Question
Good morning. I live in Ontario California in a housing development that was built on dairy land. Needless to say flies are a nuisance. I would like to plant a number of plants around my house to address this issue. Due to landscapers using reclimated water I would like to place them in planters. I am not sure which plants would be best for my environment. Also, I'd be looking to put a few inside. Are they cat safe?

Answer
Hi Greg,

We have a service on our website to help you with the selection.  Go to http://www.cobraplant.com  Once there go down the right hand side of the page to Caresheets and More.  You'll see a link called "Best Plants for You".  Go to that page and it'll get you started.

I wanted to address a couple of other issues the selection page won't address.  The first is that carnivorous plants require water that is low in minerals and impurities.  Reclimated water would be toxic to them.  You would need to use either rainwater, distilled water, or water purified by reverse osmosis.  Putting them in planters is great, since you can't plant them in the ground anyway unless you actually build a bog garden.  Most of them require full sun, so keep that in mind when locating them.  They need about the same amount of sun as a tomato plant or a rose bush.

Most carnivorous plants are harmless to cats.  Asian pitcher plants (Nepenthes) are mildly toxic, but not dangerously so.  If your kitty chews on one they will get a good belly ache, but not much more.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com