Carnivorous Plants

I used to have a carnivorous plant collection. When I’d tell people about it, they’d sometimes respond, “Oh, I used to live upstairs from a guy who had one of those. He was creepy.”  Growing these plants seemed to conjure up images of lonely, old hermits, locked up in apartments lit by the glow of terrariums, feeding drops of blood from their fingers into the mouths of these wild, hungry, plantanimals. Let me tell you: collecting these suckers was completely fun. Because secretly, sometimes houseplants can be sort of boring. Of course there is lots we can appreciate about our slow-moving, low-maintenance friends, but carnivorous plants bring the action. Killing spiders inside your house suddenly has purpose! For me, taking care of these plants was one step up from a Ficus, and a few steps down from getting a dog—something I wanted but wasn’t ready to take on at the time. And they really weren’t that hard to grow. I didn’t even need a terrarium!

I got started by joining the Carnivorous Plant of the Month Club. Each month, a new plant or two would arrive, along with the appropriate soil and instructions on how to grow it. For those of us lucky enough to live in the Bay Area, California Carnivores is just a short drive away and home to the largest collection of carnivorous plants in the US. I used their great book, The Savage Garden, written by the owner of California Carniovores, Peter D’Amato, as a guide.

My love affair with these plants did eventually come to an end, though. After taking care of my collection for roughly a year, I decided I was ready for a pet that had legs. I went to the SPCA, adopted the dog of my dreams, and she ate my entire collection the third day I had her. Here are some photos of my old friends, before they got chomped.

I started with the standard flytrap.

Then moved on to sundews...

octopus plants...

and pitchers.

Aren't they amazing?