Saving Sarracenia: Pitcher Plants at Meadowview Biological Research Station

“Our goal is to preserve and restore a part of our natural bog heritage by returning the endangered Yellow Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia flava, and the Purple Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia purpurea, to their historic ranges in Virginia."  

So states the prospectus of Joseph Pines Preserve, one of two conservation areas established by the non-profit Meadowview Biological Research Station.  Founded in 1995 by Dr. Phil Sheridan, an ecologist steeped in the study of Pitcher Plant biology, the organization is headquartered at the 17-acre Central Virginia Preserve, in Caroline County, 25 minutes south of Fredericksburg, VA, on a rare gravel bog.  Joseph Pines Preserve, a much larger tract of  more than 200 acres, is the site of extensive long-leaf pine restoration and successful reintroduction of  native Yellow Pitcher Plants.  JPP is about 45 miles south of Richmond in Suffolk County, VA, where Long-leaf pine historically existed at its northernmost limit.  Together the two preserves comprise a little more than 250 acres of land set aside to protect and/or restore bog and Long-leaf pine habitat and associated flora and fauna.  

Pitcher plants in bloom

S. flava

Four of us from the Potomac Valley Chapter visited the Central Virginia Preserve in mid-June.  Meadowview welcomes visitors, but requires you make an appointment in advance.  Many weekends during the spring and fall, Phil and a couple of interns are busy making the rounds of plant sales, so we visited during the week.

Some of the array of orange and red plants in the propagation beds.  

To help finance their research and restoration projects, Meadowview propagates and sells dozens of varieties of Sarracenia, including many ornamental cultivars and hybrids with dazzling  colors and patterns.  Make a donation of $25 or more and you receive 50% off plant prices!!  A catalog of plants is available on their website, including sundews, venus flytrap, and associate bog plants. 

Venus Fly Trap

Phil Sheridan describes some of his recent work to Barbara R and Kevin M

Encroaching development is always a looming threat.  So Phil is not just a scientist but become part entrepreneur,  community organizer,  public relations man and business administrator to expand his organization's conservation areas.  And expand they have.

The Joseph Pines Preserve nearly doubled in size when Meadowview secured a loan from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in 2009 to buy 134 acres for land conservation.  And in 2014 they also purchased, with a combination of donations and grant monies,  a former private home adjacent to the JPP, which they converted into a education and biodiversity center.    It is amazing what this small, grass-roots organization, with no paid employees (interns do receive free housing and a modest stipend), has accomplished.

Elizabeth G  follows Phil into the woods to see the bog plants in situ 

Here are S purpurea  growing in naturally occurring  spagnum  

These S. purpurea  above were rescued from a site in Caroline County where Pitcher plants have since been extirpated.  According to Phil, " They will 'color-up' (becoming more red) in the fall after the surrounding hardwoods lose their leaves. We need to remove more trees to increase light levels, says Phil.  "However, S. purpurea can handle lower light levels, and as you can see, was flowering quite well."

This Purple Pitcher plant bog is the northernmost community of these plants in Virginia. 

Flowering S. purpurea

Sundews (Drosera)  in the natural bog

Check out that veining! 

Soil mix -- 50% peat; 50% fine sand (builder's sand is  NOT suitable)

So you want to grow pitcher plants in your garden?  One way is put them in a container filled with a mix of peat and sand in equal proportions. (They like a nutrient poor, acidic environment.)  Phil recommends a container with a hole maybe 6 inches up the side (no bottom hole in this case) so that the plants remain saturated below the soil surface but excess water will drain off the top.  

I used this pot designed for hose storage as it already had a hole in the right place! 

I placed the plastic pot inside this ceramic one, which has a hole in the bottom

 Put some hardware cloth over the hole in the plastic pot so soil won't leak out when water drains.

I know other PVC members have slightly different but also successful arrangements.  Judy Z., for instance,  grows her Sarracenia in a container with no drainage hole.  Kevin M. and Dick H. have created in-ground bogs by submerging a rubber liner or container. I notice Dick's are growing successfully at woods edge in some shade.  So you can experiment somewhat with these plants.

Planted S. purpurea & flava, plus Drosera filiformis (thread-leaved sundew), and Polygala lutea (Orange Milkwort)

One aspect of their culture, however, which should not be compromised is watering them with either rainwater or distilled water.  Sarracenia do not like the chlorine or chloramine that is in most tap water.  Thankfully,  I have two rain barrels to supply them with ample water.  During this hot summer, I watered them almost daily.  Now that I know they are somewhat shade tolerant, I may move them to a less sunny spot. 

We were surprised to learn from Phil that the habitats Meadowview is protecting and restoring do not rate highly with the state's Natural Heritage Program in terms of conservation priority, nor has the Nature Conservancy been interested in working with them.  However, S. purpurea is listed as an "Imperiled" plant on NHP website.  Without the efforts of a group such as Meadowview, the fate of Virginia's bogs and Long-leaf pine forest would surely be dismal.  Consider supporting them and get the benefits of discounted plants!!