On the 12th & 13th of August 2017, Hampshire Carnivorous Plants website hosted its annual open weekend. The nursery is run by Matt Soper, who has grown carnivorous plants for over 35 years and won over 100 RHS Gold medals for his exhibitions and displays. In that time, it has earned its reputation as one of the best carnivorous plant nurseries in the UK.
I’ve ordered from Matt many times and have always received top quality plants, but this was the first time I was able to attend one of his open days.
The nursery recently moved to a new location in Lower Upham, which is near Southampton and not far from Marwell Zoo. Admission was free, there was plenty of car parking on-site, and refreshments were provided. Matthew and his family were extremely welcoming to all the visitors, of which there were quite a crowd by the time we arrived at about 11am.
Matt’s collection is huge and includes some incredible specimens. Walking round the greenhouses I took as many photos as I could, mostly of the Sarracenia, Nepenthes, and Dionaea.
Click on any photo to zoom in. Use arrow keys or swipe to navigate.
01. The first greenhouse, housing Sarracenia, Drosera, Dionaea, and more 
02. The first Sarracenia bench, with many different varieties of S. flava 
03. A strikingly coloured form of Sarracenia flava var ornata 
04. Dozens of the red varieties of S. flava 
05. I"ve always loved the contrast between the reds and yellows of Sarracenia flava var rubricorpora 
06. The Sarracenia cultivar "Juthatip Soper" - one of Matt"s own hybrids. A S. x mitchelliana back cross showing influence of S. purpurea and S. leucophylla 
07. Pretty in pink, young plants of the Sarracenia cultivar "Bella", which is S. "Juthatip Soper" crossed with S. leucophylla 
08. Sarracenia "Bella" again 
09. The cultivar Sarracenia "Eva" 
10. Me, surrounded by Sarracenia and looking pleased .DT9sHzy0_Z19Ueo9.webp)
11. Couldn"t find a label on this one, but I loved it. I think it"s an S. x moorei cross (i.e. S. flava x S. leucophylla) 
12. Enormous ruffled lids! 
13. A Sarracenia x moorei cross 
14. S. x moorei again, with my hand for scale! 
15. Dozens of Sarracenia hybrids 
16. A form of Sarracenia flava var ornata with a heavily veined lid 
17. Sarracenia purpurea and its many hybrids 
18. Another Sarracenia x moorei cross 
19. Sarracenia flava var rubricorpra. I can"t get enough of the red forms of S. flava 
20. Another Sarracenia x moorei cross, this one with particularly lovely pale green pitchers and white lids from the S. leucophylla parent 
21. There was no label on this S. flava, but as you can see from my hand - it was huge 
22. A beautiful Sarracenia pitcher beginning to turn brown as Autumn gets closer 
23. Sarracenia seedlings and young plants 
24. The famous Sarracenia x moorei "Adrian Slack" - this wasn"t for sale, but I spotted it from a mile away! 
25. Sarracenia x moorei "Adrian Slack" again - difficult to capture its vibrant coloration 
26. My favourite form of Sarracenia flava var ornata - heavily veined coppery lids with a deep red throat and lip 
27. A lovely flamboyant lid on this S. x moorei cross 
28. Another Sarracenia flava var ornata 
29. A particularly stunning Sarracenia flava atropurpurea - huge flared lids! 
30. Dozens of forms and hybrids of S. purpurea and s. psittacina 
31. Moving on from Sarracenia to Dionaea and Drosera 
32. A tiny all-red form of Dionaea 
33. The "Royal Red" Venus Flytrap cultivar 
34. Some of the many Dionaea forms offered by Hampshire Carnivorous Plants 
35. A typical form of Dionaea 
36. Large, adult flytraps 
37. and lots of younger plants 
38. Drosera aliciae sundews 
39. Cephalotus follicularis, the West Australian pitcher plant 
40. Look at those teeth! 
41. Bushy fork-leaved sundews 
42. Next we headed towards the Nepenthes greenhouse. Before we got there, we found several Nepenthes growing in the main Sarracenia space. Here's my wife with Nepenthes 'Linda' 
43. Huge pitchers! 
44. Growing nearby was this particularly stunning Nepenthes maxima 
45. My hand for scale! 
46. N. boschiana x mira. I really liked the red to orange gradation of the peristome on this hybrid 
47. An unusually coloured form of Nepenthes sanguinea 
48. Nepenthes sanguinea again, trying out portrait mode on the iPhone 7 Plus 
49. Entering the main Nepenthes greenhouse, you can see that the tropical pitcher plants share this space with Mexican butterworts 
50. N. hurrelliana x veitchii, with a lovely striped peristome 
51. A young N. platychila x mira hybrid 
52. Young plants and seedlings grew in trays on capillary matting, while larger specimens sat in hanging baskets ![53. An Exotica Plants N. (ventricosa x sibuyanensis) x [ventricosa x (lowii x ventricosa)] with wide-mouthed red pitchers and striped peristomes](/_astro/53.%20An%20Exotica%20Plants%20N.%20(ventricosa%20x%20sibuyanensis)%20x%20_ventricosa%20x%20(lowii%20x%20ventricosa)_%20with%20wide-mouthed%20red%20pitchers%20and%20striped%20peristomes.CahQjX0b_ZQLWaS.webp)
53. An Exotica Plants N. (ventricosa x sibuyanensis) x [ventricosa x (lowii x ventricosa)] with wide-mouthed red pitchers and striped peristomes 
54. Couldn't find the label on this one - an N. veitchii hybrid perhaps 
55. An older pitcher from the plant in the previous photo 
56. A white pitchered form of Nepenthes ventricosa 
57. I suspect this is N. ventricosa x hamata 
58. Young N. spectabilis x N. ventricosa plants 
59. Dozens of young N. talangensis x N. robcantleyi plants 
60. A close up of an N. talangensis x N. robcantleyi pitcher 
61. A young N. burbridgae x N. campanulata pitcher 
62. An adult Nepenthes sanguinea, with beautiful deep purple pitchers. I really like this species 
63. N. 'Rebecca Soper', a cross between N. ventricosa and N. ramispina 
64. Nepenthes x mixta, the classic Victorian hybrid between N. northiana and N. maxima %20was%20in%20a%20hanging%20basket.%20Tubby%20red%20pitchers%20with%20bright%20yellow%20peristomes.Bx86jiBn_1tPXmn.webp)
65. The Nepenthes cultivar "Suki" (N. rafflesiana x sibuyanensis) was in a hanging basket. Tubby red pitchers with bright yellow peristomes If you’ve never attended one of Hampshire Carnivorous Plants’ open weekends, I’d strongly recommend doing so - it’s a great opportunity for people of all ages to see beautifully grown carnivorous plants, meet fellow growers, and to pick up a few plants in person.
You can check out the Hampshire Carnivorous Plants website and I’d recommend following Matt on Instagram.
Thanks for reading, and good growing!