Adrian Slack

As I kid I tried growing venus fly-traps several times - never successfully, however. I imagined such an exotic-looking plant must surely come from the Congo or some other dark and dank jungle. It wasn't until I found this book at my local library - and convinced my dad to let me try just one more time - that I was able to successfully grow not just flytraps but any other CPs (carnivorous plants) I was lucky enough to find for sale.

To my knowledge, this was the first cultivation book show more written for CPs. True, most newcomers to the hobby will probably find Peter D'Amato's newer "The Savage Garden" more helpful, but this book is still an excellent reference. The book was written from the perspective of growing the plants in the UK but the advice was easy enough to understand and adapt to my local US conditions. It covered all the basics I was ignorant of and whet my appetite for many of the other varieties that are pictured so beautifully on it's pages. I would still love to find some of the author's Saracenia cultivars, such as 'Lochness' and 'Daniel Rudd.'

The only problem is actually finding a copy in decent condition for a reasonable price. My local library had a copy (which probably spent more time in my home than on the library shelves) but I eventually found my copy at a bookstore in Portland, OR. But if you can't find this one, it was actually reissued in 2006 and called "Insect Eaters." I have both and as near as I can tell the text and photos are the same, although most of the photos are smaller than in the original and a few drawings were omitted.

And by the way, I learned from this book that flytraps are NOT native to the Congo but rather the extremely exotic location of North Carolina. show less