Question
Hi,

I reside in Walnut Cove,NC in zone 7. My questions regard two things. When I first planted my 3 new sundews in the bog I was in a hurry to cover them with pine straw and then tarp them for the dip into the teens we experienced a few weeks ago. When it was over I clipped back all foliage. I just want to know if this was a good idea? While parts of the stems and leaves looked good some of the tips and forks were turning black. As with the pitchers and flytraps I thought it would be good to trim them back for the sake of hygiene. My other question regards my flytrap. I have it located in a part of my bog that is for the most part very damp but floods easily during heavy/prolonged rains. Fortunately when the rain has ceased it drains in about a day. I have read that flytraps will tolerate a little bit of flooding. Is this true? If not, then I will definitely be relocating it in a higher section of the bog before spring gets here.

Anyways,

Thanks!

Daniel Bunton

Answer
Hi Daniel,

Clipping back your fork-leaf sundews is a good idea.  We routinely clip all of ours.  They will normally die back to their roots during the winter, then begin to grow back when the weather warms.  It's a little different than North American sundews such as D. filiformis or D. intermedia that form hibernacula, but it serves the same purpose.  For the other plants, it is always a good idea to trim them back.  It prevents problems with mold.  The only plants you should leave pitchers on are Sarracenia purpurea and S. psittacina.

I would recommend moving the flytraps to higher ground in the bog.  They tend to have problems if they stay waterlogged for long periods of time.  Short periods are usually not a problem.  Often when I hear of folks loosing potted flytraps here locally in Oregon during the winter, and they protected them from extreme freezing, it's usually because they left them deep in water over the winter.  We get constant rain over the winter, and if a plant is left in deep water vessel they remain flooded.  North Carolina is more off and on I guessing unless you're in the mountains.

Good Growing!

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