Cromp

Ron, Glad you like it. One of the advantages of allowing crawling bugs into the bog is that my Sarracenia catch many ants in summer. Slugs occasionally do munch on my Pogonia orchids, I use pellets (iron phosphate) to deal with them. But if you have the space and a slug-infested garden, a canal may be a good idea. I will add some info on the new bog to the site once it's finished, if you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask.

You may want to consult my website, about my own bog. I would strongly recommend you to make it as deep as possible (50 cm or more), and to put plastic containers (buckets, baskets, anything that will hold 5 litres or more) upside down in the pit. You can get plastic buckets for free at bakeries (they sell cream in them, at least over here). Drill holes in the top, so the air can escape. The containers will fill with rainwater and release it back to the peat (through capillary action) during the drier months, thus ensuring your bog stays wet in summer and eliminating the need to water it. Plus you will save a huge amount of peat: a layer of 10-15 cm on top will suffice for the roots. At the moment I’m building a 15 m² bog at a friends place; we will instal a 1 m³ plastic tank cut in two as a water storing container. I used peat mixed with silver sand for my bog, the new one will be filled with 100% peat. If you can fill it now, the peat will have all winter to get soaked with water. I successfully grow Sarracenia purpurea S. flava S. psittacina Sarracenia hybrids with purpurea as one of the parents With somewhat less success: S. leucophylla & S. rubra Good Drosera species to try are Drosera intermedia, rotundifolia and to a lesser extend D. anglica and D. filiformis. Pinguicula grandiflora seems to have a hard time competing with the Sphagnum. I wonder if a peaty soil outdoors is well suited for this species? The only terrestrial utric I have growing reliably outside is U. subulata. I introduced U. cornuta last year, but it just dissapeared over winter. The companion plants I keep are Aster nemoralis Calluna vulgaris Pogonia ophioglossoides Vaccinum oxycoccos Vaccinum macrocarpon Vaccinium vitis-idaea Sphagnum moss is covering all of the soil with a lush green carpet, no more peat splashes after heavy rains. It may be wise to initially protect your bog from birds, as they love to tear up the sphagnum in spring. In my case the moss grew faster than the birds could uproot it after a few short months. Hope this helps,

Hi, I took some photos on this rainy day U. bisquamata "Betties Bay", my favorite terrestrial: Drosera regia, this is the first winter (since I've had them in 2001) they died back completely, now they're coming back from the roots. I think it's because the air in the conservatory has been much more humid this winter (water from melting snow got in): Sarracenia flava: Enjoy,

Here's an update: S. x formosa: Left side S. purpurea:

Hi Dustin, I'm growing them in peat/perlite/sand. I tried some in Sphagnum (as D'Amato recommends) but they never got quite as red as those growing in peat.

I got U. cornuta and U. juncea from Dieter last year. Both are in flower at the moment, and indeed it looks to me like they are both U. cornuta, judging from Schnell’s description (fragrant flowers between 1 and 2 cm). There are clear differences between both clones, one started flowering early June (and still is - like Sean said the flowers last ages) and has taller (25 cm) scapes , the other opened its first flower about six weeks later. My plants have had some frost in winter; water level is kept low during winter, in spring kept just below the surface.

Martin - stunning photograps, especially the regia flower and the VFT.

Very nice specimen, maybe 'shrub' is a better word to describe it ;) My plants don't throw up offshoots like that (even though they're now flowering for the second year), probably a genetic difference. The clone from carniflora seem to have this habit too.

You probably mean the red plant on the left of the VFT picture? That's a S x formosa. I have two Darlingtonia clones near adulthood now (I've got some 3 year old seedling as well - 4 cm across already :shocked:). Once I can get one one of my plants to flower I'll give it a try. Mike, grass clippings are not really a problem (happened only once), as long as you keep the lawnmower's wheels of the sleepers.

Stevie D, if you did spot Darlingtonia in one of these pictures your eyes have an astonishing resolving power ;) I've put two offshoots outside last year, one died already and the other, well... Maybe they need running water over their roots, I don't know. Anyone successfully growing Darlingtonia outside mind giving me some hints?

Laurent, They are in the conservatory, winter lows to a few degrees below freezing, in a mix of 1:2 peat:perlite. They are in the same pot as one of my regias. Interestingly, I also have some growing in 100% LFS. These nearly kicked the bucket after a late cold spell, those in peat-perlite didn't even notice.

Thanks for the comments. Ries: I used 1:1 peat:silversand (wit zand). See my website for more details. Sheila: you're right Soon I'll add U. cornuta and U. juncea in that depression. Giuseppe: those shrubs are Rhododendron sp.

I took some pictures of the bog this evening - hope you like them. Overview, I intend to keep it covered from the birds untill the Sphagnum has formed a dense carpet Sarracenia oreophila is generally considered a very good bog plant, my plant never grew well outside, I think I know why now: The two plants on the left are O10 (front) and O6 (back) from Mike King, both with two flowers. The one on the left is my original plant, outside for 3 years now, didn't flower last year and won't flower this year neither. Drosera rotundifolia: More Drosera VFT’s don’t like to have soggy feet all the time, that’s why I planted them on a hill: Drosera filiformis ssp. filiformis, I planted ssp. tracyi outside too, I suppose they rotted away in winter. To the right is aster nemoralis Sarracenia flava (and some flava hybrids) flowers. When the flowered last year, the pitchers opened simultaneously View of the right side Overview from the left:

Much earlier than last year...

Hmmm, my plant didn't flower yet... Maybe next year.