A trap may catch and digest up to three insects, after which the leaf turns black. Older leaves blacken and die regardless of how many insects are caught and the plant continually sends out new leaves during the growing season. Venus flytraps usually grow along the dampish edges of sandy, wet bogs of fens. The plant begins its growth each spring, sending out a rosette of small leaves. May. Summer arrives and the plant produces its larger leaves, often on upright petioles.
Some plants remain rosette all season.
With the approach of autumn, flytraps get small. In winter they are dormant, with tiny leaves or no leaves all. In their native habitat, venus flytraps enjoy a warm and humid summer, and winters are chilly, with occasionally extreme lows down to near 10 degrees F and sometimes lower. From seed, it may take a flytrap 4 to 6 years to reach maturity. They may live several decades.