The week leading up to Halloween seems like the perfect time to learn about carnivorous plants. Some varieties of these flesh-eating beauties are surprisingly easy to grow at home, and in cut flower arrangements they're as long-lasting as they are gorgeous.
In the Garden
There's something strange and otherworldly about carnivorous plants, with their delicate veiny forms and unexpected tendrils. They "feed" on insects by capturing them and absorbing their nutrients. I asked Jared Crawford, the resident carnivore expert at Flora Grubb Gardens, to share some of his wisdom:
Can you offer some tips for growing carnivorous plants at home?
Once you've brought your carnivores home, never use potting soil when re-potting them. Only use a 50/50 peat/sand mix or cactus mix. Soil that is high in nitrogen will kill the plants. If you are growing plants inside and they aren't catching any insects, you can "feed" them by spraying a diluted fertilizer on them once a month (during spring and summer). Feeding during the winter months isn't necessary for most carnivorous plants.
Which varieties are easiest to grow at home?
Sarracenias (sometimes called "pitcher plants"), Venus Flytraps, Pinguiculas, Utricularias and Droseras. Nepenthes can also be easy if given good light indoors and high humidity.
What are the light and water needs for these plants?
Most varieties of carnivorous plants want ample light (full to part sun) and lots of water. If you want to grow them indoors, try them in a sunny window or under grow lights.
When is the best time to plant?
Plant Sarracenias and Venus Flytraps in late winter or early spring. Plants such as Nepenthes, Pinguiculas and Utricularias can be planted (or re-potted) year round. It is normal for Sarracenias, Venus Flytraps, and some Droseras to go dormant in the winter.
In the Vase
Sarracenia in particular make amazing cut flowers. The pitchers last forever, and their striking red-veined forms add a beautiful sculptural element to any bouquet. They also send up a flower that is just stunning, a kind of ruffly mass in deep red or green (see the flower in the lower right of the photo below, just above the cluster of orchids).
Do be wary when you're buying carnivorous plants, especially pitcher plants, from florists. Ask where and how they were harvested; in the floral trade, illegal harvesting of wild, endangered sarracenia is common. But they are also often available from growers, so it's possible your florist has a sustainable source. And of course if they're coming from your own garden or pots, you're in the clear!
Cut sarracenia pitchers close to the base and keep them in a few inches of water. They also dry nicely once the rest of the bouquet is done.
A flesh-eating centerpiece, potted or in bouquet form, might be the perfect final touch for that Halloween party you're planning. Enjoy!
Images: Caitlin Atkinson / Flora Grubb Gardens; Susie Nadler
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While beautiful and endlessly interesting, many of these plants are endangered - particularly the venus flytrap. Do you realize that the only native place on earth where this plant grows is a 60 mile radius in North Carolina?
Not to mention that it's particularly slow growing and small - why list it in a post about cutting carnivorous plants for vases?
Merely being weary when purchasing these plants isn't enough. We wouldn't suggest someone making sure their new ivory chess collection came from a reputable source.
<3 @ bepsf
If you're in the bay area, you have until the 31st to check out the carnivorous plant wing at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate park. You can buy pitchers, flytraps and sun dews, plus get as much growing advice from an expert that you never realized you needed. Number one: distilled water. If your previous carnivores all died (like mine) this is probably why. My pitcher is doing great, my sundew looks a little green at the gills. Also, the expert said to use tubifix worms if there isn't any live food hovering about. I got the plants to catch the fruit flies, but with the recent cool temperatures, they're few and far between. Never thought I'd wish it to be otherwise.
@ProjectRowhouse, this is nothing like ivory which requires killing an endangered animal not bred in captivity for the purpose. It's a lot more like buying a rabbit coat after making sure the fur comes from animals raised for the purpose instead of killed in the wild. Or buying bison meat from a rancher. By the logic we use for those things, ivory would actually be fine if it was possible to farm elephants and so buying farmed pitcher plants and flytraps shouldn't be a problem either.
Personally, I think carniverous plants are creepy looking. I've always felt that they have a vaguely menacing sense to them so I don't keep them and doubt I'd use them in a bouquet. The bouquets in the photos are lovely, though.
Tiamet_the_Red supports consumption of endangered species. Okay.
Way to simplify, ProjectRowhouse.
A better analogy would be buying farmed salmon vs. wild salmon. One is a sustainable resource, and the other is not, especially as it's being fished at levels at which it can't replace itself. If you're careful to buy these carnivorous plant varieties that only come from sustainable resources (read: hothouses and breeders who don't go tramping out to harvest wild ones), then why not? It's responsible consumption. Obviously the third choice is to not buy the product at all, be it animal or carnivorous plant.
Also, cutting the flowers does NOT kill the plant, as most gardeners would be aware. As for the Venus flytrap -- while it is discussed in this post, CUTTING flowers is a separate section and does not mention the Venus flytrap.
My husband has loved these plants for years. My backyard us filled with them. Honstly never thought about cutting them and putting them in an arrangement. I dont know if he'd be too happy if I did that anyway...lol. We did however find some very realistic silk pitcher plants that I put in a vase. Everyone thinks they are real.
Is comparing something like salmon (world wide habitats, farmed species not endangered, farmed for mass consumption in order to FEED people) to a plant that lives in a 60 square mile radius of North Carolina appropriate?
All I'm trying to point out is the more people like us purchase these types of things, the more somebody out there wants to sell them. Regardless of our source, a demand inevitably trickles down to folks running out to gather up whatever the item may be to sell it at a road side stand. If this wasn't a problem, we wouldn't have conservationists going out to mark wild plants with invisible ink to identify poaching.
@ ProjectRowhouse:
Although VFTs are endangered, most (if not all) plants in the horticulture industry come from tissue culture or seed. So there is no additional stress being placed on natural populations.
Morticia Addams had a garden of carnivorous plants! It was featured in the episode "Morticia Joins the Ladies League", which I watched recently on Hulu.
I love Morticia Addams.
They look pretty, but how do they taste with a nice vinaigrette?