I spent some time today doing my regular maintenance on the Bog Garden at the San Diego Zoo (see Mychael’s previous blog, Bog Blog: Flytraps and Ducks). This entails laying an old half ladder carefully across the bog, resting it on a milk crate so as to not crush the plants. I lay a small piece of plywood down on the ladder so I have something to sit on. This enables me to work out into the center of the bog, which is a little too far to reach from the edge. It’s low-tech, but it works. I cut out dead pitchers and flytraps, pull weeds, and cultivate the medium. The sand tends to sink down, so I like to stir it up to bring some of the sand back up to the surface. I also clear out the outlets along the center by plunging a piece of wire down each one. They tend to get a little clogged from the algae that build up in the sump.

The plants are looking pretty amazing considering night temperatures are really beginning to dip here in San Diego, down into the low 40’s (sorry if you’re in Buffalo reading this- I don’t mean to gloat). The sundews Drosera species (pictured) are looking about as good as ever. As I mentioned in my last blog, the flytraps Dionaea muscipula are about the worst of the bunch. Really, though, they look pretty good- just a little small. I’m beginning to see the effects of winter a little bit on the pitcher plants Sarracenia species. The flowers have dried up. I have continuously been cleaning out dead pitchers. However, the ones that are still alive look as beautiful as the day I met them. I even see some immature pitchers peeking up their little heads from the peat. For many plants in San Diego, the weather can be very confusing. I’ve watched many a neurotic deciduous tree drop its leaves, then put on new ones a month later, only to drop them again. We get cold nights often while the days feel just as warm as summer. Warm Santa Ana winds off the desert make it even harder for many plants from elsewhere to know what time of year it is.

The Sarracenia have been the backdrop for the Bog Garden since it was established. The tallest ones, the yellow pitchers Sarracenia flava, white pitchers Sarracenia leucophylla, and Judith Hindle hybrids grow as tall as 24 inches (61 centimeters). The purple pitcher plants Sarracenia purpurea and hooded pitcher plants Sarracenia minor are quite squat in comparison, and so they are set toward the fore of the bog, behind the sundews and flytraps. These wonderful and stunning carnivores eat heartily. I hardly ever see a bug actually going in. When I cut out the dead pitchers, however, I find them full of bees, beetles, and other assorted prey. The largest thing I’ve found so far””and there are lots of them””are the fig beetles. If you have an edible fig tree in your yard, you know this beetle well. It’s the big, green iridescent guy with the loud buzz. They can get to be over an inch long. They must provide some pretty good nutrition for our pitcher plants, but it also seems they might take some effort to digest!

I’ll continue to monitor the bog as things cool down. Even as it gets chillier, we will continue to plant more items that should do well. Judy Bell (who has been gardening in the Zoo since 1987 and in the Heart of the Zoo area since it opened in 1991) has been growing lots of extra bog plants. We are planning to add up to 20 new sundews next week from her nursery. If you happen to be around the Zoo, come by and check out the new plants!

Mychael McNeeley is a senior gardener at the San Diego Zoo.

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