Building a Bog Garden in a Clawfoot Tub: Plant Selection for Buffalo, NY

Creating a bog garden in a clawfoot tub in Buffalo (Zone 5/6). Peat/perlite mix, live moss topdressing, full sun. You have purple pitcher plants (S. purpurea). What sundews and companions work?

Hardy Sundews (Zone 5+)

• Drosera intermedia (spoon-leaf sundew)
• D. rotundifolia (round-leaf sundew)
• D. filiformis (thread-leaf sundew)—source from northern populations (Cape Cod, NJ). Avoid "Florida Giant" or red forms (not cold-hardy).

Other Excellent Additions

• Butterworts: Pinguicula grandiflora, P. vulgaris (temperate species)
• Bog orchids: Calopogon, Pogonia, Arethusa (specialist nurseries)
• Bog shrubs: Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia)

Critical: No Grasses

Sedge and grasses invade fast and are nearly impossible to remove. Weed relentlessly.

Ensure drainage holes in the tub. Use pure water only. Winter protection: mulch heavily or sink tub in ground.