I have always been fascinated by and interested in carnivorous plants, and was wondering about getting one to actually "work" for me, maybe keeping down the fungus gnat population from my other plants, esp a bunch of mini african violets and some hoya cuttings I have growing under lights.
It would have to be a smaller plant, no room for anything really big,...my one concern is that I will love it so much that I will want more of them, and we all know where that leads! I occasionally see Venus Fly Traps at places like Home Depot, but by the time I see them, they have been in the store a while and don't look so great. I wouldn't be against ordering a plant from somewhere recommended by you all, or starting one from cuttings, if that can be done.
Thanks for any help or advice..
Looking for advice on getting a carnivorous plant
What type of Carnivorous Plant would work for you, depends on whether you want to grow them inside or out. Venus Flytraps do not grow well in the house, and when they are sold in the domes of death at Lowes, Wal-mart, you are starting with a severely stressed plant. I usually buy them right before death at 50% off and nurse them back to health. But if you are new to CPs, I wouldn't try that.
If you have a problem with fungus gnats, you can try mosquito dunks. I have that problem too with all my plants in trays of water. I put the mosquito dunks in pebble formula on the surace of the soil and some in the trays. Solved my mosquito problems, and also took care of the fungus gnats. I also found out my Mexican Butterworts, love fungus gnats and eat them on a regular basis. The butterworts are the only carnivorous plants I have inside -- on a sunny windowsill under grow lights. I would start with Pinguicula moctezumae. Mine bloom almost non stop.
http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26_20&products_id=171&zenid=32354111768e6cceada7c66c76a2ea9d
My P. agnata always has fungus gnats stuck to it. It never blooms, but it is a pretty plant too and inexpensive.
http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=26_20&zenid=32354111768e6cceada7c66c76a2ea9d
If you are planning to grow the plants inside try butterworts (Pinguicula) and tropical sundews (Drosera). Venus Flytraps and Sarracenia (pitcher plants) only thrive outside.
I highly recommend cobraplants.com (Sarracenia Northwest) for a carnivorous plant vendor -- I get most of my plants there. But I am biased towards them. They also have care sheets to help you choose which plants to grow and how.
http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=7&chapter=1&zenid=32354111768e6cceada7c66c76a2ea9d
If you want to grow plants outside, there are carnivorus plants native to New Jersey. :) VFT will not work in your house. That is a death sentence for them and they don't like gnats.
Oh, I have tried the mosquito dunks. The gnats aren't all that bad, I just thought they'd be a valid excuse for trying a carnivorous plant, because I would really like one, and when you have well over 100 plants, sometimes it is hard to justify getting more.
Can only grow outdoors here from April to October (northeast)
I think I have seen the carnivorous plants that you say are native to my area, they look like the pitcher plant, right? I believe they grow in the Pine Barrens.
I will look up and reasearch the butterworts and agnata. Maybe one of them will work for me. Thanks so much for the advice and the links. I always feel bad for those poor venus fly traps in the stores, in fact, just remembered they had a bunch dying on the discount shelf in the pet section of Walmart last year. I debated for a while about trying to save one, but I guess I would have wound up losing it anyway if they don't do well inside.
I would suggest any of the Mexican Pinguiculas (butterworts) from Cascade Carnivores. http://www.cascadecarnivores.com/index.php?cPath=25&osCsid=cc4a6d6875788edff995d0df41604cd2 I have ordered from them at least once, seems like twice... Anyway, I was beyond thrilled with the plants I got!
I grew mine on the light stands among my Streps, Sinns, AVs, and Hoyas. They were forever covered with little gnats. They'd do very well where you're planning to grow them. If you get any Pings, dmail me and I'll find the instructions that were sent to me on how to grow them. Super easy and worked like a charm!
I lost all my Pings last winter when my husband was hurt and I just stopped taking care of all my plants to take care of him. Might have to get a few more soon... LOL They're such charming little plants!
JMP, I know that you mena. I have over 130 carnivorous plants, and always looking for more. I teach classes on carnivorous plant care at a local libary and use that as my excuse for why I must have more plants. :) Even if you live up north, you grow temperate carnivorous plants like Venus Flytraps and Sarracenia outside. You just need to mulch them when there are freezing winds. You can put them in an unheated garage to overwinter. And there are Sarracenia purpurea that are from Newfoundland and Michegan. There are also Sundews and butterworts that live in Canada, Alaska, the UK and Siberia. :) I have a hard time keeping my Sarracenia and VFT healthy, because the short freezes we have here aren't enough to give the plants the proper dormancy they need.
The Pine Barrens are famous for their Drosera filiformis (Thread leaf sundew). You can certainly grow those, but you would need to grow them outside.
Raingazer, I hope that your husband is feeling better. I lost plants last year when I was ill, and I wasn't allowed to sweat. :) Pretty hard to go out in Florida from May to October and not sweat. Even though my plants sit in trays of 2" water, the water would evaporate in two or three days. I agree, butterworts are charming. :)
Sarracenia Northwest grows all their VFT and Sarracenia outside year round even in snow and ice. If you go to the care sheets links, you can see the pictures of the VFT and Sarracenia under snow and with the water in the trays frozen. If you want to grow plants outside, make sure you use a vendor that grows the plants outside.
Well hello Raingazer....since you are growing yours exactly where and in pretty much the same conditions I want to grow mine, and they ARE eating your fungus gnats, I feel more confident that it can be done.
Interesting that carnivorous plants grow in so many different environments....I had no idea that VFT could be overwintered outdoors. Didn't realize they were that tough. I appreciate all the information on the different plants in different areas, I will love looking them up and reading more...my gosh, though, I don't want to get too interested in them yet, because I have very little room and even less willpower!!! But starting off with one shouldn't hurt...(ha ha, famous last words...)
This message was edited Aug 19, 2009 8:13 PM
I started with one Nepenthes from a flea market four years ago, and it grew into a complete obsession. :) 132 plants later, my collection is still growing. The VFT are from NC and SC in region 8, I think, but they do pretty well outside as long as they are protected from freezing winds -- it dehydrates them. There's a member of this forum in the UK who grows S. flava outside in the UK year round.
I have never been able to grow plants. The CPs are my first successful plants. They are very tough. VFT that weren't grown in greenhouses are very strong and tough. If I don't know where a VFT came from or if I buy it in a dome of death, I protect it on a screened porch the first winter. Then after they sit out in all weather.
Butterworts grown however you grow the violets should be pretty happy.
Dome of Death? I take it that the domes you see on most VFT are not a good thing? They are all also practically floating in a water reservoir too when you buy them.
The domes are terrible for the Venus Flytraps. 1) It gives people the idea that VFT are indoor, pampered, greenhouse kind of plants. 2.) The domes increase the humidity promoting fungus. A Venus Flytrap kept in a Dome of Death will suualyl die in 2 months. Most people think the VFT is hard to grow, and it isn't true. The grower is set up for failure by bad growing conditions before we receive the plant.
Water up to about 1/2-1" in the dome is okay. I keep mine in a tray with two inches of water. However, if the plants are in the store long enough, the lack of light, the lack of water (causing the plant to dry out), or employees watering them with tap water is a death sentence.
If you buy one in a dome (I do it all the time), remove the dome slowly over a few days, propping it up higher and higher, giving the plant a chance to adjust to the different humidity levels. Since my humidity levels in Florida are so high, I don't always bother.
Then I put the plant in a tray of rain water and stick it on my screened porch and move it over a period of one or two weeks into full sun.
If it starts out in a dome of death, I know the people selling it don't know how to care for them, and so I keep it in a protected place during the with like the garage or on the screened porch. The next year the plant is completely hardened off and kept outside in freezes and blistering temps year round.
In the spring I repot in 1/2 peat and 1/2 perlite. If I get it in a dome of death, I repot immediately, because they are usually potted in long fiber sphagnum moss, which makes a good top dressing, but holds too much water for a growing medium.
Wow, how interesting. To think I always thought the dome was necessary. I guess most growers and retailers only care till they get the money, to heck with survival or longevity. They expect ppl to take them home and kill them, then come back to buy more. Just another symptom of our wasteful society.
Thanks so much for the info. I may be able to grow a VFT. I have two atriums that have no heat and no AC, just cool enough in the winter but not below freezing. And very high humidity in the summer. I'd love to have one, there is just something so cute about them.
If you want to get a VFT, either buy it in spring, or buy it from cobraplants.com because I know they grow their plants outside, without a dome, so it won't go into shock for you. I would buy three or four and put them in an 8" pot. They do better that way for me. You can wait until just after Halloween and buy them from Wal-mart in pitiful shape and get them half price. :) Just be prepared to pamper them through their first winter.
I believe exactly what you are saying. That being wasteful is good for the profits. I also know some is plain ignorance on the part of the grower with no ulterior motives.
There are other excellent vendors. Just ask how they grows their VFT before you buy.
If you buy from cobraplants.com, you will receive the plant, with a cup taped to the top of the pot to protect the plant during shipping. Take it off, and everything will be fine.
I have clamshell VFT and they are super cute. And I grow them from seed, and after a year, the plant is just over 1/2" in diameter. :)
That must be when I saw them at Walmart last year, right after halloween. What a sad little sight they were, all shoved at the back of a shelf in the dark. I just couldn't find one that was even half way healthy enough to take a chance on, even though they were so cheap. It really is sad, most of them probably were thrown away. A few weeks ago I saw workers at Home Depot loading up shopping carts full of orchids that were done blooming. I asked what they were doing with them, they were all going to the dumpster...I said, heck, I'll take a few, but then they said well, if you want one, they are $15, which was 40% off or something. They were perfectly healthy plants, why not donate them to a senior center or school or something? Just seems so horrible to throw they away, no matter how much money they make or don't make off of them.
Oh well....
Thanks so much for all your information. I don't have any experience with carnivorous plants, but I think I could handle them, start out slow and see how it goes. I appreciate your taking the time to tell me about the care they need!
jen
If you can find some VFT with green on them, offer to buy them for 25%. Managers are usually happy to negotiate, especially if it is just to get rid of you. :) 25% is better than $0 in the garbage.
Next time you see rough plants, ask to speak to a manager. You can usually talk them down on a price. The worker bees aren't allowed to make that decision. I have gotten Nepenthes for $5, orchids for $3, VFT for $2, . . . it works pretty well. I have a 80-90% success rate. And some I have lost due to my problem, not the plants'. :)
This year they had orchids in the plant cooler for Mother's day which really did a number on them. After MD, they were ebing sold for $3.
I want CPs to have a chance. The more people I can convert to their beauty, the less that go to the great compost heap in the sky. I love them. :)
Here are a few I bought this spring.
These are some I bought last year, and transplanted last year. Then they went through the freezes of winter.
And a big one from the summer. This is a beautiful plant. I can't take any credit. I've only had it since July.
WOW - I have never seen these looking so healthy, but that is because I have only seen them at the stores in the domed containers, and usually they have been there a while and are not looking their best. The big one with the red is gorgeous!! See, this could be a problem...I can see myself getting one, and then looking at others, investigating other varieties, and next thing you know I will have three....and on it goes...
Now are all of these outside? I suppose in Florida they do well year roung, no big frost worries in Tampa. Up here, it gets cold, but I have noticed in the past 10 yrs or so that our winters are getting more mild. I mentioned about that I hae a no heat, no ac atrium, it has skylights and stays above freezing in the winter - I am wondering if they will do well in a room like that.
Also, you mentioned growing some from seed - did you buy the seed? and where did you buy it? can the VFT be grown from cuttings or sections or do they usually sell actual plants?
In the spring the VFT are usually looking a bit ratty from their dormancy, but they come back gorgeous. My biggest problem is that it doesn't get cold enough here, so my plants go in and out of dormancy. They would do better with colder weather and stay dormant. We get down in the 20's and teens, but only for a few days, and it can be below freezing one night and 75 two day later. That's a major problem for the plants.
You can make cuttings of VFT, but I have never been successful. You peel leaves off the rhisome. I buy my seeds from the International Carnivorous Plant Society for $2 per package. But you have to be a member.
http://www.carnivorousplants.org/
It takes about five years or the plants to get to their size at the store.
Your plants would do best outside, and when things are really bad in the atrium. It isn't good to let them come out of dormancy. It is best to keep them below 40. But no freezing winds which dehydrates the plants. You can also put them in an unheated garage. They would need to be mulched where you live.
Here's some pictures from Sarracenia Northwest in Oregon. They have milder winters than you do, but I want you to see that snow and ice do not hurt these plants. This is from their caresheets:
http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=8&zenid=6e45163cd005b54e6fb93572e7507361
This is the same Plant. Winter and summer.
Ice in winter
Same plant the following summer.
Everything I know comes from Sarracenia Northwest (Jacob) and California Carnivores (Peter).
Trust me once you successfully grow one of these plants, you will devlop an obsession. :)
hmmm...well, we do get freezing temps, but I have alot of places I could mulch them to protect them from the wind. I didn't realize they could be kept in a pot...can I do that here or is it just because of the milder Oregon winters?
I just read the one link you provided, I think I have the right conditions for trying the VFT. I have a very sunny patio, it gets VERY humid here, and I have a shed I can shelter the plant in if it gets too cold...
This message was edited Aug 22, 2009 9:34 AM
Tommy would know much better how the plants would do in the cold North East. I just don't know. But I think your plan of a shed in winter would work well with some straw mulch through the winter. I would do a large pot with 3 or 4 plants (the plants provide protection for each other). I would put them in a pot in a tray of 1/2 inch of water during the winter. In the summer full sun, pot goes in a tray with 2" of water. Just remember, rain water or distilled, no tap, no spring, no well. :) And you should be all set. And I would start in the spring, or if you want to try to save some of the Walmart specials, protect them the first winter, because they will be extremely stressed.
I may try the Walmart specials, esp if I know I can get them fresh right around halloween. Couldn't hurt. Since we have well water that is treated with softeners, I use spring water for all my watering of tropicals.
Spring water won't work unfortunately -- too many nutrients/minerals. It needs to be distilled water -- but you can pick that up right next to the spring. :) Make sure there's no salt added (sometimes it is added to improve taste). Please post pictures of your VFT in the spring. :) If you would like, the next time I get some seeds, I could send them your way. :)
Oh, yeah, they have distilled water at my grocery store too. I willd definitely post pictures! Will probably be asking questions anyway.
And sure, if you get any extra seed, I would be happy to buy some from you - I usually have alot of luck with seed, in fact, most of what i have started as seeds or cuttings.
You have really been great with all this info. Is this not a very active forum? I would think that alot of ppl would be into carnivorous plants.
I think that the forum suffers from misconceptions about carnivorous plants. People think they are hard to care for and that it is limited to one or two species. There are over 650 species, and some have flowers to rival orchids.
Almost everyone has brought home a VFT, put it on the TV, killed it, and thought they were hard to grow. Like any other plants, follow the rules it needs for care, and you have a happy plant. And I can't grow anything. But I have good luck with CPs. And there are so many misconceptions to battle. The biggest is that the CPs are exotic and must come from hot swealtering dark jungles. There are a few like that, but the vast majority like sun and many are temperate.
I would send the seeds to you for free, of course. :) With instructions. Most need to be very warm to germinate, so you would need to grow them in late spring or summer or under warm grow lights.
For most of the seeds all you would need is pots, distilled water, peat and perlite (or sand) with no fertilizers. For your location you may need large ziplocks to increase humidity and heat. I also have Neem oil on hand to handle pests and fungus.
What is growing in the VFT pot? The one with the large red traps?
Cheryl
I have neem oil, and I grow most seeds inside clear salad bar or disposable cake pans with lids. They'd probably work. My local garden center sells peat, usually I have it for my african violets, and of course I always have perlite. What do you use for pots, clay or ceramic? Does it matter?
I have a book somewhere by a local photographer, it is of the flowers and fauna of the Pine Barrens, and there are some great pictures of our local carnivorous plant - sundew I think you said? I had no idea that VFT were native to North Carolina. Never would have guessed.
Do you belong to any other CP websites with forums?
Cheryl, I have no idea what is in the pot. It shows up in other pots too. There's a few small Drosera burmanni (sundew) in with the spikey green stuff. The D. burmanni is a volunteer and grows in almost all my pots.
Jen, I don't belong to any other CP forums. I am a member of the ICPS, but they are very academic and technical. Although, the people are very nice, the information is way over my head. I do bug Jacob (Sarracenia Northwest) on a regular basis, and I am editing his ebook (which is why I reference him so much). He and his business partner Jeff Dallas also answer question on allexperts and that is a good place for me to get more info.
Here's info on Jacob and Jeff and pictures of their nursery. Makes me envious. :)
http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=2&zenid=33be09be5bbdab82506edc85ce1e6239
A link to All experts with Jacob and Jeff answering CP questions.
http://allexperts.com/ep/711-65271/Carnivorous-Plants/Sarracenia-Northwest.htm
Have you seen the videos on their website? They are great.
Both of the growing containers you mentioned are great. ICPS has great seed germination instructions, and Jacob has them on the care sheet portion of his website. For the adult plants, use plastic or ceramic, because the clay tends to dry out too quickly. The water evaporates from the pot. Violet pots are great for growing many CPs.
I love sundews. They are my very favorite. I would love to see them in the wild. The only CP I have seen in the wild is a Utricularia subulata (Bladderwort). I was ecstactic, and wouldn't have noticed it if someone didn't point it out to me. Florida has the biggest number of CP species in the US, but there are almost no species south of Tampa. You would think they would be growing in the Everglades or somewhere exotic.
People are always shocked to find out the VFT come from NC and SC. When I teach classes, I start with that for my first question. :) If anyone knows the answer, it is usually an 8 year old boy. :)
I looked up the sundews in my Bob Birdsall book, "Seasons of the Pines" There is a pic of a 'spatulate-leaved sundew'(orange colored flat disc shapes with finger like projections that have little balls on the tips) and a 'thread leaved sundew'(lavender/pink flower)
Then there is a pic of a 'Pitcher-plant' growing out of spagnum moss - it looks like a carnivorous plant to me.
Here are the sundews, spatulate on the left, thread leaved bottom right
and this is the Pitcher-plant
I can't tell you the exact species, by looking at the "spatulate-leaved" sundew, but often a general name for the type is rosetted sundew. It looks like a Drosera capillaris (pink sundew in Florida).
The thread one is definitely a Drosera filifomis. New Jersey species. Some are native to the south East and one is Native to NJ. :)
And the Picther plant is definitely carnivorous just like you think. It is a Sarracenia, and I imagine it is purpurea. That one has several varieties native from Florida to New Foundland and out to Michegan. S. purpurea is my very favorite.
Isn't it amazing the range these plants have?
yes, the range is amazing. I have not been hiking in the pine barrens for several years, and this time of year is out of the question (the heat, the ticks, the mosquitos...) but maybe in the fall I will see if I can find out where some of these plants can be found and go on a hike to look for them, take some pictures myself. Of course, in the past several years black bears and coyotes have been re-introduced into the pines, and are doing really well...coyotes won't bother you but the bears make me a little nervous. Probably in the fall is a safer time, no cubs. It would be a fun hike, I think...the area is really beautiful, so quiet and peaceful, so much wildlife.
Animals never make me as nervous as finding a potentially unfriendly human. I would do a little research on how to scare black bears away in case you are lucky enough to encounter one. Although reports of black bears attacking hikers rarely hit the news, black bears have a very good reputation for not being very aggressive. I wouldn't let that hold you back. I hike in the Appalachian Trail whenever I get a chance, I have never been terribly worried. We even have cayotes in our neighborhoods here. Due to habitat loss, these animals have no where to go. No major problems, although they do kill housecats and pet dogs occasionally. I walked up on a group in NH and just backed up with no incident.
I hear that black bears can be every bit as dangerous as grizzlys, but with both types, it is usually when they are frightened, threatened, or protecting cubs that you are in trouble. I have looked into what to do, because I do camp in areas where there are bears - they say to be very noisy in the first place, that way they will hear you coming and get out of there before you even see them.
I am ALL FOR THE BEARS being here. As long as people treat them with respect, leave them alone, and don't do stupid things to attract them to themselves, then there usually are not any issues. What bugs me is the people that move out to the woods, then cry "oh my, danger danger, someone has to do something about these bears" but then don't want to be bothered securing their trash, or bringing in their pets and birdfeeders at night. Go back to the #@$% city, I say. As for the coyotes, I haven't seen them, but I sure have heard them!
You are right about strange people being in these woods too, as a kid we were always in the pines at night because there was nothing else to do around here. We would get someone with a car and drive way into them, lots of sand roads and trails, find a spot to light a fire, spend the whole night. And it was very rare that you didn't at some point come across other people, usually men in pick up trucks with VERY big tires....pineys, we called them, even though that is also what people from outside the area called us. Alot of them were up to no good, one time the car we were in, some guy we talked into driving us back there, his car broke down, and these two pineys came along and offered to give us a ride back to civilization - in fact, they were just too happy to do it, but they were kinda weird, hardly said a word the whole ride -- when our friend went back to the woods the next day to try to find his car, he found it, but it was totally stripped, probably by the guys who gave us the ride. So yeah, lots of strange people back there. Bodies buried too, murdered people - great place to hide a body. Supposedly the NY and Philly mafia used it as a dumping ground for decades. And then of course there's the Jersey Devil. Yikes.
I know I had a point here...oh yeah, one great thing about the pine barrens is that there are alot of nature trails and you can find alot of outdoorsy groups that hike together, so that is probably what I will do, once fall rolls around. I have no idea where to find these plants anyway, but hiking groups/nature buffs/piney experts will.
This message was edited Aug 23, 2009 8:01 PM
This message was edited Aug 23, 2009 8:02 PM
It's the same in Florida. People keep destroying the environemtn, moving more houses and subdivisions into the country, and then complain about the cayotes, bobcats and hearing cows moo. My attitude exactly -- Go back to the city!
The only place I have seen wild bears is Cades Ciove, and they are always surrounded by people -- within ten feet including around moms and cubs. I couldn't believe how stupid people are. I stayed my distance, and figured I could outrun a few of the slow ones. No respect at all for the animals.
I used to teach at a zoo. One of the points we made is that the grizzleys at Yellowstone didn't hurt nearly as many people as the Bison. It is because people respect grizzleys and give them space. But they would send their family members to stand next to a wild bison. People get gored like that. No respect for the herbivores. I've never had problems with aniamls, and I have spent a lot of time in the woods and in swamps. But I have respect. :)
I was lifeguarding at a beach and dolphins were mating. No matter how we told people to go away, they wouldn't leave the dophins alone. What's wrong with people? These animals weigh hundreds of pounds and have teeth. And God Forbid a dolphin hurt one of those people, then it would be a bad dolphin and killed. Augh!
You sound just like me. It is hard to see people so ignorant about animals, and then the animals suffer in the end. I live in an area that is very very crowded, considered Philadelphia suburbs, interspersed with areas of complete wilderness, like the pines, which is 1.1 million acres in size. Fortunately, the land is not good for farming, it's a coastal plane, so the soil is sandy, acidic. If it were not so harsh and unforgiving to build or live in, there would probably be no pine barrens today. Now the area is protected, and what remaining wetlands are too. So, thank goodness there are some areas where animals can be safe. We lost our wolves and cougars and bears a long time ago, so now we are severely overrun by deer. You can't drive anywere around here without seeing a few dead from being hit, I see at least 4 or 5 a week.
Sadly, the unprotected rural areas of farmland and woods are being given up by the farmers children, sold to developers who bulldoze all the trees to build huge ugly neighborhoods full of McMansions - and then they give them nature-like names, like "Woodcrest" or "Sherwood Forest" or "Fieldstream" ...that never fails to make me laugh.
The same in Florida. The one that always makes me laugh is "The Preserve", which is river front/estuary. They removed all signs of life(bulldozed all the trees, mangroves, seagrapes, and gopher toroises) put in grass and McMansions. Big, ugly hulking concrete cubes. Sterlizing nature. I absolutely hate it.
I understand the farmers wanting to sell. Too bad there isn't a fund to buy the land and protect it from development.
A huge part of the Everglades are coming up for sale as sugar finally pulls out. Unfortunately, the state is pretty much bankrupt, and therefore the funds to buy up the land is dwindling. Florida made a huge mistake destroying the Everglades. There was a large scale plan for restoration (even though that is never really possible). The Everglades originally filtered out all the yuck, before it hit the oceans. Now the huge plantations dump pesticides, herbacides and fertilizers into the Everglades and this is going into the ocean and leaving large dead areas. It is a shame.
Yes, it is sad. I have spent some time down there, in the Fort Myers area where I had a cousin who lived in a motel on the beach, and then I had not been down in a few years - the difference when I returned was amazing. The Everglades is a very sad story, and I think it is just going to get worse. THe run off you speak of of farm chemicals (and sewage and trash) into the ocean is a problem everywhere, and when does it end? So much damage by humans in so short a time period - it is frightening. I have gotten to the point where I can't even watch shows about this stuff on TV anymore, it is just too depressing.
I was talking to my mom this week, she is an avid gardener, about trying some carnivorous plants, she wants to do it too.