Caoyu photography

Near three o'clock in the afternoon, under the scorching sun, we finally reached the Wuli boundary.

I got off the bus and walked on the clean and wide road. Palm trees on the roadside made me feel a little trance, thinking I was in a tropical town. For a long time, I remember the purpose of my visit: to find the legendary exotic plant kingdom in the nearby Huabo Garden.

I followed the navigation and turned left and right in the garden. Before I could wipe the sweat off my head, the signboard of "Insect-eating Plant Horticultural Experience Hall" bumped into my eyes.

All kinds of insect-eating plants fight pots.

I can't wait to walk in, and I can see insect-eating plants of different heights and shapes: some look familiar, while others can't name them.

This is the exotic plant kingdom in Cao Yufeng, and the only garden store in Central China that grows insect-eating plants.

Before visiting Cao Yufeng, I often read his WeChat circle of friends. In addition to welcoming guests from afar to buy insect-eating plants, most of the rest are photos of plants he took. Photos are as vibrant as those plants.

Speaking of thousands of potted insect-eating plants in the garden, Cao Yufeng is a rare treasure. "Look, pitcher plants in Southeast Asia, insect-catching violets in Mexico, bottle grass in the United States, and sundew in Australia ... We have preserved six kinds of exotic flowers and herbs from all over the world in this garden."

Cao Yufeng

"Different flowerpots of Venus flytrap have different names. This is called the red giant clip, this is called piranha, this is called flame, and this is called spider. " For Cao Yufeng, it is a gardener's self-cultivation to study the varieties of each insect-eating plant.

Cao Yufeng has many faces, but more people are only exposed to his identity as the owner of the Horticultural Experience Hall. "Calling the boss puts me under a lot of pressure, because my surname is Cao, and it's not bad to call me' Xiaocao'."

In his view, he is more like the "spokesman" of insect-eating plants, which are the "emotional bond" of his life.

Crystal clear, ruby-like sundew.

During the years of managing insect-eating plants, Cao Yufeng took this opportunity to make many friends from all over the world. Online, his live broadcast attracted fans who also love insect-eating plants; Off-line, he received many people who came here, and even college students majoring in gardening went to the store for an internship.

However, many friends advised him to do something more "profitable", but he declined. In his words, he can't do jobs he doesn't like and is unfamiliar with, and he doesn't want to leave these insect-eating plants.

The big mouth of the venus flytrap symbolizes love and beauty.

In my conversation with Cao Yufeng, I often hear his gratitude to the insect-eating plants.

"I want to realize my dream and really build the scene in my mind. More and more people know me just because of these lovely plants. Without them, I will only be an unknown person. "

In 20 16, Cao Yufeng left Hang Cheng and opened the first insectivorous plant shop in central China.

Before that, he had lived with insect-eating plants for seven years. After graduating from college, Cao Yufeng, an e-commerce major, chose to work in a gardening company.

"At that time, I liked it alone. I am curious to hear that plants can eat mosquitoes, and I want to go to the garden. As a result, I was shocked when I walked in and I was trapped. "

When he first saw the insect-eating plants, Cao Yufeng plunged into their charming and beautiful "trap" like a bug. In the seven years of dealing with insect-eating plants, Cao Yufeng, who was originally a customer service, did all the work in the company and became an expert in insect-eating plant cultivation.

These weird-looking, meat-loving guys are full of vitality and wildness under the careful cultivation and cultivation of Cao Yufeng. This made me very interested in planting insect-eating plants: compared with our common flowers and plants, are insect-eating plants easy to feed?

Nepenthes in a red bottle

"Contrary to the habit of succulents, they like humidity and sunshine." Cao Yufeng introduced me to a small pot of Nepenthes. "We made the flowerpot into this water-absorbing type, and the seedbed used water moss to facilitate their growth. Remember to give them the sun and spray water. "

Cao Yufeng said that planting flowers is a high-input job, but it doesn't necessarily have a high return. It takes five years for bottle grass to grow tall and strong.

Five-year-old bottle grass contrasts with the blue sky

When I leaned over to observe the insect-eating plants in the experience hall, I found that many plants were hung with dead insects on the inner wall or outside. After a long struggle, I still asked Cao Yufeng a stupid question.

"Keep this kind of insect-eating plants, need to catch insects to feed it from time to time? Do many people pay attention to this issue? "

Flies stick to the glandular hairs of sundew.

He smiled and told me that in fact, many people have misunderstandings about insect-eating plants. The reason why insect-eating plants eat insects is the result of thousands of years of evolution. They grow in an environment lacking nitrogen, and they will give off the smell of attracting insects. When insects are attracted, they will use the enzymes secreted by themselves to digest protein, and finally get nutrition.

"Insectivorous plants are very powerful. For example, the glandular hairs of this kind of sundew secrete mucus that attracts mosquitoes and can' eat' dozens or even hundreds of mosquitoes. But insect-eating plants are not pesticides. Only when they are healthy can they eat insects. "

Similarly, not all home environments are suitable for placing a pot of insect-eating plants. What kind of demand, what kind of insect-eating plants to choose, are all particular in Cao Yufeng's eyes.

"Someone wants a pot of plants that eat' little black flies', and the first choice is sundew; Some children like the' man-eating flower' in the movie, so they choose this flytrap; If you have a big terrace or yard, you can raise a bottle of grass. "

Therefore, although insect-eating plants are easy to raise, it is different for everyone to choose which kind of plants to raise, and it depends on the external environment.

"The current development stage of insectivorous plants is equivalent to the budding stage of succulents. I think there will be a trend. " What Cao Yufeng wants most is to open a mature experience hall in the busy streets of Wuhan, so that everyone can get to know and get in touch with insect-eating plants, and move from small crowds to the public.

A corner of the ecological rainforest tank composed of various insect-eating plants.

Nowadays, insect-eating plants have become a member of the collocation of fresh cut flowers in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

"Insect-eating plants are fairy, colorful and beautiful with roses. If you are more extravagant, you can also use them as floral arrangements for corsages. "

After leaving the Experience Hall of Insectivorous Botanical Garden, I remembered my own flower cultivation experience: the first pot of cactus received by the university and the first pot of locally cultivated mint bought after work failed to survive.

There may be many people who, like me, envy other people's mood, want to decorate their lives with lush greenery, and want to try to experience the happiness of growing and getting better with plants.

I think, maybe there is only a pot of insect-eating plants between us and this happiness.

Insect-eating plants gardening experience hall

Address: Wuhan Flower Expo Park, Huabo Avenue, Jiangxia District

Business hours: 8:00- 17:00.

Tel: 18 140665202

Tips: The price of insect-eating plants ranges from 10 to 2800 RMB. The main insect-eating plants in the store are bottle grass and flytrap.

Editor-in-chief Masu

Photographer Zhao

Designer design 44

"Do you know what insect-eating plants? 」