Q: What is the CP Discussion Group?


Drosera regia


Pinguicula macroceras


Sarracenia minor There are several free carnivorous plant internet discussion groups on the net. The best known is run by former ICPS president Rick Walker, and was founded long ago by a group of four people---Don Burden, Michael Chamberland, Rob Maharajh, and myself. Ah, those were the days. (Rob, where are you?)

You can sign onto the carnivorous plant discussion group at this location.

This group is often very active, providing approximately five to twenty messages per day. The postings are bundled into a single daily message, a very nice feature if you get a lot of mail. Unfortunately this discussion group is occasionally contentious and prone to flame wars. Make sure that if you are making a joke on this carnivorous plant discussion group, you clearly indicate it as such. But it is still the most effective way to rapidly communicate with a large number of carnivorous plant growers, grumpy though they may be!

When posting to the carnivorous plant discussion group, please be aware and considerate of the fact that recipients include readers from all around the world. Clarity in your postings is best. Keep your postings focused on topics related to carnivorous plants.

Every now and then the carnivorous plant discussion group traffic decreases, I suspect because a few of the participants, who are a little too impatient with beginners, drive away other readers. Children, play nice! As I write this in September 2007, it is extremely quiet, I think because most of the traffic has gone over to the ICPS forum, which began a few months ago.

Other carnivorous plant discussion group, oftened sponsored by gardening magazines, etc., are not usually very good. Every time I joined these groups I was treated to a barrage of misinformation by people claiming they knew what they were talking about. (Hey! Just like me!) If you want to know about carnivorous plants, the carnivorous plant discussion group and the better discussions forum sites are really the place to go.

Page citations: Personal observation.