spiranthes odorata for outdoors?

[Subrosa]

If you put it in bog conditions, the more sun it gets the better it will do. Worst case is you need to mulch, but in a protected microclimate you might not even need to. Plus a sunny bog opens you up to lots of beautiful and interesting plants such as Sarracenia, Venus Fly Traps, etc. You're going to need a bigger hole......

[SFLguy]

If you start with Sarracenia you'll be hooked hahaha

[catherinecarney]

You people are such BAD influences (in the best possible way, of course).

I just discovered Epiphyllums (orchid cactus) and cane begonias, sounds like Sarracenias might be next....Though I'm more partial to butterworts and sundews....

[SFLguy]

Both Pinguicula (butterwort) and Drosera (dews) are very nice and depending on where you live, you probably have some species native to your area.
But Sarracenia are a completely different ball game in my opinion

[SFLguy]

I just saw them in the wild so I may be biased... but you tell me

[catherinecarney]

Definitely gorgeous....Love the pic with the frog balanced on the lip. Guess I'm going to be digging a much bigger hole.....

The roadblock to some of these species may be my "liquid rock" well water. Ohio is over limestone/sandstone (courtesy of the shallow seas that existed at various times going back to the Ordovician) and the water has a high mineral content (calclum, magnesium, iron, sulfur, and so on). African Rift Lake (Malawi, Tanganyika, Victoria) cichlids thrive in the stuff, which should tell you something.

So, plants (and fish!) that need softer or more acidic water (or both) tend to struggle here, though I do collect and use rainwater as much as possible for sensitive species. Peat, BTW, has a tendency to bind some of the mineral ions and both soften and acidify the water, but I don't know how well that will work for large volumes.

I can just see explaining to the garden center that the bales of peat I'm loading up aren't for my strawberries/blueberries, but for a bunch of orchids and carnivorous plants....

Catherine

[SFLguy]

Originally Posted by catherinecarney

Definitely gorgeous....Love the pic with the frog balanced on the lip. Guess I'm going to be digging a much bigger hole.....

The roadblock to some of these species may be my "liquid rock" well water. Ohio is over limestone/sandstone (courtesy of the shallow seas that existed at various times going back to the Ordovician) and the water has a high mineral content (calclum, magnesium, iron, sulfur, and so on). African Rift Lake (Malawi, Tanganyika, Victoria) cichlids thrive in the stuff, which should tell you something.

So, plants (and fish!) that need softer or more acidic water (or both) tend to struggle here, though I do collect and use rainwater as much as possible for sensitive species. Peat, BTW, has a tendency to bind some of the mineral ions and both soften and acidify the water, but I don't know how well that will work for large volumes.

I can just see explaining to the garden center that the bales of peat I'm loading up aren't for my strawberries/blueberries, but for a bunch of orchids and carnivorous plants....

Catherine

Unfortunately if there's one things these guys hate, it's hard water. I assume you've tested your water's tds already?

[Subrosa]

Fwiw a nursery I used to work at routinely kept Sarracenia in trays of our local tap water that has a tds of around 200 ppm. They didn't do as well as mine at home, but they grew. Sundews and fly traps are a different matter entirely.

[SFLguy]

Also, there are Sarracenia that are native to Ohio (Sarracenia purpurea)

[Leafmite]

I have the same problem...hard/softened water. I buy distilled water for the CP's when rain is lacking. For my citrus and other low pH plants, I add bark/Ironite and let the rains flush the pots well in the summer.

Great pictures of the Sarcs!