Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I live in Walnut Cove, NC zone 8. My question regards both a venus flytrap I got earlier in the year from you guys and a few sundews I recently ordered. The venus flytrap I ordered was a small one but was still roughly 1"-1 1/2" in diameter. Towards the end of the year as summer ended and now that it is in dormancy it has gotten quite smaller (about around an inch). I guess I just want to know if this is normal. Otherwise I'm very happy with it. My other question with you concerns the D. Multifida Extreme and the D. Binata/Dichotoma family in general. I am a bog garden enthusiast, and if I can get away with it want to be able to include plants like D. Binata or D. Multifida in it. While I am aware this is not the best setup for them, I'm curious as to whether or not this can be done? I know plants like D. Marston Dragon and D. Multifida Extrema don't really go dormant but can take brief freezes. Is it possible for them to tough it out in a bog garden setting provided mulch is used and they are well tarped (during the freeze)? I know they can take some freezing, I just want to know how best to assist in protecting them during frosts/freezes and if I should even bother in a bog if it's going to be to cold? I'm fairly confident about growing the D. filiformis 'red leaf'. Thanks for your info and your cool plants!

Daniel Bunton

ANSWER: Hi Daniel,

It's very normal for Venus flytraps to greatly reduce in size during the winter.  Usually just a few traps remain during the cold weather.  We just had ours weather 3 nights in the single digits.

Fork-leaf sundews from the Drosera binata complex are amazingly tough.  Just last year we stopped growing the Giant Staghorn (D. binata var. dichotoma) as a tropical and started leaving them outside with the North American Sundews.  They die back to their roots, then come back in May.  They were bigger and much more vigorous than when we had them in the greenhouse.  D. binata multifida is a bit more tropical, but does respond much the same way.  Last year I had a large pot of Marston Dragons that were left out completely unprotected during temperatures in the teens.  It still came back from it roots with a vengeance.  Bottom line, go ahead and put them in your bog garden. They'll do great.  I would say they are a bit more cold hardy than the red filiformis.  You biggest problem with them may be how aggressively they can grow during your hot humid summers.

Good Growing!

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

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

QUESTION: So,

In my climate (zone 7) what precautions would you reccomend for winter? And should I take some of the same steps as I would for Darlingtonia to keep them cool during summer?

ANSWER: Hi Daniel,

Just take the same precautions you do for your other plants, covering them during hard cold spells.  They don't need any special treatment like Darlingtonia.  They are used to hot summers in Australia.  Fork-leaf sundews are among the easiest sundews to grow.


Good Growing!

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

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

QUESTION: Thanks,

But I was referring in particular to the filiformis var. red leaf in that last followup. I wasn't very specific (my mistake!). Is it the summer temps you gotta look out for or were you referring to winter hardiness or both? It sounds slighty more fragile than the other filiformis variations.

Thanks for your help!

Answer
Hi Daniel,

The all red Drosera filiformis originates from central Florida.  It is used to very hot summers and doesn't need any special treatment then.  From one trial only I've found that it isn't as cold hardy as either variety filiformis ssp. filiformis or ssp. tracyi.  I left some out a couple winters ago and they didn't come back when we had extended spells of weather in the teens.  That however, was in a 3" pot.  You should have far better results in a bog garden that offers much more shelter.  Other than that they behave much like other dewthreads.  We have a couple different clones in our greenhouse and some die down to hibernacula, others don't, and that's with a 1,000 watt HPS light to increase the daylight period.  It could be that some of them originate from further south than others.

In your area of North Carolina temperatures are very similar to here in Oregon during the winter, so just using some black plastic or opaque tarps during brief hard cold spells is all you would need to do for your bog garden.  You could also bury the plants ,after treating with a sulfur based fungicide, in a foot thick layer of pine straw.  Then you would only need to do it once.  You would just uncover in late February.


Good Growing!

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