Carnivorous plants are not as hard to grow as you might imagine. There are several ways you can grow interesting displays of these consuming plants. If you want to grow Pitcher plants similar to those above read Easy Carnivorous Pitcher Plants.

Tips for Growing and Displaying

• The top Gardeners tip for these plants is to supply plenty of rainwater. Tap water contains too many chemicals.
• The cold greenhouse display below incorporates a stream supplied by a small garden pump and recycling filter.
• The water helps the insects, that the plant will consume, to breed.
• You can grow your plants in a half barrel, large terracotta pot or an old rubber trug.
• Buy hardy varieties from a specialist nursery. Badly treated plants seldom recover.
• Discourage flowering for a couple of season to build up the plants strength.

Varieties to Try

• Dionaea muscipula best known as the Venus Fly Trap always needs to be stood in a saucer of rainwater. Triggering the trap weakens the plant considerably, let nature take it’s course.
• Drosera capensis has narrow leaves covered in a sticky dewdrops which catch and digest white fly.
• Drosera whittakeri is a ‘Sundew’ from Australia that has underground tubers.
• The Mexican   Pinguicula gigantea   makes a great window sill plant.

Carnivorous Plant Genera and Species

Aldrovanda (1 species)
Brocchinia (2 species)
Byblis (7 species)
Catopsis (1 species)
Cephalotus (1 species)
Darlingtonia (1 species)
Dionaea (1 species)
Drosera (184 species)
Drosophyllum (1 species)
Genlisea (21 species)
Heliamphora (18 species)
Nepenthes (112 species)
Pinguicula (96 species)
Roridula (2 species)
Sarracenia (11 species)
Triphyophyllum (1 species)
Utricularia (225 species)

The Carniverous Plant Society and the International society equivalent offer a deal of expertise to help new growers and provided the table of genera above.