I've been doing a lot of reading on bog gardens. Most of the time they are connected to or nearby a pond. I have my pond exactly where I want it and intend add 2 more tiers for a lily garden and a pebble/creek type garden with a fountain.
I have an area away from that where rain water collects heavily. There are actually more than area like that. I have already fixed one part to wear it drains away. I am planning to fix a second area but need to wait until I can get an escavator in here. The last area that sits wet is around an old well pump and I have decided to deliberately turn that into a bog. I have all sorts of plants that can handle sitting wet and also freezing so I am in the process of digging out the weeds and little grass that is there and I am going to back fill it with peat then plant it.
I am wondering if anyone else has done this on a large scale. Do you have pics? I am in zone 6 and would love to hear your plant choices both perennial and not. My area is in full sun.
Bog gardens. Freestanding. Have pics?
Sarracenia flava would be my top pick. It loves wet feet while it is actively growing and should be totally hardy in your zone if planted in an area such as what you described. Very beautiful plants by the way and they are also affordable. There are some photos of this species in the PlantFiles if you want to get a peek.
You might also want to cut and paste your question and ask it again in the new carnivorous plant forum that we have. There are quite a few people who have created bogs like what you want over there.
Oh, I wish I could take photos for you but everything is under a few inches of snow right now! Photos will have to wait until spring. Bog gardens are actually quite beautiful.
Hey Equi! Thank you! I absolutely love the looks of the pitcher plants but have never tried growing them. I figured with all the hardy hibiscus, siberian iris, iris pseudo, cat tails, etc. that I am sure to have something that will be happy there. :)
And you aren't willing to go peel back that snow and get a pic for me? LOL
Oh I wish I could peel back the snow for you! I would if I could you know!
She's not kidding, Badseed. This woman drools on her computer during the winter because she's so itching to get new carnivorous plants! It's almost painful to 'watch'!
You should try some CPs. Especially if you are still working to make your property into a nursery. You could attract a lot of attention with carnivorous plants. Our local newspaper had a huge article on them on Saturday, and I was pleased that most of their information was correct! Did you ever name your place?
"It's almost painful to 'watch'!"
Feel my pains of cp withdrawal! I still can't find any bonsai dishes to plant pings in either. I am deprived.
LOL She surely seems to be a woman afflicted huh Pixy? ;)
Other than Venus Flytraps and Pitcher Plants, I am not sure I am in the know about any other CP. Took me a minute to figure out what the heck CP meant! LOL Are any of them going to be hardy in 6 or will I be storing *more* plants?
I have not named my little farm yet. I am still reeling from the move, haven't quite gotten the other house ready to sell and the bad weather has set in. :( I have been taking in the area around me, seeing what is named around me and what it is named. Many farms have nothing outside other than what good or critter is for sale, on signs. Sort of reminds me of those movies where people are driving down the road and you have to read like 10 signs to complete a sentence! LOL Can you picture my front yard?
Lillies
Daylillies
Ornamental Grasses
Tropicals
Elephant Ears
Brugs
Crawdads
Got $$?
Will trade for manure.
LOL
Say Badseed, that Sarracenia flava I had you take a peek at is a carnivorous plant. Striking wasn't it. You should see what a wave of them all planted together looks like. My zone is 5. You lucky gal... you're warmer than me in z6 so you too can grow all Sarracenia and Dionaea (Venus Fly Traps) outside year round in a bog with little more than a good layer of mulch or maybe even nothing more than a frost blanket. Many people think all of these plants are tropicals for some reason and that couldn't be farther from the truth.
I was just telling hubby that! I had no idea they could be grown outside. I had always thought they were sort of exotic houseplants. I am thrilled to find I can expand my plant selections. I am always up for something new!
Oh, I posted pics of the area on the CP forum post.
Yes, I saw that. I am so happy for you. What a wonderful property! Your options are limitless with land like that. And tell hubby that if you select wisely, none of these plants will have to be hauled in for the winter. You won't be able to grow any Nepenthes outside but then if you get really caught up in this... maybe you'll progress from temperate to tropicals and get darling husband to buy you a greenhouse where you would be able to grow all kinds of carnivorous goodies.
I have a small 8x12 greenhouse. :) I grow tons of different elephant ears, Leonotis, Brugmansia, somewhat exotic bulbs, banana, canna, passiflora, etc. I never met a plant I didn't love! LOL Hubby learned long ago just to laugh. Dragging all the plants around is my job and he usually gets the job of keeping the kids out of my hair so I can do what I want outside. He has taken on the task of driving and hour each way to work so that I can have my little paradise.
I brought it with me. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/487043/
Here is a picture I took in October of some of the stuff I have to winter over. LOL What's a few more?
I remember the big move and the box trucks. Many of my girlfriends were riveted to the computer waiting for me to send them posts from some of your threads. The thread on the chicken coop was the one everyone always wanted updates on.
I didn't know you had a greenhouse! Lucky you!
I'm afraid I haven't done anything horribly exciting or worthy of starting a new post for a bit. LOL We have been unpacking, repacking out of season stuff, etc. I run to the old house a few times a week to do odd jobs and rebuild all my old crazy gardens into proper landscaping and bringing odd and end plants back here with me. It is actually sort of hard to think of spreading gardens out to use all the land I have now! I am still sort of stuck in the 'put the beds in the front yard' mentality. I have pretty much declared 1/4 of the yard mine and gardens. That will expand a bit to put up my commercial greenhouse but I still have plenty of area for kid space and to add critters once I can afford proper fencing.
The greenhouse was my one selfish big splurge. I have wanted one for years! I finally bit the bullet and bought it last year because I could pay cash. I would not have enjoyed it while paying interest and having the debt hanging over my head. I do sometimes feel a pang of guilt for spending the money but I gave up designer clothes, major shopping and all that stuff years ago. Oh, I did have a minor set back and bought an expensive purse for Christmas (but it is one that will last forever! :) Other than that, we are definately living beneath our means. I have proms, homecomings, weddings, cars, college and all that times 6 kids to think of! LOL
With kids, one of the first things to go is designer clothes. Everything else is downhill after that. Truthfully, I don't mind at all and quite frankly... I can't believe there was a time when I spent $100 on a pair of shoes or a purse and didn't bat an eye. Now I would be on the floor in need of smelling salts. I still want a greenhouse some day.
Michelle, a greenhouse is not a luxury. It is a necessity. Repeat after me: A greenhouse is a necessity, a greenhouse is a necessity.
Now, when you get that mantra down, repeat after me: The bigger, the better. The bigger the better.
I suggest you chant these mantras over and over and over ad infinitum.
Pssst: Lauren! I think you've got another vict.... I mean... possible convert here. Nice going getting her over to the CP forum so quickly! Good work! You see, your life does have a purpose during the winter!
Bwuhahahah!
Pixie, Badseed's motivated! I tell ya she's gonna be a natural at this in no time flat!
You girls are killing me! LOL
I started gardening about 13 years ago and quite by accident. My elderly neighbor had too many tomato plants. She gave me three. It was only hubby and me and he does not do tomatoes! I could put them in chili or sauce and he would eat them but that is it! SO anyway, I dug three holes and backfilled them with manure and topsoil and what had come out of the holes. I had tomatoes coming out my ears! The following year I grew my own tomatoes and peppers from seeds. I ended up adding onions to the garden because I LOVE salsa! It was an adventure from there.
The following year I branched out and did all sorts of herbs from seed. The year after that I added perennials and annuals from seed. That is when I discovered garden websites and plant trading. I've been trading for about ten years now. Oddly enough, when I married, I was a priss of the worse kind. LOL I am talking matching lingerie, shoes and purse matching, nail polish always matching my outfits, etc. I had 300 pairs of shoes with matching purses if this tells you anything. :)
I have been pregnant and/or nursing a baby since November of 1992. This left lots of time for reading. I quickly absorbed all the gardening books, organic gardening books, weed books, anything I could find online and accidentally learned correct botanical names and how to grow things. Almost everything I learned was on sunny gardens as I had little to no shade. Now that I have moved to a home with a different orientation, I can finally have really decent shade gardens and am on a mission!
I found all the puddles in the yard to be very daunting and almost depressing. Thanks to Equilibrium, I now have all this hope for the areas and she is quickly educating me. :) I am very much looking forward to a new kind of gardening and learning about a whole new world of plants. I have had ponds for several years and dealt with wet spots in the yard but on 7 acres, this is a whole new thing! Besides the area I showed in pics, I have another area on the other side of the house. The acres over there are good for farming and don't sit wet but there is one strip between the house and the fields that have suffered some serious tractor tire damage or something. That one will be right next to my commercial greenhouse. So that will be great if I end up selling the bog and wetland type plants. Also on a positive note, people out here plant lots of the hardy hibiscus and also have water woes like I do. Now I just have to convince them they need my plants! LOL
The sponge in my head has been sitting idle a bit as I haven't really had anything to learn on a big scale. It will be nice to have it sucking up information once again!
Sponge on woman!
Excellent job, Lauren! Excellent! (rubs hands with glee). Yes, Michelle has all the qualities of a good CP addic....I mean. .... CP Grower. Just look at how her gardening interests burgeoned during the pregnancy years. I'd say it's a natural thing to be interested in growing things while one is pregnant. Fertility everywhere you look!
See you over at the CP forum, Michelle!
Bwuhahaha!