Next Project, Calcareous Fen

[Subrosa]

This is my next project, which I hope to have functional by freeze up so I can start planting in the spring. My acidic Sphagnum bog seen in the background doesn't have drainage, but rather overflows along the front wall a bit left of center in the pic. I'm going to install an approximately 2' x 10' x 18" deep watertight bed right in front to catch that overflow. The substrate will consist of a mix of peat and sand with a healthy dose of pelletized chicken grit added to give the calcium that the plants going in require. The grit is great stuff for lime lovers, and to the eye is indistinguishable from perlite. Planned additions are Cypripedium reginae, C. pubescens and possibly C. candidum, along with Platanthera grandiflora and some Dactylorhiza that enjoy wet limey conditions. Plus a few others. Stay tuned!

[Paphluvr]

Hope all goes as planned, your bog is a delight. When I was a member of the MOS our then conservation chairman had a bog such as yours in his back yard, too.
We used to go on some very interesting hikes.