My Story
Hi my name is Jerry Krejci the sole founder of Succulent Flytraps……your ideal place to learn more about carnivorous plants! I love fly fishing, nature documentaries, the great outdoors and of course carnivorous plants and no I didn’t write that book…
How it All Started
When it comes to creepy crawlies I’ve always been a bit of a nerd. As a child I would catch flies and throw them in webs hoping to catch a glimpse of the spider. I became fascinated by the various webs and catching mechanisms of different species of spiders. Then an event occurred that tied my fascination with insects to plants.
Back in 1996 during my lunch break I wandered into a Sydney bookstore. As always I wandered over to the wildlife section. Suddenly a book caught my attention that would change the way I thought about plants forever.
As I flicked through the pages of ‘Carnivorous Plants’ by Adrian Slack I quickly became fascinated by the claims made in the book. I mean this book claimed that there were plants out there that could attract, capture and digested insects. Peering over the glossy color photos I remember saying to myself ‘Are you serious? Surely these plants can’t be real.’
I just had to prove to myself that these plants actually existed and the best way to learn about them was to grow one at home. My journey of discovery had begun!
My first plant
A year later I bought my first Venus flytrap from the markets. I was so excited I triggered all the traps just to see whether they all worked. Despite my best efforts though the plant died in winter. Not only that……I threw it out! Later, from the very same book that got me into carnivorous plants I read that some plants go dormant in winter. All of a sudden a compelling question popped into my head: Did the plant actually die or did it just go dormant?
Inspiration Through Knowledge
I’m happy to say that my first attempt to grow a carnivorous plant wasn’t all in vain. The interest, enthusiasm and feeling of wrongdoing has paved the way to the nursery I have today. You could say that the legacy of that first Venus flytrap lives and breathes in every plant I grow (the logo definitely reflects this!)
My valuable lesson has made me realize that a bit of knowledge goes a long way to grow healthy carnivorous plants. It’s this mindset that has motivated me to share my gardening knowledge with others.
