Saw something weird at the Denver Botanic Gardens last weekend

I was walking through the alpine rock garden and noticed they had a whole section of plants labeled as 'carnivorous', which was cool. But right next to it, they had a patch of common sundews that looked totally different from the ones I grow at home. Mine are all red and sticky, but these were mostly green and not as dewy. I asked one of the volunteers about it, and she said they keep them in lower light on purpose to make them less colorful, because it 'looks more natural' for the display. I mean, idk, maybe it's just me but that feels wrong. They're changing how the plant grows just for looks. On one hand, I get that gardens are for showing plants off. On the other hand, it's not really showing the plant at its best, is it? Have you guys ever seen a public garden do something like that where the display choice goes against what the plant actually needs?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah_ross815d ago

Totally get that. My local nursery keeps their Venus flytraps bone dry because they think it looks "cleaner." The traps all went black. I had to explain they actually need to sit in water.

wright.taylor15d ago

Yeah, that would bug me too. I saw something similar with some pitcher plants at a local show once. They had them sitting in way too much water, like the trays were full, just so they'd look 'swampy' for the theme. The leaves were starting to go yellow. I ended up talking to the person in charge and just asked, really nicely, if they knew about the drier winter rest period for that type. I framed it like 'I've killed a few learning this myself' and they actually listened and adjusted the setup. Sometimes they just don't know, and a friendly tip from another grower can help.

campbell.stella15d ago

It's like that with so many stuff, not just plants. People get an idea for how something should look and just run with it, even if it's bad for the thing itself. I mean, maybe it's just me but I see it all the time.