How’s it going, growers? Some of you still wondering about dormancy? Cool! I thought I would provide some visual references to the Venus flytrap dormancy period. I have three images below of my typical Venus flytrap pot, all taken at different times of the year.

In the above photo from last March. you can see the larger traps from last season are on short, wide stems. These grew in the fall of 2013, in preparation for dormancy. Short-stemmed leaves hugging the ground is one of the first signs of oncoming dormancy, although some varieties of Venus flytraps stay close to the ground regardless of what time of year it is.

Now this above photo from July is obviously not during dormancy, but actually the middle of their growing season. I’ve included it to illustrate the difference between seasonal growth habits. Notice how all of the traps are standing tall on longer, erect stems. Also yes, this is the same pot! Such an explosion of growth in just four months! It’s super cool to see these photos side by side.

And now just last week. Lots of the tall, summer leaves have died back and the growth is short and close to the ground again, though bigger and much more crowded than last season! The difference in color is pretty astonishing too. I’ve never seen those traps in the center cluster look so deeply red before. Check out the cluster in the lower left corner of the pot though. I believe it’s same plant as in the front right in the July photo. That one stayed mostly green and tall all year long.

I should note it’s been a slightly warmer than usual November here in California. Venus flytraps in colder climates may die back even more, if not completely. Remember also the above photos are only my typical Venus Flytraps. The dormant period can look vastly different on different cultivars. I don’t usually take photos of my all-red cultivars because they look really ragged and sad during dormancy. But I did today, for science!

My FTS Crimson Sawtooth (above) definitely looks sadder today than it did during the summer! Before I got more red flytraps, I remember I worried so much because it died back so far every winter. I thought it was sick or I did something wrong. At this point though, I’m pretty certain that is just how red flytraps tend to be. I’ve had the Crimson Sawtooth for about five years now! Below are some more of my red little ones.

This little Red Dragon division (above) has been notoriously slow-growing all season long. It finally just started putting out noticeably bigger traps right before dormancy! Oh well, I’ll enjoy them next season.

My FTS Maroon Monster is the biggest and fastest growing of my red flytraps. I’ve had this one for the shortest amount of time, only two months, but it grew about four new traps in that time! This is its first dormancy with me, so we’ll see later on how winter affects it.

If you have any further questions on the dormancy period, be sure to read my other posts: Winter is Coming! A Guide to Venus Flytrap Dormancy and Is my Venus Flytrap Dormant or Dead? And don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you’re still confused! I will be happy to answer as soon as I can. 🙂