14 min
Venus Fly Trap - Accidental Perfect Pet Random Tandems: Projects, Dreams, Adventures, and Stories
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- Personal Journals
In late winter of 2021, the first one of the Pandemic, we decided to jumpstart Spring by visiting a local plant nursery and having everyone choose a plant. Any plant. My youngest child chose one of the most expensive and hard to care for potted plants, the Venus flytrap. A small speech about watering it from the bottom with distilled water and forty dollars lighter in the wallet, we were on our way . . . to learning that caring for a Venus flytrap involves more than that. I avoided becoming 'invloved' as the thing exited dormancy and waited patiently for sustenance, all the while being overwatered until it had 'wet feet.' The existential backstory of this once frightening and now charming little trooper pulled me by the heartstrings, until rescue efforts yielded some success. I will make a case for this being classified as a pet, and for those who aren't really pet people, you may just have or develop a green thumb for the sheer, indescribable mesmerization of watching the pods quickly close in real time. This plant is demaning, but not in annoying way, like a cat who walks on your laptop while you are using it, or a dog who needs to go potty at four a.m. It is the long suffering, adaptable, unsung floral hero of the tropics - who specializes in making a home where others weren't interested.
In late winter of 2021, the first one of the Pandemic, we decided to jumpstart Spring by visiting a local plant nursery and having everyone choose a plant. Any plant. My youngest child chose one of the most expensive and hard to care for potted plants, the Venus flytrap. A small speech about watering it from the bottom with distilled water and forty dollars lighter in the wallet, we were on our way . . . to learning that caring for a Venus flytrap involves more than that. I avoided becoming 'invloved' as the thing exited dormancy and waited patiently for sustenance, all the while being overwatered until it had 'wet feet.' The existential backstory of this once frightening and now charming little trooper pulled me by the heartstrings, until rescue efforts yielded some success. I will make a case for this being classified as a pet, and for those who aren't really pet people, you may just have or develop a green thumb for the sheer, indescribable mesmerization of watching the pods quickly close in real time. This plant is demaning, but not in annoying way, like a cat who walks on your laptop while you are using it, or a dog who needs to go potty at four a.m. It is the long suffering, adaptable, unsung floral hero of the tropics - who specializes in making a home where others weren't interested.
14 min