My new Venus Fly Trap

I have never had much luck with plants, and the phrase green fingers is not one that is applied to me. When my parents go on holiday and I am charged with looking after Dad’s plants it is a stressful time for both him and me. So why then, have I bought a Venus Fly Trap, a plant that is notoriously hard to keep alive.

The short answer is because of the musical Little Shop of Horrors.

When I was about 16 I was in a production of the musical, which sees orphan Seymour find a mysterious plant that looks like a Venus Fly Trap. The plant, named Audrey II, goes crazy after getting a taste for blood, and ends up eating Seymour and his love Audrey.

Since then I have been fascinated by Venus Fly Traps, and when, on a recent trip to the garden centre with  Joe, I saw a selection of them I had to buy one. Though not on the scale of Audrey II I was still delighted by my new toy, and couldn’t wait to see it in action.

At first I sat and watched the plant, waiting for an unsuspecting fly to come along, and the jaws to close.

Nothing happened, and I resorted to making the jaws close myself, using a pen. However I found out that this damages the plant, and so had to stop my new found form of entertainment.

I am still waiting to actually see a fly go into the plant, as my room has been typically fly free since I bought it. Though that could be down to the fact that my plant has eaten them while I was not looking.

I am continuing to water it (maybe too much) in the hope that it will grow big and strong. Maybe I will end up with my very own Audrey II, though I don’t think Joe would be happy if he was eaten by it in the middle of the night!