Backyard Bog-In-Progress.

[Dragoness]

Last year, I decided to buy a Rubbermaid style plastic tote, sink it in the ground, and put Sarracenias and VFT's in it. It worked great, but looked a little too redneck... for my tastes anyways. Come fall, I trimmed off the taller pitchers, and put the lid on the tote, and buried it under a mountain of mulch.

This last winter was breaking records for prolonged cold temps, snowfall, etc. When spring finally rolled around, I was nervous about pulling the lid off - not sure what i would find, a pile of dried and decayed plants?

No, not at all. They were alive, and quite upset with me for waiting so long to get that lid off. Pale new leaves were coming up on most, if not all, of the plants. Nobody died despite week-long snaps of -20ºF weather. These pics were taken the day the lid was lifted.

This spring, My grandmother called to ask if I wanted the pond out of her garden. She was having knee surgery, and with declining mobility, would no longer be able to maintain it. For the price of some (not much) elbow grease, it was mine, along with the stones she used to cover the border.

Dug it in last week, and started filling it with Sphagnum, peat and sand.

Currently, I have 2 S. leucophylla (arguably my favorites) an S. psitticina, S. minor, and S. alata, and an S. purpurea, along with about 3 VFT's awaiting transplant. Will probably have to make a larger cover for this bog to keep everyone from getting frozen. Maybe a kiddie wading pool.

I'll share pics as soon as I can figure out resizing. My camera takes huge pics...

 

[Dragoness]

This picture was taken a few days ago. Most of the plants have been pitchering up a storm. The VFT's have been a little slower to take off, but have finally picked up the pace. One is getting ready to flower, and I'm of a mind to let it set seed in the bog.

This is their future home - about ten feet from where they are now.

 

[Dragoness]

These are the plants growing in the bog:

Sarracenia purpurea

Sarracenia psitticina

Sarracenia leucophylla 'tarnok' flower.

Sarracenia alata

 

[Bio]

Wow, those are nice. Really impressed that you got those to survive -20* conditions. Especially the psittacina.

 

[Dragoness]

The S. minor has been the slowest to grow this spring, but it does have a pitcher or two up now. psitticina, alata, and purpurea have all gone bonkers.

 

[Zath]

That's going to look really nice once everything settles in. That's precisely the kind of setup I'd like to have one day, if I ever have water to spare.

 

[Dragoness]

I collect rainwater. The way the roof of my house runs, a single downspout (there are only 2 on the house) collects about 2/3 of all the water that hits my roof. The barrel is 55 gallons. A light drizzle will fill it up in just a few hours.

 

[Dragoness]

Put most of the rest of the sphagnum peat in there today, along with some of the washed sand. It's almost full. I just need a good rain to moisten the stuff, and settle it in. I could do it, but that would be too much like work, lol. Very likely to get rain in the next few days anyways, so I'll wait. Reluctant to move plants while in flower, too.

After the dirt is wet, and the plants are done flowering, I intend to move them, and as much of their current bog dirt as will fit. Planning on using a few of the wider, flatter stones to make a kind of terrace/dam to dig out a lower, wetter, section of the bog, where I could grow some Utrics. Or would I be better off sinking a non-draining pot into the bog for that purpose?

Today's progress:

 

[Dragoness]

Any thoughts on trying Darlingtonia in this bog? I have never had them before. Everything I have read says "keep the soil cool" I can take soil temps from my existing bog, and see where we stand.

How cool is cool? I live in Zone 5. Distilled water ice cubes aren't out of the question on hot days, but I don't want it to have to be necessary every day.

 

[Bio]

The coastal form is out of the question, but the mountain form is probably hardy enough.
Day temperature isn't as important for mountain plants as night temperature is. If the temp at night in summer is 65* or less, it should be fine, at least temperature wise.

 

[Dragoness]

I know we do get nights here that are warmer than that.

 

[Robster_24]

Are you using only Peat?

 

[Dragoness]

Peat/sand mix. But mostly peat.

 

[jimscott]

Any thoughts on trying Darlingtonia in this bog? I have never had them before. Everything I have read says "keep the soil cool" I can take soil temps from my existing bog, and see where we stand.

How cool is cool? I live in Zone 5. Distilled water ice cubes aren't out of the question on hot days, but I don't want it to have to be necessary every day.

My experience is that an established plant can take the summer heat. Decent depth of soil will help insulate them from excessive heat. As to VFT's and letting them go to seed, full sun gives them the energy they need. It's the ones that are inside that don't get enough energy and promptly die. I just moved my cobra lily to a 5 gallon bucket:

 

[Dragoness]

well, where the bog is in my yard, the pond form is dug straight into the ground, so soil depth within the pond is probably ~20". But that's sitting straight in the earth, so it can draw upon the thermal mass of the entire surrounding area = stable soil temps.

It's also in one of the lower areas in my yard, which is never dry, and tends to be the only part of my yard that gets ANY breeze at all, so despite being full sun, it doesn't get baked. I chose that spot for those reasons (high water table, moist surroundings, breeze, and full sun).

I might give it a shot and order some.

They could survive a zone 5 winter outdoors if covered and heavily mulched, right? I'm of the mind to believe that if my Sarrs can do it, so can a Darlingtonia.

 

[Dragoness]

Well, getting ready to transplant all the plants into the new bog next week.

Also all set to order some seeds for cold-temperate CP's that can survive (with a little help) a zone 5 winter. My intention is to sprinkle the seeds on the soil, and allow them to stratify naturally over the winter as they would in the wild. Hopefully, when I pull the tarps/lid/mulch off the bog come spring, I will have new plants sprouting!

Seeds I am currently perusing:

Darlingtonia californica

Sarracenia oreophila (Any Sarr, really, these are just one I don't have that is available.)

Drosera rotundifolia
D. intermedia
D. filiformis
D. anglica
D. binata (possibly)

Pinguicula vulgaris
P. balcanica
P. poldinii
P. grandiflora

 

[dionae]

Your bog is going to look awesome!

 

[raymond]

Last year, I decided to buy a Rubbermaid style plastic tote, sink it in the ground, and put Sarracenias and VFT's in it. It worked great, but looked a little too redneck... for my tastes anyways. Come fall, I trimmed off the taller pitchers, and put the lid on the tote, and buried it under a mountain of mulch.

Impressive results, I'm curious about this as this is something I can literally do tomorrow. Can you provide more details?

 

[Dragoness]

What would you like to know?

Materials needed for bog:
1 rubbermaid style tote with lid. Bigger is better - Mine is probably a 20 gallon, or something similar. Probably close to 18" deep, too.
Bog Soil mix of your choice. I used almost entirely sphagnum peat, with a little sand in it.

Dig a hole the size of your tote.

Put tote in hole.

Fill tote with bog soil and water CP safe water to settle it in.

Once the soil is pretty settled, drill or poke holes at or slightly below bog soil level to prevent your bog from getting too wet. This lets excess water drain out so your plants aren't flooded. I put no drainage holes below this, so the soil in the bog will generally remain moist. Unless you have a drought, it won't require watering much, if at all.

Add plants. I have assorted Sarracenias and VFT's. (S. purpurea, S. psitticina, S. leucophylla 'Tarnok', S. alata, S. Minor, and a few VFT's.)

You may wish to fence in your bog - I have wildlife that is not plant-friendly here, so I made a removable cage that goes over top of it. Make it tall enough to accomodate any plants you plan on sticking in your bog. Some Sarrs get pretty tall!

You need:
Cage/fence mesh. I used something called Hardware Cloth - it has 1/2" holes, so only insects can get through.

It is stapled to a frame made from 2x2's. It fits neatly over my bog, and keeps deer, rabbits, coons, cats, groundhogs, etc out of it.

If your plants are used to outdoor living, plant them at any time during their active growing season. If they are coming from a terrarium or indoor location, acclimate them during late spring or early summer, and plant them then.

To winterize: Around the time cold weather (frosts) start to happen, and your plants have gone dormant, stop watering. Cut down pitchers (Fun to dissect them and see what your Sarrs ate). Where I live in Zone 5, this is around the fall equinox.

Place tote lid on your bin. Cover with mulch. More is better. If you are an avid gardener, most garden centers offer it on sale this time of year. I simply stacked the bags on top of my bin, and left them there all winter. Then in spring, you have bags of mulch ready to use. No mess, No fuss!

If you have a bin without a lid, you can always place boards over it, followed by a tarp, upon which you place loose or bagged mulch for the winter months.

Mainly, you want the mulch over your plants, without crushing them into the dirt!

In the spring, I had to dig it out in layers. I could remove one bag of mulch, and the underlying ones were frozen solid. I had to let them thaw in the sunlight for a day or two before removing the next layer. Start excavating when the days are warm enough to go outside without a parka and not get hypothermia. Here, that is usually mid march, though I could probably have done it sooner. When I opened it up in the spring, pale, light-deprived new leaves greeted me.

 

[CorneliusSchrute]

The cobras would be worth a try. I think the mountain form will perform well for you. I have these plants in containers with recirculating water. They see much warmer temperatures than are recommended by conventional wisdom and thrive.