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Flytraps outdoors in the cold?

my mom said on the home and graden show a lady in PA has a bog graden and has tons of venus flytraps growing in it. now how do they make it through the winter. theres noway they would. she must just have them in a pot in the ground??? and dig them up before the first frost.
 
Why would they not make it through the winter? It may get negligibly colder than in Wilmington, North Carolina, but with a few inches of straw or hay mulch, they'd be quite fine through the winter.
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I have heard of vft's surviving in Mi. I know it get's alot colder there then it does in NC, but it can get pretty cold in Southeastern NC too. The coldest I remember it getting there was 0f in Dec 89. There was 13 inches of snow in one night. Of couse that is not typical. A normal winter in SE NC has a few nights below freezing.
This year I am experimenting with a bog garden in ohio. I have sundews, vfts, and pitcher plants. I'm going to cover it with pinestraw this winter and see what survives.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> but with a few inches of straw or hay mulch, they'd be quite fine through the winter.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

You should never use hay, It traps the moisture in the bog and won't let it breath causeing the plants to rot.
 
yes - i guess they would be fine covered up really good. my parents live near willmington NC
 
Depends on where in PA they are..
southern PA has a MUCH milder winter than northern PA!
on the PA/MD border they have winters like Washington DC, quite mild..
but on the PA/NY border they get the same winters as upstate NY! much colder and much more snow! (I know because I grew up there!
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but still..people have been sucessfully keeping southern Sarrs and VFTs outside for all winter in quite cold climates..I have heard of Vermont! so it can be done..im going to try it once I have a yard of my own...

and yes, everytime I have read about one of these "northern bogs" they key has been HEAVY insulation! like a foot or two of leaves or pine needles on top! also, I think you would have much more success with a bog right in the ground..the ground stays much warmer than a "contaner bog" above ground would..

Ozzy, keep us updated on your bog!
how big is it?

Scot
 
My bog is about 7 ft long by 4ft wide. I don't have it in the ground yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to buy the house I'm living in yet or not. If I buy it I'll bury the bog.
What I plan to do this winter is to surround it with heavy insulation. Then mulch the top with pine straw. I think that this will be good enough.
 
then what do you do you do in the spring then, just pull all the mulch and stuff away from where the plants are???
 
I built it this year so this coming spring will be my first. What I plan to do is burn the pinestraw off.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (0zzy @ July 12 2003,03:35)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">My bog is about 7 ft long by 4ft wide.  I don't have it in the ground yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to buy the house I'm living in yet or not. If I buy it I'll bury the bog.
What I plan to do this winter is to surround it with heavy insulation. Then mulch the top with pine straw. I think that this will be good enough.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
how much did it cost you to make your bog
what is it made out of
what plants do you have in it
can you take pics
 
  • #10
i wish i had some ploace in my landscape to plant my flytraps. i don't have any trees for alittle shad in my yard and the mulch and soil would dry out to quick for them and they would be in direct sun all the time.
 
  • #11
Direct sun is very good for vft's, you'll just have to make sure that the soil stays wet enough.
 
  • #12
i've been to ozzy's house and seen his neato bog, its sweet. im anxious to see what happens over the winter, mark you're such a risktaker!!
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 next time im over we should take some pics of your bog and i need to re-shoot that beastly nep of yours cause the other pics came out crappie
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(spider looks coool though
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). there are soo many plants hidden in there, everytime im looking through it i find another sundew or something-they're everywhere!!!! definately cp-riffic
 
  • #13
kepping the soil wet would be the big problem- plus if i buy some from a green house, and planted them out in the yard in direct sun they would burn right???
 
  • #14
Thanks for the compliments. I have more plants in it now.

I'm glad that the pics of Spyder came out good because we won't have another chance of taking more pics of him. Sadly the wind blew over his aquarium the other morning when we had that really bad storm. I looked for him but I couldn't find him. I found his roommate, the guppie, he was still alive but he died later that day. Since I have no idea what Spyder was I don't know if he can survive without water. Please send me his pics next time I see you online.

You'll have to come over and get more pics of the nep, it just had another pitcher open.
 
  • #15
hmm what kind of animal are you talking about? just wondering. maybe i will check the green house and see if they have flytraps and i will experiment with one in my landscape and see what happens. if i took it out of the pot and and just dug a hole in my potting soil would that be ok? this soil is very soft and healthy.
 
  • #16
I don't know what he was. I had plnned to put his pics on here and see if anybody else knew what he is. I'll probably still do that. He looked like some kind of spider but he only had 6 legs. He lived in water and swam very good. I'll post the pic when Death66 sends it to me.

Don't use potting soil, it'll kill vft's. Use peat moss and perlite 50/50 mix.
 
  • #17
I have an in ground bog and there are flytraps in it. I am going to make a short, mesh covered frame to cover the whole bog. This will be covered with several inches of mulch. The frame is to aid in the clean, easy removal of the mulch. It will also give a beneficial air space. My bog is directly linked to a 400 gallon pond. The pond will have a floating heater to aid in gas release from the pond through the winter. I am in Nebraska, but I am hopefully that the bog will be fine. I have been able to grow other plants that are not supposed to survive a big freeze in this manner.
 
  • #18
hmm so it was some kind of bug not a animal? did it try to bite you? can't wait to see the pic
 
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