Axolotls. These cool little guys are an amphibian that stays completely aquatic it's whole life. Instead of going through a complete metamorphis and emerging a salamander the axolotl stays in what would be the salamander's larval stage it's whole life. They come from lakes in Mexico City and due to human development devastating there natural habitats they may now be extinct in the wild. They are bred readily in captivity however.
Hedgehog!
A whip scorpion, not to be confused with a true scorpion. These have a whiplike nonvenomous tail and glands in their rear that can spray acetic and caprylic acid when startled.
An exceptionally beautiful specimen of a green tree python.
Darren Meyer of Driftwood Frogs.
Tommy, the Blue Frog Guy.
A male jackson chameleon. We've caught these guys back in Hawaii.
Panther chameleon. These reptiles can exhibit some of the most beautiful colors including bright reds and blues.
Jenelle and Kaya working hard at the hammer + vine booth.
Hymenopus coronatus, or orchid mantis. One of the most beautiful types of praying mantis in my opinion. These hang out on orchids in the rain forests of Southeast Asia, mimicking flowers while waiting for prey to approach.
Phelsuma klemmeri or neon day gecko.
Some nice terrariums from our friends at Roosevelt's Terrariums.
Skulls! Can you identify them all?
Our friends Jeff and Jacob of Sarracenia Northwest with some of the fine carnivorous plants they grow.
One snake!
Two snakes!
Whitesnake……er….um….
White snake!
Blue snake! (Yeah, there is some blue in that green tree python.)
We have some exciting changes planned for our brick and mortar for 2015 and we've already begun signing up for shows we will be vending at in the coming year including:
These are just a few of the shows we have confirmed of the many we are looking at and planning to attend. Please come by and say hi if you see us at any of these shows.
We'll be posting about the changes to our store, features on our artists, employees and our amphibian breeding projects as well as our travels and adventures in Oregon and abroad in the coming year. Please stay tuned and check back for updates to our website, store and blog in the coming year. In the meantime check out these fantastic blogs about our store from other people!
Squirrelly Minds //The PDX Files - Shops
Danger Garden // hammer + vine
Herpetobotanical // hammer + vine
Happy New Year! May it be healthful, prosperous and filled with joy for us all!
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To pick up where we left off, the birth of our daughter. We've contemplated posting the whole, detailed story but figured the blog of our plant store may not be the place. If anyone is genuinely interested e-mail us and we can send it to you.
Friday, November 29, 2013; Jenelle woke up at 5:15 somewhat sure her water had broke. We hung out at home for for a couple hours as there was no contractions and Jenelle was very comfortable. We checked in to Providence Portland Medical Center (where I work as well) at 8:01am. We talked to nurse about our Hypnobirthing plans based on the classes we took and we where happy to find out she was familiar and comfortable with it. At about 9am Jenelle's contractions (or "surges" as they are referred to in Hypnobirthing) became more intense and at 9:45 we went into the jacuzzi tub down the hall. At 10:41am we snuck Kaya out in the tub. I say "snuck" because Providence Portland Medical Center is one of the only Portland area hospitals that still doesn't allow water births. We caused quite the commotion among the nurses in the department but the birth was quick, smooth and easy. I couldn't be more proud of Jenelle. No epidural, not even so much as an IV and she was strong and focused the whole time.
Here we are almost a year later and we could not be happier. Kaya is such a happy, mellow inquisitive little squirt and although it sounds cliche, she is changing every day.
Kaya is not the only baby in our house right now. Many of the animals that we work with here at home have had a fruitful year as well.
I was surprised to look in on my gecko tank one morning to find this little guy. I had been keeping the pair for about 4 months prior and hadn't seen any eggs so when I saw him it made my day. It's a type of day gecko called Phelsuma nigristriata originally found on the Comoros islands near Madagascar.
Phyllocrania paradoxa, or ghost mantis. A mother above and a baby below. This was my first shot at working with these guys and I just had one of several egg cases hatch. While these tend to do better communally then other mantids I did loose two of the five I started with due to cannabilism during mating efforts.
This summer several of our poison dart frog pairs also reproduced. We currently have tadpoles and froglets from blue and black Dendrobates auratus and several morphs of Dendrobates tinctorius.
]]>Jenelle and I recently had the opportunity to visit Atlanta, Georgia for one of my best friends weddings. The wedding was a fantastic two day celebration at Indian Springs state park with the bride and grooms close family and friends. We had several cabins right on a lake and the weather was amazing. It was beautiful, peaceful and in the evenings it was a joyous celebration.
Since it was the furthest south and east I have been in the US I wanted to take a couple extra days to see Atlanta so we came in a day early and stayed a day late. The first night we stayed in downtown Atlanta at a nice hotel, had a light dinner at the hotel bar and went out to see what the nightlife was like. Per recommendation of the hotel staff we ended up going to a club called Lava which was connected to another club called Cosmo. It was actually two, 3 level houses converted into two clubs with multiple bars and dance areas. They had well staffed bars, multiple DJ's incase one was playing something particularly bad and a very nice outdoor patio area with 2 bars. Everyone we met was very nice, despite the enormous police presence in downtown Atlanta I caught no bad vibes anytime while in Georgia.
The next morning we woke and went to CB2 because Jenelle had seen it while we where out the night before. She had a blast. After that we still had a few hours to kill before picking up another friend at the airport and heading to the campground. We decided to check out Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I have been hearing about it since I started keeping dart frogs and I figured it was the perfect opportunity to check it out.
Lucky for us there was a touring exhibition taking place when we got there called Imaginary Worlds. It was the first time it came to America. It consisted of 19 huge sculptures all cover in live plants. Picture the nicest living walls you have ever scene in the shape of a giant cobra, or a unicorn, or a troll. It was spectacular.
Despite the amazing exhibition on display throughout the grounds my favorite part of the gardens was the conservatory. They had a modest display of frog tanks, well planted with healthy looking animals and as well as information on there larger frog projects that take place behind the scenes in the "Frog Pod." By far the most impressive thing to me was the amazing orchid and carnivorous plant specimens they kept. Too many spectacular orchids to mention of all sizes, shapes and scents and the most nepenthes specimens I have ever seen in one collection. They also had a little field covered in brocchinia (a carnivorous bromeliad) and tons of HUGE heliamphora (a primitive carnivorous pitcher plant from South America.) The conservatory had a beautiful layout divided into a lowlands section, a highland section which was kept cooler and another area that was dry and warm with some really nice dry loving specimens from Madagascar. It also had multiple side rooms not open to the public where they where cultivating more orchids and a ton of sarracenia.
On the last day of our trip, before our flight home, we decided to check out the Atlanta Aquarium. It is apparently the largest aquarium in the US and what sparked my interest in going was the ads and pamphlets all over town showing whale sharks. We were not disappointed. They had sections dedicated to native specimens, cold water animals, tropical animals, an aquatic show area, a theatre and a 'Body Worlds' type exhibit made up of entirely of real ocean dwelling or dependent animals that have been plasticized, everything from octopi to a penguin to a whale shark.
We even went to a dolphin show (like at Sea World not Tijuana) since it was included with the ticket. It was actually quite impressive but all I could think about was the documentary "The Cove" so I felt conflicted, angry and sad the whole show. I asked one of the people at an information booth if they sourced their dolphins from Japan and she told me that 11 of the 12 dolphins they had where captive bred at other aquariums and the one that wasn't had been rescued from nets and was unable to be returned to the wild. The most awe inspiring part of the aquarium where the specimens that are rarely kept in captivity. Beluga whales, whale sharks, tiny asian otters and multiple huge manta ray to name a few. If your ever in Atlanta it's well worth the thirty something dollar ticket.
It was a wonderful trip that warmed our hearts with old friends and love and further fueled our interest and curiosity for the unique plants and animal that share our world.
]]>Hi! Welcome to our blog.
We figured that it would be appropriate, for our first blog, to introduce ourselves and 'hammer + vine.' Future blogs will consist of shop news, projects, our travels and adventures with a focus on plants and animals and perhaps an occasional link to something we find super amazing and think you would too.
'hammer + vine' is a brick and mortar store, an online presence and a combination of the interests, appeals and passions of Jenelle and Devin. We started off selling air plants in little glass vessels that Devin blew in his garage at local farmer's markets and craft fairs. We eventually started doing larger markets where we met the catalyst and former partner of our current business. All it took to get the wheels turning was one former stranger walking into our pop-up booth at the Skidmore Saturday Market and asking "You guys want to open a store?" Little did we know at the time, we did.
Shortly thereafter (minus the hours of meetings, deliberation and days of building our furnishings and designing our space) we had one.
Almost one year later here we are, still growing, still dreaming, still struggling to describe what our shop is to inquiring minds. When people ask we usually respond with something like " We are part exotic plant nursery, part terrarium store and part boutique carrying all handmade, mostly local designers."
We carry a variety of plants that would be difficult to find at other nurseries. Things like carnivorous plants; both tropical and temperate, rare orchids and bromeliads, tons of cacti and other succulents and the largest variety of air plants in Portland. If we don't have it and it's legal and in cultivation we can probably get it. We also have all the supplies necessary to build a terrarium as well as local made, hand blown glass vessels. We'd love to walk you through the terrarium building process or make it for you while you watch. We even breed and raise our own dart frogs you could put in a vivarium we help you build!
The other part of our brick and mortar store focuses on showcasing the wares of other local artists, designers and makers. We seek out and select every artists that we choose to showcase based on our own interests and tastes. You will find everything from furniture and home decor to natural deodorant and jewelry all lovingly made by real people. Our selection is constantly growing and rotating and most important, we do or would proudly own everything we carry.
"Who the heck would open a retail store based on a strangers business proposal?" You may be asking yourself…
Jenelle is a graphic designer who moved to Portland from Minnesota in 2004. She discovered air plants, or tillandsia, shortly after moving into her own apartment and wanting to breathe life into her new home. Air plants, she found, where easy to keep in small places, cat safe, neglect tolerant and quite unusual looking. Right up her alley. She's always had an eye for modern design and after showing Devin pictures of cheap imported glass containers with air plants in a modern design magazine and Devin thinking he could make a higher quality, more unique product the flame was ignited, quite literally.
Devin moved to Portland from Hawaii the same year Jenelle moved to Portland. He brought with him a joy for creating functional glass art on a torch and a love for building and maintaining living vivariums. As a small child he would build terrariums and paludariums to keep creatures found and bought such as monarch caterpillars and butterflies, salamanders, anole lizards, tree frogs and other small animals and insects. He currently keeps over a dozen different types of poison dart frogs. Through this he has developed an interest for acquiring and propagating rare and unusual plants, especially those that do well in a terrarium environment. After meeting Jenelle and enjoying making her unique glass vessels to keep her plants they began doing the local farmers market.
Today, Jenelle and Devin live together with a long hair mini dachshund named Obie, three cats, an asian mountain tortoise, 3 axolotls, a Guyana boa, a bunch of Hawaiian shrimp and about 60 poison dart frogs in their home in Portland. They expect their first human child in December.
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