Product Description

In addition to the familiar Venus flytrap, there are several hundred species of carnivorous plants on our planet. Most can be grown in the amateur gardener's backyard or even in a window box. Full-color photos show the plants at work and at rest and tell you everything you need to successfully grow your own--little garden of horrors. Full-color throughout.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45995 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Released on: 2004-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Amazon.com Review
Peter D'Amato has been raising carnivorous plants for three decades, and his nursery, California Carnivores, houses the world's largest collection of flesh-eating flora. There's not much D'Amato doesn't know about growing these oddballs of the plant world, and he imparts his expertise gracefully and with humor in The Savage Garden, which is aimed at curious gardeners who want to grow carnivorous plants both indoors and out. From the ever-fascinating Venus flytrap to the aquatic bladderwort and the rather extravagantly sexual-looking pitcher plant, these exotic plants have a reputation for being difficult to grow, but D'Amato proves otherwise. The necessary water and soil chemistry, proper lighting, and propagation tips are discussed thoroughly along with descriptions and growing tips for many species in each of 11 plant families.

If plants can have personalities, these do--or at least appear to in the hundreds of witty photographs and colored illustrations that show them both at their hungriest and at their most innocuous. This is a stunningly comprehensive guide that will inspire and fascinate even the most squeamish gardener. -- Barrie Trinkle

About the Author
Peter D'Amato has been growing flesh-eating plants for over thirty years. His nursery, California Carnivores, houses the world's largest collection of carnivorous plants. THE SAVAGE GARDEN is the 1999 winner of the American Horticultural Society Book Award and 1999 Quill & Trowel Award from the Garden Writers Association of America.

Customer Reviews

A great carnivorous book!
This book is one of the best I've read for carnivorous plants. It has background information on plants, as well as detailed information about the different species' general requirements, information on different growing settings, how to set up those settings, what to plant each kind of plant in, what NOT to plant each plant in, what you can fertilize/feed your plant with, and plant pests that commonly bother carnivorous plants and how to deal with them. The book also contains many quirky comments such as "(I am not suggesting you feed your plants humans, since this is highly illegal...)" and "Some CP's will accept...even chocolate (female plants)." It is a very fascinating and useful book!! A must-have for carnivorous plant lovers!

Good Introduction to the Hobby.
Warning! Carnivorous plants are addictive. Don't be fooled by that cute little Venus Fly Trap or Sundew and think that you will just buy one. Wrong; one will morph into five, five into twenty-five, and the next thing you know, you will have a great terrarium set up, carnivorous houseplants competing with your African violet, and planters outside that the neighborhood kids come to feed bugs to. You will also be giving impromptu science lessons for anyone who stops to look at your unique plants. And this book will help. It is probably the most accessible book on carnies out today, and seems to have fueled a mini-explosion of publishers trying to follow D'Amato's lead. The writing is clear, and written for people who like plants but are not botany nuts, or botanists. D'Amato also did a very good job of explaining how to grow plants from different areas of the world without having to resort to charts of zones and endless consultations of thermometers. If you are interested in carnies, buy this book, you could also pick up Adrian Slack's book as well, but start here first.

Best book on the subject!
I've long been interested in carnivorous plants, and have managed to collect a number of books on the subject over the years. This book, without a doubt, is the very best on the subject I've ever read! It is written in an easy to understand, matter-of-factly way, gives easy to follow instructions on how to grows these amazing plants, and is beautifully illustarted with numerous photos. If you buy only one book on the subject make this the one.