By Paul Simons

Reproduced from Volume 6 of the Journal of the Carnivorous Plant Society. First published Autumn 1982.

Our display at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show certainly caused a stir, as shown by our letters page this issue. For the Society it was a brave venture into unchartered waters, by exhibiting speculative carnivorous plant species alongside traditional and less well known species. The public appeared genuinely interested in the display, and we grabbed considerable media attention with interviews on BBC and independent radio, as well as feature articles in newspapers. We also received more than a passing glance from the Royalty on the preview day before the Show was opened to RHS members. The Queen Mother was especially interested in carnivory in plants, and recognised the sundews she has found growing in Scotland! No doubt next year we will return to a more traditional theme for our displays, and even at this early stage your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

The response to my call for articles and illustrations for the Journal has been heartening, and thanks to everyone who has contributed. Hopefully the exquisite drawings of G. W. Barker and Stan Lampard will be appearing in further issues, but there is still room for more illustrations and particularly photographs (all material will be returned if requested).

One other call that appears in this issue, and was also included in the last newsletter, is a warning about illegal collection of plants. I was dumbfounded to read a New Scientist article about one of our members having dug up sundews from a Nature Conservancy Reserve. We have sent our apologies to the warden of the reserve – other details are given in the article by Chris and Elizabeth Hynes.

Lastly, it is a pleasure to have a new author amongst us. Paul Temple, in collaboration with Ralph Levinson, has just had a science book for children published, called ‘How to Make Square Eggs’, describing some enchanting and intriguing experiments (including carnivorous plants) to illustrate various scientific points. It has already had an enthusiastic review in at least one magazine, and will hopefully be the start of a new celebrity career!