A true botanists dream, Green Swamp Preserve [Route 211, Supply NC] is famous for its carnivorous plants and orchids. The park is located a bit outside of Wilmington, if you’re looking to see these plants in the wild you will have a great chance to do so. There are 14 different species of insectivorous plants including the famous vVenus flytrap, sundew, butterworts, and bladderworts. The preserve is 13,000 acres, very rural and secluded, a parking lot sits next to a lake surrounded by longleaf pines.
No gators, but there was an elusive pied billed grebe.
We chatted with a man digging on its banks, searching for moon rocks. He said he’d found them there before and was taking advantage of a beautiful day. Hiking into the park there is one flat trail that takes you out and back, it’s a mile long including some bouts of boardwalk.
The trail is not terribly well maintained, very muddy and overgrown in places, but extremely peaceful. While briskly walking pitcher plants were easy to spot.
Their beautiful yellow blossoms give them away and attract insects.
Colorful intricate orchids were just beginning to bloom in spring, this area explodes with many different varieties over the season.
Making it to the end of the trail we never spotted any Venus flytraps, the reason we had come to the preserve. I was a bit upset. Along the way we ran into a very friendly man who we began chatting with, he was just so happy to see ‘young people who give a damn out in these woods’. We started talking about the flora and fauna around, he told us about the Bachman’s sparrow, an endemic bird of the southeast. He played its song through his phone and a hidden bird in the woods called back to it. It was magical. We told him how we hadn’t noticed any flytraps yet. He mentioned how he’d seen tons of them already! The man back tracked with us to a patch of them right beside the trail, how had we missed them?
Venus flytraps are tiny and blend in with the green grass, you must have quite the keen eye to spot them. We were so thankful we ran into this man, the only other person on the trail, and parted ways. Now with an astute eye, flytraps were revealing themselves to us here, there, and everywhere. It really was enchanting to see these curious plants growing in their natural habitat. If you aren’t able to find them along the trail, or don’t have the time to get out of Wilmington, you can see them in a lovely garden scenario right in the city.