Carnivorous Plants!

A flower crab spider lies in ambush.

Sarracenia Northwest, everyone's favorite carnivorous plant nursery, held one of their twice annual open houses, and we were there.  Their nursery is quite unusual and incredibly lovely, and we found many of their plants still in bloom.  You can imagine the dilemma of a plant that spends all its time trying to lure insects to their doom, when it's time to find a pollinator.  Their flowers all grow on very tall stalks, well away from their death traps.  They have Venus fly traps, temperate and tropical pitcher plants in every conceivable shape and size, cobra lilies, sundews, butterworts, and even some aquatic bladderworts.  Sarracenia Northwest is run by people who are really passionate about these marvels of nature.  They are already selling tickets to their September open house ($10 to reserve your spot; when you get there you can use the $10 towards a purchase).  If you can't make it in person, don't miss your chance to visit them at the Portland Saturday Market.

Venus flytrap flowers.