely vague to ensure the safety of the plants. Poaching is a sad reality I’m afraid. Introductions aside, lets begin!

From Left to Right: Axel Bostrom, Me, and Mike Wang

For those truly obsessed with carnivorous plants, there may be no greater joy than seeing the plants that we love so much growing in mass in their native habitat. It’s this deep, possibly hard to understand, passion that would compel three friends, to travel to the deep South at the hottest time of the year just as hurricane season approaches. There has never been time for beautiful white sand beaches or even an afternoon exploring historic New Orleans on our plant trips. Nay, for us It is a tour of swamps, seeps, and bogs of the South Eastern U.S that beckons us here. The standing water and wet ground is challenging in itself, but it’s also where mosquitoes breed and alligators lurk. Poisonous snakes, like copperheads and cottonmouths, love the sweltering swamps. The plants themselves attract a further menagerie of giant spiders, over-sized wasps, and biting flies. Everyday it was 90-100 F degrees with very high humidity, so near constant hydration is necessary to avoid succumbing to the overpowering heat. We did luck out and there was no rain at all on this trip, which is somewhat amazing considering it had rained constantly for almost 2 months prior to our arrival. Our first stop was to the late Bob Hanrahan’s property in Southern Alabama.

We saw fields of American pitcher plants (Sarracenia) as we drove up to the house that Bob Hanrahan had built himself. Bob was a dear friend. He passed away from cancer in May of this year. He was a very famous grower of carnivores and his nursery World Insectivorous Plants had a huge impact on the hobby. Our nursery probably would have existed without him and his nursery. He originally bought the property in Alabama because there were S. leucophylla, S purpurea ssp. venosa v. burkii, D. filiformis v. tracyi, and D. capillaris growing there. Bob, however added all sorts of Sarracenia and Venus flytraps to the property. The property has been intentionally burned annually since Bob bought the place, so the carnivores thrive. Bob’s legacy is a fantasy world for carnivorous plant enthusiasts. It is truly breathtaking!

Mike Wilder and Kate Halpin, stewards of the Hanrahan property, were there to welcome us. They moved to the property about 5 years ago from Portland, Oregon and they live in the cute little house pictured above. They’re both Botanists and Kate is a very talented painter of nature. We’ll be carrying prints of her Sarracenia paintings soon! Bob taught them how to manage the property, including how to light the prescribed burns. The property is in their capable hands now. They were also gracious hosts. Thanks so much for showing us around! We also got to see and talk with Kathy, Bob’s widow. As we were leaving, she arrived to start gathering the Sarracenia seed that supports the land. It was nice to quickly catch up and to personally give our condolences.

We explored fields of white trumpet plants (Sarracenia leucophylla) as thunder rolled in the distance.

Here are some close up shots of some of the different leucophylla’s growing there.

Check out the fat lip on this one!

Here’s some from the back.

Another huge pitcher with a crazy fat lip !

With my hand for scale.

We loved the upturned lids on these next two plants!

But I think we liked this one with the sloping lids even more!

This one might be a little “hybridy”.

This next one is a very rare S. leucophylla v. alba. The pitchers are nearly all white !

Green Lynx Spiders love to hunt atop Sarracenia pitchers. Insects drugged by the pitcher plant’s nectar make for easy pickings. Despite their large size, the spiders are strangely charismatic and very friendly. They are at the top of their part of the food web, so they aren’t very fearful and are extremely intelligent for spiders. They are never aggressive, unless very provoked. Sometimes, they will quickly slide around to the lee of the pitcher as you approach and hide there from you. They are usually a beautiful green to camouflage them from approaching prey. I have also noticed that individuals on white pitchers tend to have white markings on their abdomen, while the one’s on flava usually have yellow markings instead.

I love to photograph them, so you will be seeing lots of them on this blog for a while.

This one caught a wasp!

Axel spotted this big flower beetle (Cetoniidae) sopping up nectar! I love flower beetles because their iridescent exoskeletons shine like opals.This one is coppery and green, just like the veins of the pitcher plant!

Bob also introduced Sarracenia flava to the property. Here’s a rugelii variety.

and here’s a rare atropurpurea variety!

Sarracenia purpurea ssp. vensosa v. burkii is also native to the property.

The burkii variety of the purple pitcher plant is know for its fat waxy lip.

Bob also introduced Sarracenia minor, the hooded pitcher plant!

Sarracenia rubra ssp. wherryi is there too….probably introduced.

You gotta have Sarracenia alata ! (Introduced)

Sarracenia alata var. rubrioperculata is dark red under the lid.

Sarracenia alata var. atrorubra is entirely red!

While the Mike’s chatted and I was photographing all the Sarracenia, Axel parted the grass and found all the huge Venus Flytraps that Bob had planted.

My boot for scale. These are big healthy clumps!

Axel in situ.

The amazing and very special thing about the Hanrahan property is seeing all of the different U.S. carnivores growing together in acres of perfectly managed habitat. There is literally nowhere like it anywhere else in the world!

It allows for shots like these that look like giant floral arrangements growing in open meadows framed by long

Here are some close-up shots of some of the plants in this mass.

This leuc looks “hybridy” too. There’s a nice flava in the background.

This is a natural hybrid between leucophylla and flava called S. x moorei. Bob hybridized the plants on purpose and then scattered seeds after the burn, so there are lots of nice hybrids there.

Here’s another really great looking S. x moorei!

Bob’s favorite hybrids were between leucophylla and purpurea. That hybrid is known as S. x mitchelliana.

This next one is a purpurea x minor cross.

This one is S. x excellens, the natural hybrid between leucophylla and minor. I love the ant on the lip!

This handsome little guy looks like a S. rubra/minor cross.

I presume this is a cross between rubra or alata and leucophylla.

This…well we don’t know what this was, but isn’t it awesome!

That’s it for part 1 of our adventure through the South East. If you liked this first part be sure and follow us here on tumblr for the next installments!