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Overwintering bog plants in a very cold climate
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Posted by sahoyaref Alberta z3a (My Page) on Thu, Feb 3, 05 at 0:17
| I would like to make a container bog garden for my balcony this year, only I have no idea how to overwinter the plants. I would like to grow mainly Sarracenia, most of which are not hardy to my zone, and the one that is is not hardy below my zone, so it would still die from freezing solid on the baloncy over the winter (I live in an apartment). So could I overwinter the plants like one overwinters VFTs, in the fridge? Would they take up a lot of room? That is, would I need to leave all the pitchers intact, or could I cut them off and just retain the root balls with the crowns? Has anyone done this before? Another option I may have is to bury the plants completely in my parent's garden. (You know, dig a deep hole, lay the plants in the hole, cover them up again). Do they need to stay moist all winter? I just can't afford to buy all new plants every year. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Overwintering bog plants in a very cold climate
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| Overwinter them in the fridge. I have all my plants in a bog outside, when it goes below 0 degrees F.most of the pitchers are killed anyway leaving only the rhizomes to come back in spring and they do just fine. They do need to be kept moist throughout the winter though. I've also seen S. purpurea frozen solid in the ice in the boundary waters of Minnesota so they may well be able to stand your balcony for the winter too! |
RE: Overwintering bog plants in a very cold climate
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| No, I know for a fact that they won't survive the winter on my balcony. They won't even survive in the ground here. Zone 3 is just beyond their hardiness. But I can handle a bunch of rhizomes in my fridge. Should I keep them in plastic bags, so that they stay moist? Won't they rot? |
RE: Overwintering bog plants in a very cold climate
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| Barely moist in ziplock bags with spagnum should do the trick! |
RE: Overwintering bog plants in a very cold climate
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For the record, if you're talking about the native Sarracenia species (purpurea?), it is indeed hardy below zone 3. You'll see it in bogs in the boreal forest...of course, the problem is getting out into the center of a bog to look, LOL! It's easy at a place like Boundary Bog Trail in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, where the floating boardwalk gets you right out there with the pitcher plants, sundews, bog rosemary and the odd loon...wonderful! Of course, hardiness depends on getting seeds or plants from hardy stock, too, rather than from more southerly populations.
We got S. purpurea (and some other species or hybrids, haven't researched them yet) last year and are trying it both in an outdoor acid bed, and wintering it in a coldroom (along with the other species/hybrids). |
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