Bog garden update

[paphioboy]

Just google for pics if you wanna see VFT flowers... they're tiny, simple 5-petalled white flowers.

 

[fbrem]

Very nice Forrest, I'd love to see a few photos of the pitcher's when they mature. The rubra flowers are intense, the 'flava' form is one I had never seen before. Cool.

Some day, I want to try to put in a bog garden too.

After a little more research I think that one is actually a form of S. alata, apparently all rubras have red flowers and only alata flowers approach white. I have a few small divisions of this one I pulled today, if anyone is interested PM me.

Forrest

 

[goldenrose]

I went back thru your original bog post & have a couple of questions if you don't mind -
Your bog is 18" deep, being in IL. zone 5, sounds like it would be better to go to 24" deep?
You also stated it's lined with 6mil plastic & if you were to do it over you'd use multiple layers or high quality rubber liner, reason being? durability? If not exposed to the light, the plastic should hold up & be easier to poke holes in it. Your holes are near the top or do you have some low, at the bottom as well?
I have a 5' round earth bottom lily pond that's probably close to 2' deep & although it would be alot of work to remove the soil/muck that seems the best location, my only concern is the amount of good quality water needed ....

 

[fbrem]

I went back thru your original bog post & have a couple of questions if you don't mind -
Your bog is 18" deep, being in IL. zone 5, sounds like it would be better to go to 24" deep?
You also stated it's lined with 6mil plastic & if you were to do it over you'd use multiple layers or high quality rubber liner, reason being? durability? If not exposed to the light, the plastic should hold up & be easier to poke holes in it. Your holes are near the top or do you have some low, at the bottom as well?
I have a 5' round earth bottom lily pond that's probably close to 2' deep & although it would be alot of work to remove the soil/muck that seems the best location, my only concern is the amount of good quality water needed ....

24" deep would be fine. most bog cp's crowns or rhizomes are at most a few inches deep so having it deeper won't help with cold tolerance, but it will provide a better root zone. A plastic cover when temps get below 20F should be fine. if you focus on more nothern cp's I doubt any more than pine needle mulch will be needed in winter. About the lining, sometimes I'm surprised when I read the things I've said. I think the heavy duty plastic is just fine, the rubber may be overkill or even toxic to plants. about 24 holes were poked in the bottom with a wooden skewer, a 1/8 drill bit should do well for your plastic liner. It's a lot of work on the initial install but the 5 years of joy I've gotten from it and the many trades it has facilitated have made it more than worth the effort. Hose water is fine as long as it in not extremely hard. poke a few less holes to hold more water so it stays wetter longer, or you ro or carbonfiltered water (like a faucet end brita or similar). Good luck on your project

 

[goldenrose]

Thanks Forrest, I just might have to go for it! Funds aren't abundant but I already have The Savage Garden, a bale of Can.peat & sand is cheap, and a large pond liner that we've never used. All it takes from there is some woman power! I pulled my 2 extra barrels out of the basement so I now have 6, that should give me some back up as my well water TDS is 350 I 'd probably reduce the # of holes or maybe all? Here's my thought - put in a pvc stand pipe which is in a pocket of gravel. The pond is not quite level so there's an overflow spot, which is opposite of the standpipe. I could put fresh rainwater down the stand pipe, which would mix with & hopefully push up the older water & it overflows. Now the question, how often would I need to do that? You said your bog smelled stagnant before you put in the holes, were the plants doing OK?

 

[fbrem]

Thanks Forrest, I just might have to go for it! Funds aren't abundant but I already have The Savage Garden, a bale of Can.peat & sand is cheap, and a large pond liner that we've never used. All it takes from there is some woman power! I pulled my 2 extra barrels out of the basement so I now have 6, that should give me some back up as my well water TDS is 350 I 'd probably reduce the # of holes or maybe all? Here's my thought - put in a pvc stand pipe which is in a pocket of gravel. The pond is not quite level so there's an overflow spot, which is opposite of the standpipe. I could put fresh rainwater down the stand pipe, which would mix with & hopefully push up the older water & it overflows. Now the question, how often would I need to do that? You said your bog smelled stagnant before you put in the holes, were the plants doing OK?

at a conductivity of 350 your well water is probably an eventual cp killer so the barrels of rainwater would perfect. Not sure how often it would need to be flushed but your idea sounds like a good one. I would not eliminate all drain holes to prevent a reductive environment at the roots. Yes the plants were doing ok when I removed them from my old smelly bog, who knows for how much longer. Now that they are in a well drained bog they are much happier. Just play with the watering, most cp's are pretty forgiving. And dig you hand or a wooden skewer into the media every few months and smell it, if it gets that anoxic smell poke more holes and change media. Once you get it right you'll only have to weed, water, and enjoy for years. Good luck

 

[fbrem]

Sarracenia pics

now that the flowers are done the pitchers are in...

S. purpurea

S. alata white flower

S. alata yellow flower

S. flava 'Coppertop'

S. flava

S. leucophylla

S. rubra

S. Judith Hindle

Whole thing

 

[goldenrose]

Just gorgeous! Now I'm telling myself - it's only a matter of time!
Forrest - did you ever mention the dimensions of yours? Is the fence section 8', 10' ? How many different varieties do you have? (You've got 11 pics in this post). There are so many color varieties, it's hard to narrow down my choices! ....
another addiction! :crazy: I'm even considering trying some seeds!
Is your bog firm enough that you can put a foot on it to weed or trim down plants in fall?

 

[goods]

Any update on the bog from this year's blooming? I had flowers from one of my S. purpureas and Pinguicula primuliflora in the mini bog, and a random seedling I found appears to be a form of flava. I picked up a S. psittacina from a local show. I lost my largish colony of S. rubra and S. leucophylla to rot before I added more drainage