California Carnivores is just close enough to me, yet just far away that I have visited the nursery merely three times in nearly six years of growing carnivorous plants. My most recent visit (last Saturday) was special! I got to see Chi’en Lee speak and present his wildlife photography while living in and exploring remote areas of Borneo, The Philippines, Papua New Guinea and more!

It was a truly entrancing and educational presentation! Even my not-super-enthusiastic-about-weird-plants husband really enjoyed it. Aside from the stunning photos and funny stories, the amount of biodiversity packed into such a small area was astonishing. You can essentially go for a leisurely stroll in the rain forest and it would unusual to not see any new species of something! Whether animal, mineral, or vegetable, there is still so much that is unknown. Chi’en showed several photos of a newly discovered, unnamed species of Nepenthes. Super exciting!

Unfortunately, I was late to the presentation due to bad traffic, and couldn’t get a decent seat until later. AND I didn’t bring my telephoto lens, doh. My one decent shot is above. Most of my shots came out like this:

Nice shot of the Nepenthes pitcher though, right?

California Carnivores was also having a 20% off sale all day, so I had to shop around after the presentation and mingle with my fellow plant nerds. I met the awesome Sarracenia Dude, finally! We literally saw each other and were like “OMG, Hiiiiiiii!” 😀

I also got to finally meet the lovely Kate Halpin, who’s relocated to the west (best) coast to work at the nursery! So happy you’re here, Kate! 😀 I proudly rocked my butterwort tote bag that she created.

Devon of Sundews Etc. and I caught up and shot the shit since the last meetup. We also got a private tour of California Carnivores’ propagation areas (thanks again, Daniela!) and saw some not-yet-available Venus flytrap cultivars!

Just one part of the propagation area. Gotta love the high-tech kiddie pools!

Check out “Werewolf”! This is one I want SO BAD! As far as I know, it’s not available for sale in the US anywhere.

“Giant Clam” with a large, deeply red trap and fringed cilia. Super cool looking!

I believe this one was unnamed, but check out those jagged cilia and red stripe on the side!

It’s hard to get a sense of the size in this photo, but this is the one and only DC XL! Turns out sticking my fingers in the shot doesn’t help. But I never got a sense of the massive size of this cultivar until seeing it in person. This trap was probably as long as my index finger!

I imagine the California Carnivores’ staff wouldn’t be too happy with me if I stuck Werewolf or DC XL in my pocket, so here’s what I did come home with!

Pinguicula moranesis J, which I repotted into a Japanese-styled teacup.

Dionaea muscipula “Fused Tooth”. None of the cilia have fused yet, but I can’t wait to see that later in the season!

Sarracenia oreophila “Sand Mountain” x leucophylla “Schnell’s Ghost”. I was debating between various red hybrids and almost didn’t see this one. I really like how subtle it is, and looks like it has potentially for some funky lips too!

And finally Drosera capensis “narrow red leaf.” Two plants in one pot, plus plenty of Utricularia bisquamata, score! Bonus plants are the best plants. I’ve also been wanting a red or albino capensis for a while to contrast with my typical forms!

Thanks for reading! Saturday was a really great day, and I’m so glad I got to meet other plant folks in person that I previously only knew on the internet!

Were you there for presentation? What did you think and what plants did you get? Leave me your comments! And let’s meet at the next event if we didn’t get to this time! 😀