Question
QUESTION: Ok, i've picked up alternate methods from your website to whether or not i am to trim off all of the leaves on a few of my sarracenia's.   I have the following...  Alabama pitcher, green pitcher, yellow trumpet, purple headed pale, northern purple pitcher, judith hindle hybrid, white top, citronella hybrid, scarlette belle hybrid.  i know for sure not to trim the purple and the scarlette bell, but i have seen both recommendations to trim or not to trim. Also, my northern purple, (this is my first year having this one) prefers it when it is VERY cold, i live in SD, so winters get pretty cold, should i leave it outside so it still recieves sunlight? or put it in the garage without sun, and occasionally put it outside so it gets a few rays now and again.

ANSWER: Hi Darren,

We haven't seen any clear benefit in trimming off the leaves on purple pitchers and Scarlet Belle hybrids.  These plants, including the parrot pitcher, have thicker leaves than other species, which reduces the risk of moisture loss.  Other plants with their tall leaves have a higher risk of dehydration during freezes.

Besides, these are low plants, so when you mulch them, you can easily bury them, whereas with a taller plant, such as a yellow trumpet, you'll need to use LOTS of mulch to bury that fellow.

You're right that the northern purple pitcher prefers very cold winters.  We've noticed that our plants grow better in summer when they've been exposed to temperatures 20?or below during the previous winter.

While dormant, sunlight isn't an issue, so you could keep it in your garage or any storage area that will keep the temperature above 20癋.  You'll still need to watch for dehydration when the pot freezes solid.  That's when you'll need to cover them with plastic or bag them up to prevent moisture loss.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

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

QUESTION: Thanks for the response Jacob!!  Because of the bitterly cold SD winters, I ordinarily winter my sarracenia's in the fridge at about 40'F (except for the northern pitcher).  I enclose them in a ziplock storage bag and treat them with fungus preventing product. I do bring them out occasionally to get some fresh air and prevent the fungus from growing.  So if i winterize them in the fridge, i should mow off the leaves except for the scarlette belle and purple pitcher?  That would give me a little extra room in the fridge now.  ha ha.  Also, my green pitcher was obviously confused and produced a flower at the end of the year that got about an inch tall before haulting with the cooler temps.  Any advice about that?

Answer
Yes, the refrigerator method would probably be your best bet.  Even with your Scarlet Belle and purple pitcher, keep their leaves.  The primary reason is so that they have some method of photosynthesis in spring.  These plants are fairly slow growing compared to other pitcher plants.  If you cut off their leaves, they will take longer to produce their first leaves of the season. But if you retain their leaves, or at least a few of them, they can still do photosynthesis in spring and have enough energy to produce their first leaves of the season.  When your plant produces several new leaves, you can cut off the older leaves.

Other species will benefit if you keep some of their leaves too, but you also have a greater risk of dehydration during the winter months in very cold environments.  So there's a trade off.

The green pitcher will sometimes produce a flower in late season if you have a very warm summer.  When summers are really hot, this species will go dormant.  But if the hot periods are short enough, the plant will reemerge from dormancy and produce new pitchers and even a flower. If your summers are long and warm, it will continue to remain dormant and reemerge in spring instead.

The pitchers and flower in late season are always smaller than those in spring.  The flower won't produce any seeds since it's not warm enough to sustain it.  Yes, cut off the flower to prepare the plant for dormancy.  With this species, also keep its non-carnivorous winter leaves.  It uses them in spring to help it produce new pitchers rapidly since it has a very short growing season.  The same is true with the yellow trumpet.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin