(The 2026 Venus flytrap season is wandering to an end. It's been a rousing year: at last count mine has got 15 open and functional traps, about twice as many as this time last year. I can think of a few reasons, mostly the plant finally finding a rhythm here after a few years of settling in. We're also enjoying an unusually sunny and dry autumn this year; the region looks more like Central Canada than the North Pacific Coast.
Venus flytraps [Dioneae muscipula] are native to the Carolinas, where winter isn't trivial, and usually by this time of year mine lets me know it's ready for its winter torpor – the not-quite-hibernation it falls into during the darkest months. Then I put it in a cold room with mostly indirect sunlight, and it stops growing – without however dying back – till spring. And in fact the recent traps are only half the size of the ones it set last summer, a sure sign of impending sleep. But those smaller traps have also matured and opened for business, which is a contradictory indication.
So I'll wait a few more days before putting it to bed.)
