Page 5b.
2008 and "Year in the life part 2." - continued.
Summer 2008.
 

This is the second page in "Year in the Life part 2"
(click here to go-back one page.)
 
 

July 4, 2008. 
FOUR MONTH update! 
 

Wow..the growing season is half over already! 
4 months down (Mar-April-May-June)
4 to go (July-Aug-Sept-Oct)
 
 

Happy 4th of July! 
 

The summer solstice arrived a few weeks ago, and the plants are in the middle of the serious
growing and eating season..but also, almost imperceptibly, the long slow dormancy process
has also begun, even though its mid-summer, because the days are gradually getting shorter
already.

I already trimmed away nearly all of the "weak floppy spring growth", the pitchers that grew indoors in February and March..the pitchers from "the burn", as seen in earlier posts.

Now we are deep into the middle of the summer season, and all the Sarr pitchers and VFT leaves are fresh, non-burned leaves.

First up, (above) a new addition to my collection! 
a nice big S. minor clump from Flytrap Ranch.
 

A look at all three mini-bogs.
 

the "Judith Hindle Bog"..
containing mostly..yes, you guessed it, S. 'judith hindle'..
these all came from a big PFT sale a few years back..
there are also two S. leucophylla hiding in the back, and VFTs around the front.
 

An overview of the whole collection..
Judith Hindle bog on the left.
Middle bog contains a big Leah Wilkerson, plus my three beloved S. excellens,
VFTs in the front again, and a few other random sarrs.
Right bog is a mish-mash of Sarracenia, Leucophyllas mostly, random hybrids,
and my S. rubra ssp. alabamensis AL-02 from the ICPS.
 

speaking of the rubra.
 

a bugs-eye-view.
 

and thats the Mid-Summer update! 
not a heck of a lot to report on..except "the plants are happy and eating bugs like crazy!"

more updates to follow as the season continues..

Scot
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

August 31, 2008. 
Late Summer update! 
 

Its the last day of August..
Summer is winding down.

We are now 6 months into the growing season, only 1.5 to 2 months left before
the big winter sleep.

We had a beautifully cool few weeks in mid-August!
temps in the mid-70's! (24C) fabulous for this time of year! 
Im not a fan of Summer heat..
I cant stand 90 degree (33C) summer days..ugh.
It was very unusually cool for this time of year..
I think we have only run the AC maybe 3 or 4 days all summer..
it was very sunny though, which was nice for the plants.

now, for early September, we are heating back up to typical summer temps..
the next week is forecast for highs in the upper 80's..(31C)
Summer isnt over yet!

The plants have had a great season out on the deck..still filling up with bugs!
things are starting to look a bit "worn out" though..pitchers are browning, VFTs looks a bit tattered..
but thats normal for this time of year..

I think I only did one or two "clean-up" of the plants this season, cutting away of the dead and brown leaves..the bogs have not been touched much at all...
im just letting them "do their thing"!

Here is a look at things on the last day of August..
Two more weeks of Summer to go. (according to my personal calendar! ) 
then Autumn arrives on September 15th..
the plants will stay outdoors through the cool days and nights of October, until the first big freeze of winter hits..usually late October or early November..then they go into the stairwell for the winter again.

the green chicken wire is squeezing the purps a bit..
I might try skipping the wire next spring..
Last spring (2007) I had problems with a robin picking at the moss and pulling out plants.
(which was the reason I installed chicken wire)
I suspect she was gathering materials for a spring nest.
But the bogs were freshly created that spring..now they are well established and the surface isnt as "loose"..

I might try it without the wire mesh next spring, see how things go..
I would much prefer it wasnt there..
 

And thats it for Summer 2008..

the plants are well on their way to going dormant..very slowly..
they have about two more months out on the deck.
between now and early November, the gradually decreasing photoperiod and
gradually decreasing temperatures through September and Ocober will cause them
to go dormant. and by the time they are ready to be "wrapped up" to go into winter storage,
they will fully dormant naturally, just by sitting outdoors.

Nature does all the work! 
 
 
 
 

To Page 5c, Autumn 2008
 
 
 
 

back one page, to Spring 2008.
 
 

back to my main CP page.
 
 

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