NC Natural Science Museum Carnivore Display

[mcmcnair]

I have been volunteering at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science in downtown Raleigh, NC for the past few months and today we FINALLY were able to install the new carnivorous plant display that I designed. I would have preferred to have used live sphagnum but there was a very limited amount available. Hopefully in the next few weeks we will be replacing the dried LFS with live LFS. Before I came along no one had done anything to the display in years. The display was supposed to showcase North Carolina carnivorous plants and the plants that can be found in the areas where they grow. The pictures say everything that really needs to be said. Enjoy!
First, The Before

Breaking Down the display

After taking out all the plants

The plants that will be going back in

The plants that had no business being in the display

All the old soil after being taken out of the display

Fast Foward a Week...
Putting the rocks back in

Adding the freshly washed Pool Filter(quartz silica) Sand

Building up the stream banks with more rocks

Trying to run the stream for the first time and watering in the banks

Adding the final layers of sand and the buffer layer of dried LFS

The buffer layer of LFS to catch any runoff peat/sand

The peat/sand mix added

The finished product with a layer of dried and live LFS on top

Some closeups of the plants
P. primuliflora

VFT and two S. purpurea venosa

S. rubra rubra in the front; Xyris, D. capillaris, and D. rotundifolia in the middle, and S. oreophila in the back

S. oreophila and D. capillaris and D. rotundifolia

Closeups of the entire display

The entire display

The before again for comparison

 

[mikefallen13]

Very cool! I actually saw that display when I went to NC state this past summer for a summer camp program. It looks much, much better than it did when I saw it!

 

[mcmcnair]

thanks! I worked hard on it. All the plants except the pinguicula were supplied by an outside source(if you want to know who shoot me a PM), but the P. primuliflora were from my personal collection.

 

[amphirion]

i wish i had opportunities to do stuff like this. very jealous!

 

[mcmcnair]

I actually just happened upon this. I was touring the museum with my girlfriend over christmas break and there was someone misting the plants and I was like, nice butterworts. And she was like, "Oh you know your carnivores!" and then she got my info and her boss contacted me. It was just random chance. But i'm definitely glad it happened