The Bog

Is coming along nicely.

As you can see below we don't have much planted. Mainly because I didn't want to spend too much in the first year, unsure of how things would fare. But there are a number of plants growing, although I'm not sure we want them all.

Each year in June the Whitesbog Preservation Trust holds the Blueberry Festival. And for the past couple of years I've volunteered at the native plant table. We of course sell blueberry plants along with a selection of easy to grow natives. And Sarracenia purpurea, the Purple Pitcher Plant. A carnivorous plant native to the Pine Barrens.

And I've been buying a couple each year, knowing I'd one day have a bog to fill. Last year Patty divided them up and planted them in the bog. We didn't know what to expect. Would they survive being divided? Would they survive the winter? Would they grow in the bog?

Well as you can see from the flowers above, they sure did. We had eleven flowers in the bog this year. And almost all of the plants are thriving.

We also had flowering Venus Flytraps. Venus Flytraps are not native to this area, being found south in the Carolinas. But a local nursery had them for sale and I think they're cool so I bought some. And so far so good.

You might have noticed that both the pitcher plant and flytrap flowers are on long stalks. That's so the plant doesn't eat the pollinators. At least until after pollination.

A number or my plant geek friends have questioned the logic of planting a species native to the Carolinas here in New Jersey, wondering if the flytraps will survive the winter.  I think they will. And as evidence I present the image below.

I planted this Venus Flytrap last fall. I bought it in the check out line at a big home improvement store for a couple of bucks on end of season closeout. It was rather small and when I did not see it earlier in the year I figured it had not made it. But just this past weekend I found it poking up through the pine needle mulch.

These Thread-leaf Sundews were also purchased at a local nursery. As they are native to the Pine Barrens it is no surprise that they survived the winter.

Not everything is doing well. I purchased some live Sphagnum Moss. It now appears to be dead Sphagnum Moss. And I bought a couple of Utricularia cornuta plants which have not (yet?) sprouted.

But all in all things are doing well. And a couple of friends have told me they've plants they'll be giving us to add to the bog. And I'll be making additional purchases. So hopefully this time next year the bog will be packed with plants. That's the plan, wish me luck.