On sale this Saturday and Sunday (July 1st and 2nd) for 20% off
at your local
Pike Family Nurseries
with locations around metro Atlanta, Birmingham, Alabama and their newest location in Charlotte,
North Carolina.
Pitcher plants are an unusual group of carnivorous (flesh eating) bog plants once common throughout Georgia
and much of the Southeast. Alas, habitat loss and collection from the wild have all but wiped
out the natural populations of these plants. Fortunately, these plants are easy to grow from seed and
to maintain in a garden bog or container.
Pitcher plants get their name from the long colorful tube that grows from the crown each spring.
Actually a modified leaf, the tube has nectar glands at the top that are attractive to insects.
The interior of the tube is slick and has tiny, downward pointing hairs that prevent insects from
crawling out once they've ventured inside.
A pool of digestive enzymes awaits the insects at the bottom of the tube. Once there,
they are slowly digested.
The tubes of pitcher plants can be white with colorful veining (White top Pitcher Plants), reddish-purple
(Purple Pitcher Plant) and a variety of other colors in hybrids and cultivars. Not to be outdone by the
showy tubes, the flowers of pitcher plants are downright gorgeous and also come in a variety of colors
including red, white, cream and yellow. Flowering is in the early summer.
The tubes should be removed in the early spring just before new growth begins. It's a fun activity
with children to take the old tubes and cut them open to see what remnants are at the
bottom. Common victims include crickets, beetles, bees and the occasional small frog or toad.
Pitcher plants are picky about their growing environment:
*Pitcher plants require full sun.
*They must be grown in a bog that contains a mixture of peat moss and sand.
*This growing medium must be poor in nutrients and acidic.
*The bog or container must be at least 18 inches deep with no drain hole.
*Do not expose pitcher plant bogs to fertilizers or other garden chemicals.
*Do not "feed" pitcher plants.
The State Botanical Garden also has a wealth of information on
pitcher plants
as well as
instructions
on how to build and maintain a pitcher plant bog.
