Question
Hello! Last summer when we were away for several weeks I made a "flotilla" of sheet styrofoam to hold my plants afloat in our 1.5 acre pond. They grew like crazy. I just saw in your newsletter that zone 7 or colder should be covered in mulch by now. Should I leave the plants on the flotilla, or move to dry land & cover. I usually do not cover them at all. The pond does have ice some, but does not last long. I am in zone 7, just beyond foothills area of NC, but we have just last week gotten some cold (high 34) days, which is unuaual for here(today it's 60). We do get sustained 20 degree weeks sometimes, but not the norm. The plants are Tarnok, Flava, J.Hindle, Scar. Belle. Thanks for your consideration!

Answer
Hi Holly,

Winter across the country has been unusually warm.  If your freezes have been short and intermittent, you don't need to do anything.  The pond does give extra warmth anyway.  If this month you do end up with what looks to be a week or so of extended freezing weather, just throw a tarp over your flotilla and weight it down with rocks or bricks.  That should be all the protection you need for a short time.  Those Sarracenia varieties are quite tough anyway.  We have a couple floating gardens and we remove them and put them in cold frames if we have temperatures in the teens, but just 20's are of little concern.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com