J, Don't fret the plant will be just fine. Most traps miss prey and will reopen without harm. Even if all of them closed in a short period your VFT won't suffer a great deal from it. While it's true the plant expends energy to close it's traps it's unlikely a single event will damage it. Often in the wild most if not all the traps will be closed during heavy rain storms. Really large rain drops can easily trigger a trap. This has, in fact, happend to my VFTs on more than one occasion. Most VFTs are killed by over zealous 5-year-olds who close every trap every day until the plant just runs out of energy. Go buy another one anyway. Then you'll have 2. They can keep each other company while you're gone. :) C

So wha's this about a 3 week cycle? I don't think mine have stopped making blososms since it began more than a month ago, though to be honest I wasn't checking. **** New blossoms are produced at about a 3 wk time frame but since it's not synchronous you see them as being made all the time. It's helpful for folks who grow in very high heat areas to know that since they often lose ALL blossoms due to blossom drop b'c the high heat destroys the pollen. When new blossoms are made and the temps dip and the pollen is viable then they can often get fruit set. Carolyn

David, I am so sorry for your lost. I, too, lost my mom when she was 81, which was 5 years ago, so I do know that grief. An even more difficult loss was losing my daughter 2 years ago. I thought I would literally die when she did, but God's timing was not mine. As a Southern Baptist pastor, you've consoled many others over the years, but it's just not the same. You must now grieve yourself. No one will questions your beliefs because, if you remember, Jesus even cried over Lazarus. I know our Father grieves when we grieve. After my daughter died, at some point, I just couldn't feel God's presence with me. A friend of mine suggested that I ask God for a scripture, somehing I had never asked for before. When I did that that night in bed, He told me to get up and read I Corinthians 1:9. I told Him I didn't know what the verse said, so he told me once again, "Get up and read it." When I did, the last three words are "God is faithful." Those were the exact words I needed to hear. I now realize that my daughter and mother are both in the Lord's presence, which give me great comfort. God was right there with me through all of what happened. Please don't misunderstand. I still have moments when I want to scream at the top of my lungs because I miss them so much. What once seemed a cliche to me, "You'll see her again," now is my hope. You loved your mom. Why would you not grieve her and be lost without her? My doctor told me it would take me two full years to feel like I was in the world again, and he was right. I've found that i can now sympathize with others who have had losses, too. One thing you need to remember is that no two losses are the same because no two relationships are the same. You will find your way, David, because you do have God to lean upon. His ways are simply not our ways, but He is our Lord. I also find it easier to deal with their deaths if I start praising God when I feel so lost here on this earth. When I do that, I can see both my mom and my daughter, arm-in-arm, surrounded by light, broadly smiling in God's presence. May God Bless and Keep you. BTW, I, too, am Sothern Baptist. Your sister in Christ, Pat

Peter, I'm very sorry about your daughter. There is nothing I can do to make her come back there are no words I can say that can replace the words you long to hear There are no answers I can give, that will satisfy your questions there is not another soul I can introduce you to that will ever replace her and, there is no love I can offer that will ever replace the love you shared. I can't promise that your broken heart will ever be complete I will not say it could have been worse I will not deny it was a tragedy I will not lie and tell you that she will come back She never really left I do promise she hears you when you speak I will say she loves you no matter the distance I will not deny she is in a better place And, I will not lie, she is waiting to greet you someday She is in every step you take She is in everything you do She is the air you breathe she is every beat of your heart She is like the wind, you can not see her...but you will always feel her (((hugs)))) Liira