Question
QUESTION: I am looking to expand my outdoor carnivorous garden, which currently contains Sarracenia purpurea, Sarracenia Scarlet Belle, Sarracenia rubra, Sarracenia flava, Drosera filiformis, Drosera rotundifolia, all of which are doing well after one winter, except for the Drosera rotundifolia.  I live in Rhode Island and my garden is on the Southeast side of the house(primary winter winds are from the West.  Last year I mulched with 12" of pine needles on top of 8" of oak leaves.  What other carnivorous plants can I grow in this outdoor garden?

ANSWER: Hi Karst,

Congratulations on your growing success!  Overwintering carnivorous plants is a challenge for many growers, and it appears you are already an experienced gardener.  Since you're familiar with winter protection, you can grow any of the North American carnivorous plants, including flytraps.  The key is to mulch in accordance to your USDA zone and prevent fungal infections.  We have customers as far north as Maine who have successfully over wintered their North American species in their outdoor bog garden.

Visit our webiste, http://www.cobraplant.com, and click on the Best Plants For You link.  Just answer a few short questions and you'll get a list of plants best suited for your region and growing conditions. The list is mostly for first-time growers, but with your experience, you can expand it to other types of North American plants.  

Good growing!
Jacob Farin



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Jacob -
As a landscape architect, I do pretty well with plants.  But not many of my colleagues pursue the more non-traditional planting schemes.  

Just to clarify.  If I read you correctly, I should be able to successfully grow any of the plants you list as temperate plants native the United States, Canada and Europe, including Darlingtonia and butterworts. Is that correct?  If so, that is super.  We have gotten overnight temperatures as low as 0 - as long as they are mulched to avoid freeze/thaw damage, will the plants survive those temps?  And should I wait until spring to plant so as to avoid any transplant shock or acclimitization problems?  Thank you for your help.

Answer
Maybe the more accurate thing to say is that you can grow nearly all North American carnivorous plants.  Darlingtonia represents a different challenge.  Growers have been successful in overwintering this plant in zone 5, but it's the summer months that will determine your overall success.  It also requires a bit more care and soil conditions, so you may need to care for this species separately.  I suggest reading our Darlingtonia care sheet before deciding whether to give this plant a try:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

Butterworts from the west coast (P. macroceras), Canadian butterworts (P. vulgaris) and European butterworts will over winter easily in your area.  However, like Darlingtonia, they don't like a lot of heat, so you'll need to find ways to keep them cool.

Butterworts from the southern US, such as P. primuliflora, P. caerulea and P. planiflora, will appreciate your summers.  However, they are very prone to fungal infections, and we've discovered that people tend to lose them when covering them up with mulch.  They do best if left uncovered in winter, but they can't tolerate anything colder than zone 8.  With these plants, I recommend growing them like annuals in cold climates.

You can get plants now provided that you purchase them from a nursery that grows their plants outdoors.  We're already in the middle of fall, so you want plants that are already acclimated to cold temperatures.  If you purchase plants from a nursery that grows their plants in greenhouses, then you will struggle with acclimation issues.

We grow our North American plants strictly outdoors (zone 8), so all of our plants will easily acclimate to their new homes.  However, many of our species are not available during fall and winter.  We often remove them from our inventory until early spring.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin