2023 Show & Sale
Thank you!
Another Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society Annual Show and Sale has concluded and we can firmly say that it was our best one ever!
This was the biggest BACPS event of all time with over 900 guests, 50 volunteers, and 30 vendors. We also had the largest number of show entries of all time! With nearly 100 show plants, the showroom was packed full of award winning carnivores, from delicate Drosera, hefty Heliamphora, towering Sarracenia, to fantastic Nepenthes, with everything else in between.
A special thank you to our 2023 show judges Barry Rice, Shawn Shumaker, and Drew Martinez for making some difficult choices!
Thank you to our board members who worked tirelessly for months in preparation for this event. Countless hours were spent inviting vendors, mapping out the venue, advertising, and, in general, putting together this massive plant day! In addition, none of this would have been possible without the help of our dedicated volunteers. Arriving hours early, volunteers helped set up vendor tables, checked in our show participants, ran the Plant Hotel, did guest sign ins, just to name a few tasks. Seriously, thank you all so much.
Special thank you to Sarah Bowser from The Overlooked Opossum for hand drawing this year’s flier. Her beautiful artwork also adorned the highly coveted Show and Sale shirt! You can also find Sarah on Instagram at @sarahlynnbowser.
And of course, thank you so much to James Fong Sr., the original James, for being our liaison with St. Joseph Notre Dame High School. His enthusiasm and willingness to provide whatever was needed for this event to run smoothly was unbelievable. Thank you to St. Joseph’s for having their courtyard filled with plants and their fans!
2023 Show & Sale Gallery
Join the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society for a day of wicked cool plants! The event is FREE and open to the public and anyone can participate in all of the activities, including bringing display plants to be judged at the show and being a vendor.
This year’s show and sale will feature some of the best, biggest, and most talented carnivorous plant nurseries and hobbyist growers on the planet, bringing their plants for display and for sale at great prices! Follow us on Instagram and join our Facebook group for vendor sneak peeks!
Bring your beautiful plants for the show, and win great prizes! We encourage everyone to bring as many display specimens as possible to show. Prizes include highly coveted ribbons and gift cards from some of your favorite vendors!
Parents! This free event is great for families and kids of all ages! See some of the most beautiful and bizarre plants from around the world, grown perfectly and all in one place! This unique collection of hungry plants fascinates and engages our young ones; their imaginations go into overdrive and many wish to learn more about their world! We have many kids attending our meetings so feel free to bring them to those too.
Check out below for more info!
Vendor Lineup
✨ BACPS Bucks Vendor
Alex Arista ✨
Bryce’s Bog and Garden ✨
California Carnivores ✨
Carnivero
Carnivorous Carnivores ✨
Crystal Lee
Don Elkins / Mesa Exotics
DPs CPs ✨
Exotic & Ferocious Foliage
Henry Moore
Hungry Plants
Jason Feinberg ✨
Jeff Greene’s Carnivorous Plants
Kat’s Ping Party ✨
Las Selvas
Magpie and Thorn
My Pingtopia
Phil Faulisi
Predatory Plants ✨
Rainbow Carnivorous Plants ✨
Savage Gardeners ✨
Stephen Davis ✨
Steve Sykes
Terry and Margaret Boomer
The Sun Dewd ✨
Tom Kahl
Turlock Carnivores
Yuyi Grows ✨
Alameda County Mosquito Abatement
What’s New in 2023
- This year BACPS will have t-shirts and stickers for sale!
- New perks for members!
- Increased show prizes!
- More perks for volunteers!
- 1 more hour of shopping!
- Updated raffle rules!
Member Benefits at the Show & Sale
- Receive 5 free raffle tickets
- Receive a discount on shirt sales
- Receive a free sticker
Show/Display Plant Entries: 9am – 10:30am
Judging of Show Plants: 10:30am – 11:45am
Show Winners Pick up Prizes: 12pm
Display Plant / Showroom Open Hours: 12pm – 4pm
Carnivorous Plant Sale: 12pm – 5pm
Announcements: 1pm
Auction: 1:30pm
Raffle Times: The first 15 minutes at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm
Pick up your Show Plants: 4:15pm – 5pm
Setup Rules
No shopping or browsing before 12pm. This pertains to vendors, volunteers, and the general public. This also includes putting plants aside to pay for later. Volunteering is NOT a way to get early access to sale plants.
Please give all of our vendors space to set up. If you are found to be shopping, you may be asked to leave the event until the show starts.
Volunteers Needed
Volunteers get to be in the center of the action! We depend on the volunteers to make our biggest display to the public of our society a success!
New perks! To say thank you, you will get one free raffle ticket for every hour you volunteer, free drinks, and an exclusive 2023 Show & Sale t-shirt!
Volunteers MUST sign up in advance to receive their requested shirt size by May 15, 2023. Volunteers who sign up after May 15 will still receive a shirt but can’t be guaranteed their requested size.
If you’d like help signing up, please email contact@bacps.org. We will not accept any volunteer sign ups the day of the show
VOLUNTEER SIGN UP
Raffle
Raffle tickets will be available to purchase for $1/ticket or $5/ 6 tickets from the Membership Table. Raffle winners will be drawn for 15 minutes at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm.
Please note: In an effort to diversify winners, each person can only win two raffle prizes per drawing. If your ticket is drawn a third time during a raffle calling, it will go back into the pool of tickets.
All proceeds from the raffle will go towards conservation and education efforts by BACPS. Some raffle plants may be set aside for the Show & Sale Auction and to donate to educational talks and classrooms throughout the Bay Area.
Auction
Have a high value plant you would like to try at auction? Register your plant at the Raffle table before 1pm. 20% (or more if you choose) of the proceeds will go to BACPS. The auction will begin at 1:30pm.
Vendor Information
Vendor registration and setup: 9am – 10:45am
Anyone wishing to sell plants is required to register in advance by emailing vp@bacps.org by May 6, 2023.
Vendors will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please include the number of 8ft. tables desired, if your plants require shade/covering (not guaranteed but we will do our best), and indicate whether you are a Pro, Hobby Vendor, or BACPS Member Hobby Vendor.
Payment for tables is due by May 15th, 2023. Payment can be made via check, PayPal, or Venmo. Payment instructions will be sent when reservation is confirmed.
Sale tables can be shared but sharing tables must be arranged between vendors. We will have a post on our Facebook group to help smaller vendors connect with each other in the next week.
Club Sales Table
Only have a few plants to sell and don’t want to commit to purchasing a table?
BACPS offers a club sales table for hobbyists. Plants are to be priced by the owner with price tags that also clearly identify the owner’s full name. The club will keep 20% of the sales.
Show Entry / Display Plants Information
Bring your beautiful plants for the show, and win great prizes! We encourage everyone to bring as many display specimens as possible to show. Prizes include highly coveted ribbons and increased gift certificates!
✨ BACPS Bucks ✨
This year winners will receive BACPS Bucks – a gift certificate to be used at any of the participating vendors on the day of the show & sale!
✨ Thank you to our 2023 BACPS Bucks vendors! ✨
Alex Arista
Bryce’s Bog and Garden
California Carnivores
Carnivorous Carnivores
DPs CPs
Jason Feinberg
Kat’s Ping Party
Predatory Plants
Rainbow Carnivorous Plants
Savage Gardeners
Stephen Davis
The Sun Dewd
Yuyi Grows
Schedule:
Show/Display Plant Entries and registration on LAFAYETTE St:
9am – 10:30am
Judging of Show Plants: 10:30am – 11:45am
Winners Pick up Prizes from Show Room: 12pm
Show Plants Viewing / Showroom: 12pm – 4pm
Pick up your Show Plants & Show Prizes: 4:15pm – 5pm
How to Enter:
Entries must have been grown by the individual for more than 6 months. Plants that were purchased within 6 months of the show will be disqualified. All registrants must fill out a plant registration form at the table outside the display room. If you want to save time, entry forms are available below to print and fill out before you arrive.
Once plants have been registered, volunteers will be available in the display room to help with the placement of the plants and direct exhibitors to where their entries should be placed.
There will be separate tables for entries by professional growers and hobbyists. Bring in your best!!!!
Winner’s Gift Certificate Amounts:
Best in Show
1st: $200
2nd: $150
3rd: $100
Individual Display Categories:
1st: $75
2nd: $50
3rd: $25
Who can Enter:
HOBBY VENDORS: Can enter general contest
PROFESSIONALS: Professional vendors may only enter into the “Professional Grower” category. These will only be judged for first place so bring your best!
ROOKIES: If you are a new CP enthusiast and this is your first show, you are eligible for a Rookie Award. Rookies must have been in the carnivorous plant hobby for two years or less. This means the grower started growing carnivorous plants between 2020 and now. On the third line of your entry form, print “Rookie.” In addition to being eligible for the Rookie Award your entry will be eligible for all other awards and will be judged with the other entries.
The Display Entry Categories:
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Venus Flytrap: Dionaea
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Sundew: Byblis, Drosera, Drosophyllum, Roridula
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Butterwort: Pinguicula
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American Pitcher: Sarracenia
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Asian Pitcher: Nepenthes
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Other Pitcher: Brocchinia, Cephalotus, Darlingtonia, Heliamphora
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Aquatic: Aldrovanda, Genlisea, Utricularia
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Arrangement: Dish garden, Terrarium, Bog Garden
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Art Work: Sculptures, Photography, Arrangements, Paintings, etc.
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Rookie award: Any category (except Art Work) – see “ROOKIES” above
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Best in Show
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Professionally Grown
Judging Criteria
The following criteria, as applicable, will be applied to plants entered in BACPS judged competitions:
Horticultural excellence will be the primary factor in making awards. Entries that are comparably well-grown will be differentiated by quality of presentation.
Difficulty of cultivation will be considered in evaluating horticultural excellence. Rarity by itself is not a consideration.
- Horticultural Excellence (70 points)
- Vigor: maturity, size, form, color
- Health: no diseases or pests; no blemishes from disease, pests, sunburn, etc.
- Attention to details: balance and symmetry, training, spacing, condition of companion plants
- Presentation (30 points)
- Overall appearance: aesthetically appealing, eye catching
- Grooming: dead leaves & flowers trimmed, weeds removed, pot clean
- Attention to details: container complementary to plant, unobtrusively staked, top dressed if needed
Please note: Individuals who are not displaying plants will not be allowed to enter the display area until judging is completed. Registrants who are displaying plants are to set up their displays and then immediately leave the display area to avoid unnecessary congestion and disturbance to other participants.
Venue and COVID Information
Remember, the last 3 years have been tough for a lot of people, please be patient and kind to your fellow carnivorous plant enthusiasts.
Safety Requirements for COVID:
Always follow the guidelines for Alameda County. We recommend masks for anyone immunocompromised or if you just want to be careful. People do come in close contact. Most of the event is outdoors.
Parking:
Parking is free. There is an area for parking on the grounds with entry on Chestnut Street. The EXIT is on Lafayette St. There is also plenty of street parking. Be respectful of the neighborhood and residents. Do not block driveways etc.
Entrance to the event: The gate to enter the grounds is on Chestnut.
If you park on the school grounds, exit the parking area through the gate to Chestnut and walk along the sidewalk to the gate marked for people on the map below to enter the grounds. If there is a line, please keep proper distancing.
