Pitcher plants in a homemade bog

[csdude55]

Someone gave me a few pitcher plants several years ago, but I've never had a great location for them so they've always just been in nursery pots with a water tray underneath, sitting on my deck... cool plants, but my setup wasn't particularly attractive.

I came across this article, and followed the instructions to create my own bog:

Grow Carnivorous Plants in a DIY Mini-Bog - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Create a miniature wetland habitat for carnivorous plants, orchids, and other bog-loving species.

www.bbg.org

I set it up sometime around May of this year. It's leveled and sitting on top of the ground about 10' South of my pond. I figured I'd give it a few years, and if all is well then I can bury it somewhere permanent.

The concern I have is that it's VERY wet!! I filled it with water in the beginning, but haven't added water since. It stays full from rain.

Here are some pics.

The whole thing, from above:


A "Dana's Delight" purple pitcher (that's what the label said, anyway). You can see that it's partially underwater :-O But it has new growth, so I guess it's OK?:


A sundew of unknown variety:


My smaller yellow Trumpet:


My larger yellow Trumpet:


My larger trumpet has a hitchhiker that I have no idea what it is, but it's interesting and seems happy! LOL:



What do you think, is it OK for it to have this much water?

If so, how do I winterize the bog? The last few years we've had short periods of single digits, so if I leave it outside then it will DEFINITELY freeze!

 

[GBBUDD]

As long as you stick with zone tolerance pitcher plants they will be fine if the freeze solid. I have been keeping them forv5 years now in my ponds edging built very similar to the authors. You would be hard pressed not to see the bog in any of my posts.
The color is year round , though you should cut them back in winter I have done both. '

 

[csdude55]

When I first got the yellow trumpets, I THINK it was someone on here that said that they like to have their ankles wet but their feet dry. That's what really made me nervous.

As small as this bog is, I still have about $300 invested :-O I hate to let the plants die from ignorance, so I really hope it's OK. The yellow trumpets and Dana's Delight are supposed to be safe for my zone, though, so as long as they're OK with more or less floating then they should be OK.

The sundew is another story, since I don't know the variety. You can see that it's doing OK, but the tips are dark so I'm not sure if they're really healthy. I'm reading that sundews in general are OK down to 20F, but what about those 3F nights? The bog is about 250lbs so I can't really carry it into the greenhouse, so I need to decide by December whether to pull up the sundew and put it in the greenhouse on its own.

 

[GBBUDD]

ankles wet but their feet dry

that would make me say hmmmmmmmm as it would be a good trick to keep the feet dry and only water at the ankle ..... and I've only seen one other here with pitchers and i don't remember them saying that and i know id never say that did my terrible typing come across that way >? well that's possible. but hard to believe

 

[GBBUDD]

but what about those 3F nights?

first time i found wild sun dews was in Maine where it gets below even 3 degrees f .

 

[csdude55]

Hahaha, @GBBUDD, no, it definitely wasn't you that said that! I've followed you closely over the years, your pics have always been an inspiration for my pond and garden It might have been on another forum that someone said that.

I did a quick Google, though, and apparently, it's a fairly common saying:

The single biggest mistake in growing pitcher plants in the ground is too keep them too wet. In the wild, pitcher plants grow in areas that are seasonally flooded, but these areas can become extraordinarily dry on the surface during the spring and summer months. The best way to remember proper conditions is: "dry ankles and moist feet".

Introduction to Sarracenia - The Carnivorous Pitcher Plant

Sarracenia (Pitcher Plants) are easy-to-grow plants native to the US that are known for their exotic looking pitchers and carnivorous appetites. At Plant Delights, we grow several species...

www.plantdelights.com

That scares me, my homemade bog is definitely flooded! And far from "extraordinarily dry on the surface".

Do you think I should shove more peat moss in there?

Funny addendum, that pot of water in the middle? It has a bunch of life in it that I'm guessing are tadpoles, and tonight I saw a very small frog in it! It dove as soon as I came up, but still. I'm not sure if it was eating the tadpoles or if it was just more grown than the others.

 

[Lisak1]

Ah - do you flipped ankles and feet. Makes more sense now.

I put a pitcher plant in my patio pond this year - first time. It’s doing ok. Would be better but my darling grandkids were fascinated with seeing if it would eat their fingers - so we suffered a bit of damage. Haha! Anyway, it’s in constant water - crown slightly above, the roots fully below.

 

[addy1]

When I made my land bog for pitcher plants I dug a shallow area, 10 inches or so deep, put down a tarp, one of the heavy duty ones. Cut some slits, filled it with peat moss and sand, 50 50 mix. They did great.

I just need to remember to water during our really dry summers, like this one.

 

[csdude55]

Ah - do you flipped ankles and feet. Makes more sense now.

Haha, stupid me!! I originally intended to say "ankles wet but their knees dry", but my fingers outran my brain Yeah, I'm not quite sure how it would have worked the other way around!

Anyway, it’s in constant water - crown slightly above, the roots fully below.

Mine started out with the crown slightly above water, but they've sunk!! You can see it the most clearly in the pic I posted of Dana's Delight, the crown is about 1/4" under water!

I found my original pics, I set it up in June. Here's what the Dana's Delight looked like at the time:



You can see that it had 3 pitchers at the time, and now it has 6 with another baby coming up! So I guess it's happy, as long as it survives the winter

 

[GBBUDD]

Hahaha, @GBBUDD, no, it definitely wasn't you that said that! I've followed you closely over the years, your pics have always been an inspiration for my pond and garden It might have been on another forum that someone said that.

I did a quick Google, though, and apparently, it's a fairly common saying:

Introduction to Sarracenia - The Carnivorous Pitcher Plant

Sarracenia (Pitcher Plants) are easy-to-grow plants native to the US that are known for their exotic looking pitchers and carnivorous appetites. At Plant Delights, we grow several species...

www.plantdelights.com

That scares me, my homemade bog is definitely flooded! And far from "extraordinarily dry on the surface".

Do you think I should shove more peat moss in there?

Funny addendum, that pot of water in the middle? It has a bunch of life in it that I'm guessing are tadpoles, and tonight I saw a very small frog in it! It dove as soon as I came up, but still. I'm not sure if it was eating the tadpoles or if it was just more grown than the others.

Both pitcher plants and sun density can basicly grow right in the water but they need to be able to keep the waist up out of the water. So the legs are roots and the feet are always wet.


Sun density are new to me I put some in different locations sun dappled sun, shade . Lots of water , stagnet water etc see what works . Where I found them was a cliff like setting a constant trickle of water running through very fine land whisks of moss and the sun density were growing in the wet moss.

Never feed them any fertilizers , and water should be more on the acidic side .NO CHL ORINES distilled or rodi or rain water only.

 

[GBBUDD]

Hahaha, @GBBUDD, no, it definitely wasn't you that said that! I've followed you closely over the years, your pics have always been an inspiration

Notice they said photos were inspirational . They were nice not saying my typing gave them a headache.

Glad you have enjoyed the photos. I enjoy the whole thing and happy to share what I have learned. 1

 

[csdude55]

Sun density are new to me I put some in different locations sun dappled sun, shade . Lots of water , stagnet water etc see what works . Where I found them was a cliff like setting a constant trickle of water running through very fine land whisks of moss and the sun density were growing in the wet moss.

Never feed them any fertilizers , and water should be more on the acidic side .NO CHL ORINES distilled or rodi or rain water only.

I have well water, which is on the acidic side anyway. But so far my bog has all been rain water.

The pitchers have been interesting, but the sundew is a bit underwhelming. I really just bought it because I'm trying to fill in the bog, but even the tiny one was $20! I obviously need a lot more plants in there, but really don't know what all to add that will look good with the carnivorous plants.

 

[GBBUDD]

My experience is don't expect the pitchers or dews to fill in an area without adding more. I'm in CT this time of year they are growing well but they don't seem to thrive until the heat of summer comes along. If your to the south I believe you'll find it the complete opposite where they retract a little in the super hot but other wise they grow ver y well John j from modern design aquascapes always has beautiful pitchers he callc carnies. What work for me and while I maybe a bit twisted is moss to me the moss in my bog area with the pitcher plants is equally attractive. And damp soil is certainly a environment for moss to grow. It's also a nursery for every other plant as well . How do you grow from seed . Give it a moist not soaking wet area and it will grow. I have to admit late spring I'm in that area pulling baby maple trees by the handfuls.

 

[csdude55]

When I look at my bog, I feel like I need 4 more plants that are about the same size as the pitchers, and THEN I can fill in with moss. I only have plants at the North, East, South, and West locations, and having something else at NE, SE, SW, and NW would make it fill in better.

I'm kinda thinking of adding either a variety of bog orchids, or maybe a variety of butterwort. But that'll be a problem for next year, I have enough on my plate right now! LOL

 

[Hound Heaven]

I have well water, which is on the acidic side anyway. But so far my bog has all been rain water.

The pitchers have been interesting, but the sundew is a bit underwhelming. I really just bought it because I'm trying to fill in the bog, but even the tiny one was $20! I obviously need a lot more plants in there, but really don't know what all to add that will look good with the carnivorous plants.

I tried some pitchers and a Narrow Leaf sundew this year, all are sitting in pots of sphagnum on top of the bog so I can play with the water levels. But I found that they're quite happy with just the wicking action of the moss. In fact - they're really happy! The silly little sundew keeps putting up flower spikes that are close to 3 feet tall. I got them from a nursery that has indigenous plants and they suggest they'll winter in the ground just fine - they have a bog at their shop and one at a nearby arboretum. These are a fun experiment so far.