Question
Hello, this is a question regarding my pitcher plant.  My plant is a hybrid between leucophylla and something else, the cultivar name is Daina's Delight.  It lives in an outdoor bog garden in USDA zone 5.  I was wondering when I should expect to start seeing growth on the plant.  Note that it probably isn't yet at flowering maturity.  Feeling somewhat concerned, I half dug up the plant today to check on the rhizome, which appears to be white by the way.  It appears it survived the hard winter, but if you could give me an idea of when I should start to see the first set of pitchers that would be great.  Also, did I possibly disturb it today by inspecting the rhizome?  Much appreciated.

Answer
Hello Fred,

According to region, when the cold has receded and the temperature has warmed to over 60 degrees, you should start seeing growth in your Sarracenias. Now this could take a couple weeks before you actually see any new leaves growing in, but give it time. Mine are already in growth and tried to flower, but I clipped the flowers back to give them another year before blooming. After coming out of dormancy, it did take a few weeks before they awoke sufficiently to sprout anew. Repotting and any disturbance of roots is best done just before they come out of dormancy, so your fine on that account too (although I really have had no problems with uprooting and repotting plants of all sizes and age groups at any time with Sarracenias).

Christopher