For Subscribers

Stay Hungry How Peter D'Amato's strange obsession made him America's biggest dealer of carnivorous plants

By Kara Ohngren Prior

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

It started as a fascination with flesh-eating flora. It was the 1960s, and Peter D'Amato ordered a single Venus' flytrap from Famous Monsters magazine. Alas, the plant quickly perished.

But soon after, a friend brought him to a bog on the Jersey Shore, where he found thousands of the fly-eating plants growing wild. He was hooked, and by the mid-'80s, D'Amato had moved to San Francisco and claimed to have accumulated the largest personal collection of hungry potted plants in the United States. Soon enough, they devoured D'Amato's life, too. He left his job as a resort manager and opened California Carnivores, a nursery that sells nothing but carnivorous plants--more than 1,000 varieties in an 11,000-square-foot space in Sebastopol, Calif.

But that wasn't enough. He also created a way to safely ship them anywhere in the country, and the mail-order business was born.

Stranger still, there were plenty of takers. Customers, from the avid collector to the first-time buyer, wanted to get their hands on a spiky Venus' flytrap or hairy sundew. Each specimen sells for about $20, and last year, the nursery grossed about $200,000--making California Carnivores the largest American retailer of predatory plants.

During the 40 years D'Amato has been cultivating them, he has become an authority. In 1998 he wrote the definitive book on the subject, The Savage Garden, which is now in its eighth printing. He also helped found the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society.

Meanwhile, D'Amato is breeding new varieties (don't think about that too long) and importing more exotic ones from overseas.

Carnivorous plants generally feed on small insects, but they've been known to take down frogs, rats and birds. Some experts even argue that Venus' flytraps could fully digest a human being, given the chance.
"Carnivorous plants are very bizarre, and many of them are almost animal-like in their appearance," D'Amato says. "Growing them is more like having pets than having plants."

Kara Ohngren is a freelance writer and part-time editor at YoungEntrepreneur. Her work has appeared in publications including Entrepreneur Magazine, The New York Times, MSNBC, The Huffington Post and Business Insider.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Culture

A Slack Channel or Meditation App Won't Fix Mental Health — Here's How to Lead Like It Matters

Mental health should be treated as a core component of your company's infrastructure, not an afterthought or perk. Neglecting it leads to diminished productivity, burnout and high employee turnover.

Business News

'The Decade of Autonomous Vehicles': Nvidia CEO Predicts Major Growth in Robotics, Self-Driving Cars

At the VivaTech conference in Paris this week, Nvidia revealed its autonomous vehicle development platform for automakers to build self-driving cars.

Leadership

As a Leader, You Set the Tone — Here's Why Staying Calm Builds a Stronger Business

One thing I know unequivocally is that your mindset as a leader directly impacts your entire organization.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

Shaquille O'Neal Is Settling the FTX Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Him By Investors. Here's How Much He'll Pay Out.

NBA Hall of Famer Shaq is settling a class action lawsuit brought by FTX investors who claim they were misled.

Business News

Deloitte Is Reimbursing Employees Up to $1,000 — For Buying Lego Sets

Each Deloitte employee can spend up to $1,000 on items to improve their well-being.