Be on the lookout for plants with deadly traps at Blue Mountains Botanic Garden in Mount Tomah – but don’t worry, insects, not humans, are their intended prey.
The Plants with Bite carnivorous plant fair and exhibition is on from December 5-13 and entry is free.
The visitor centre will house a spectacular display, information sessions (weekends from 11am to noon) will be run by experts from the Australian Carnivorous Plant Society, daily documentary film screenings in the Wollemi room will begin at 1pm and a range of carnivorous plants to buy.
There will even be a fun-filled film night at 7.30pm on December 12 (tickets $25 per person) when Little Shop of Horrors will be shown.
The Garden’s curator manager, Greg Bourke, a self-confessed “plant nerd”, is so passionate about carnivorous plants that he has a private collection of more than 2,000 that happily feast on bugs at his home in Bilpin.
Mr Bourke is lending some of his finest specimens so they can add some extra bite to the exhibition.
“There are about 790 different species of carnivorous plants worldwide and I’ve got plants from about half of them in my collection,” Mr Bourke said.
“When I saw the venus fly trap when I was a kid I was instantly fascinated by these types of plants and their fast-moving trap systems, but I got really into it all when I realised just how many different wild and woolly species exist after a trip to South America.
“Plants evolved to become carnivorous to adapt to growing in poor nutrient soils, so soil that is nutrient rich can kill them.”
Mr Bourke said sundews and bladderworts grow particularly well in the greater Sydney region.
“Bladderworts are one of the fastest moving plants and have suction caps that can open and shut in just two-hundredths of a second,” he said.
“Another favourite of mine are nepenthes that grow in the tropics and have huge fluid-filled traps.
“Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see a range of species from just about every continent, get growing tips from experts and be able to purchase their own plants.”
For more information, call 4567 3000 or visit www.bluemountainsbotanicgarden.com.au.
