Pitcher Plants: Care and Growing Guide

If ever a plant had deceiving looks, it's the pitcher plant. Exotic in appearance, these plants are amazingly adaptive to less-than-ideal conditions. Whether intrigued by their distinctive beauty or seeking an out-of-the-ordinary garden addition, here's a comprehensive list of pitcher plant facts.

Pitcher Plant Basics—Sandy, nutrient-deficient soils seem incompatible with plants, but that's where pitcher plants started. "They were stuck in dry sand and modified leaves into a pitcher," says Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery, Raleigh, NC.

Inside the pitcher are good-smelling compounds. Mixed with water, they attract insects. Insects crawl in, slip down slick insides, fall, drown, dissolve. The plant uses insects as fertilizer. "Very clever; they made lemonade out of lemons."

Early explorers thought pitcher plants came from Mars—they're so out-of-this-world. "Pitcher plants are ultimate examples of adaptation," says Avent. "With Venus flytrap, they're the stuff of great stories and movies like Little Shop of Horrors." Learn how to care for a Venus flytrap.

Pitcher plants native from Canada to Florida and across Texas; separate genus in Canada and third on West Coast. "They grow in seasonally flooded areas that don't stay flooded long."

How to Grow Pitcher Plants—Evolution provides clues. "Common mistake: keep them too wet. If soggy, they die." They like wet toes, dry ankles, full sun. Avent recommends pure peat moss (containers or ground), never fertilize. "They like water down ~6 inches, top dry. In shade, they go downhill."

Pitcher Plant Bloom Guide—Before pitchers emerge, plants produce white, pink, red, or yellow blooms April through May. Varieties with white-topped parent also bloom in fall. Flowers are "bizarre"—like fair rides that hang you in a cart and twirl upside-down.

How to Use Pitcher Plants in Gardens and Containers—Breeders produce new varieties yearly. In Europe, highly prized as cut flowers. While tropical pitcher plants exist, garden types grow to Zone 4.

In containers, place a dish of water underneath to keep toes wet. Containers need hibernation time. "If they don't, they come back up in a bad mood and waste away." Winter: chill below 40°F but no cooler than -25°F for a couple months, then bring inside. Chill gives rest but keeps roots from freezing.

Resist dumping lots of insects in pitchers. "If the pitcher fills up, it can't photosynthesize. Pitcher plants thrive on neglect."

Kids love them—great tool to interest children in gardening. See different varieties in our Plant Encyclopedia. Learn about other carnivorous plants. Learn about insect-eating plants for indoors.