KyushuCalanthe
Just call me Tom
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
- Messages
- 8,188
- Reaction score
- 476
I've got a couple "portable" bog gardens (hell on the back though). Here's the newest one. It was put together back in the fall of 2008. There are a number of orchids and insectivorous plants growing quite nicely. By this fall the larger pitcher plants will no doubt be much more bulked up.
The whole thing, sitting on the top of the garden shed for optimal sunshine - still only about 6-8 hours of full sun per day - enough, but more is better.
There are five types of Sarracenia in there, three hybrids, and these two species, S. alata and S. leucophylla. These top out at around 3 feet when happy, sometimes more.
One of my favorites though is this bog hugging hybrid pitcher. Yes, it is that red in real life. One parent is definitely S. psittacina and likely the other is some form of S. purpurea.
An Australian addition to the bog is this cool sundew, Drosera binata. Generally thought to be cold sensitive, I've found it to be able to handle the frosts we get here (not below 25 F). It is deciduous in winter.
Of course I had to put at least one Japanese plant in as well. Here is one of the two native Pogonia species of Japan, P. japonica. These spread like crazy via slender stolons and can travel surprisingly far. Having said that, they are tricky and quick to die back as well, so any given colony can be very strong one season and very thin the next.
Finally, just to make it a truly international bog garden, here is the European Dactylorhiza fuchsii. This climate is really pushing its heat tolerance, but it has been surviving for a couple seasons now.
Containerized bog gardens unfortunately don't last forever since the substrate becomes too decomposed through time. Natural bogs have a constant input of new organic material through plant growth and many have at least some water flow - both of these are lacking in bog garden. The upshot is, after about four or five years you have to break them down totally and start all over again. Worth the trouble in my opinion!
The whole thing, sitting on the top of the garden shed for optimal sunshine - still only about 6-8 hours of full sun per day - enough, but more is better.
![BogWHL.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/cf8/cf8c533b3b47a5c8a1f3f5a5bd8301f1.jpg)
There are five types of Sarracenia in there, three hybrids, and these two species, S. alata and S. leucophylla. These top out at around 3 feet when happy, sometimes more.
![Sarracenias.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/a24/a248d809967f48aad234094c0ae7ed7b.jpg)
One of my favorites though is this bog hugging hybrid pitcher. Yes, it is that red in real life. One parent is definitely S. psittacina and likely the other is some form of S. purpurea.
![SarrPsittHyb.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/575/575d38b3710d1366031a46d93eaf243f.jpg)
An Australian addition to the bog is this cool sundew, Drosera binata. Generally thought to be cold sensitive, I've found it to be able to handle the frosts we get here (not below 25 F). It is deciduous in winter.
![DrosBif.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/68b/68b0f4f5652e759ad8aaaa80b66cbd10.jpg)
Of course I had to put at least one Japanese plant in as well. Here is one of the two native Pogonia species of Japan, P. japonica. These spread like crazy via slender stolons and can travel surprisingly far. Having said that, they are tricky and quick to die back as well, so any given colony can be very strong one season and very thin the next.
![PogoniaJaponica.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/bec/bec156ddfd7712ced595740ac6ff6c89.jpg)
Finally, just to make it a truly international bog garden, here is the European Dactylorhiza fuchsii. This climate is really pushing its heat tolerance, but it has been surviving for a couple seasons now.
![DactyMajalis.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/c7f/c7fab15ea16388a61b6053df751179a2.jpg)
Containerized bog gardens unfortunately don't last forever since the substrate becomes too decomposed through time. Natural bogs have a constant input of new organic material through plant growth and many have at least some water flow - both of these are lacking in bog garden. The upshot is, after about four or five years you have to break them down totally and start all over again. Worth the trouble in my opinion!