Back

Take a closer look at carnivorous plants

At Wack’s Wicked Plants, we love carnivorous plants because of the wide range of colours, shapes, patterns and foliage types available. They’re great to grow in containers outdoors

Many people recognise the name Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) – it’s one of the most common and best known carnivorous plants, but there’s a whole world of carnivorous plants out there that we’d love to share with you. This group of plants, characterised by their requirement to gain

nutrients from living creatures – usually insects – grow all over the world, and more of them than you might imagine are hardy in the UK climate.

Carnivorous plants can thrive outside

Many hardy carnivorous plants are easy to grow. They need sunshine and rainwater to thrive. We’ve found that growing plants together in larger containers helps reduce the amount of watering we need to do. If you’d like to create your own (‘little pot of horrors’) by planting a selection together in a pot, choose a deep saucer for your container so that it can sit in water all the time. We also grow collections of these plants in a trough (‘the trough of terror’), which has drainage holes on the side, and there is always a reservoir of water that the plants can access. Old-fashioned Belfast sinks (‘the sink of gloom’) make a great patio feature when planted up with carnivorous plants.

Wondering what to grow?

Venus flytrap
The Venus flytrap can withstand a little frost. Seed-grown varieties do well outside.

Sarracenia ‘Mr Frosty’
North American pitcher plants (Sarracenia) are hardy and look stunning in any display. Once they are mature enough they will flower in spring  – a gorgeous sight – and then they will start producing pitchers.

Sundews (Drosera)

Sundews (Drosera) are found all over the world, in different climates, so make sure you select one that will grow where you live. In the UK, Drosera intermedia, anglica and rotundifolia are native, while D. dichotoma, D. binata and D. filiformis are hardy and available.

Most butterworts (Pinguicula) are not hardy in the UK though P. grandiflora and vulgaris are native and available and will thrive.

Last, but not least, is the cobra lily (Darlingtonia californica), which likes full sun or semi shade, and will withstand hard frosts.

Wack’s Wicked Plants

www.wackswickedplants.co.uk | 07530 176624

Save to My scrapbook

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.