Page 5c.
2008 and "Year in the life part 2." - continued.
Autumn 2008.
 

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

October 11, 2008. 
Mid-Autumn update! 

Its now the middle of October..the 2008 growing season only has a few weeks left to go..

Everything is looking pretty ratty and worn-out..which is normal for this time of year..

The poor VFT's! they look terrible! 

actually..they are perfectly fine! 

they are supposed to look that way in the fall!
If your VFTs are all nice and green in October, you are probably hurting them with kindness..

I only "neatened up" the bogs twice this year, by cutting away the old dead growth..
once in late spring at the end of the "burn season" when the sun-burned indoor growth had been replaced by new outdoor growth..then one more time in mid-summer..maybe July.
So right now they have gone a few months without any major tending on my part..all I do is keep them watered and let them do their thing naturally..

Did I say "everything is looking pretty ratty and worn-out"?
well..not everything! 

The S. leucophylla are putting on a fabulous Autumn display right now! showing off those gorgeous "fall pitchers" that the luecos are famous for:

Nice! 
that's the one impressive Autumn display among the Sarrs..
(all the rest look like the VFTs..very tired, brown, and ready to sleep after another great summer!)

We have had one light frost so far, a few weeks ago, but I didn't bother to move or protect the plants..I just let them get frosted..its good for them! I wont bother to move or protect the plants unless it going to get into the 20's (negative 4 C) overnight..
32 degrees (zero C) and one light frost wont hurt them at all..

(the only exception is my lone D. capensis pot..it is already inside for the winter)

Most nights over the last few weeks have had lows in the 40's and 50's (5 to 10C)..thats fine.
they stay out until nights seriously begin to fall below freezing on a regular basis.

I will make the decision to "put them to bed" for the winter when that begins to happen..
we arent quite there yet..

The next update will be a BIG one!
it will be the annual "putting the plants away for their winter dormancy" process..
coming soon..only a few more weeks to go.

My plant's autumn view from the deck:

November 2, 2008. 
Time to wrap them up!
 

Putting the plants away for the winter!

Probably the single "busiest" day of the entire "CP year" has arrived again..
the annual "putting the plants to bed day"..

I always leave the plants out as long as possible..until late October or early November..
until nights start falling below freezing (32F, zero C) on a regular basis..

This year the date is November 2.
there have been a few frosts already, I just left the plants out in the first few light frosts,
its fine, they can handle it.
but we did get a few lows during the last few weeks that dipped down to around
27F (negative 3C),
so I did move the plants into the garage for those nights.

First step..
about a week ago I took the plants out of their water trays, and I tipped the bogs on their side to drain:

I do this so the media/moss isnt soaking wet all winter..I want them to be slightly drier over the winter than during the growing season..
so I give them a week or so to dry out a little bit..

then..the big event..CUTTING away of all the growth! 
I do this because the plants are wrapped tight in plastic all winter, they are in pitch-darkness,
35 degree F (+2C) temps, 
and they simply do NOT grow all winter..at all.
they dont need their leaves, and all that extra greenery would only encourage fungus to grow,
so I snip everything away, right down to the ground.

the bogs are lined up, ready to go:

the scissors come out, and after about 45 minutes of cutting, we have this!

All those lovely pitchers, and all the nutritious bugs they still contain, go into the compost pile, to feed next years flower gardens:

Now its time for the wrapping..
I use regular black plastic trash bags, stick the bogs in sideways:

 
(make sure you dont use "scented" or "odor control" type bags! they have some kind of chemical added..I dont know what it is, but its probably not good for your CP's..just use plain-old regular basic trash bags..)
 

Twist up the ends of the bag so its air-tight, and tape it down with regular clear plastic packing tape:

In addition to the three mini-bogs (which contain only Sarracenia and VFT's)
I also have four other pots that need to join the bogs in dormancy.
One D. binata clump, a D. filliformis, a S. flava 'veinless' and the big S. minor clump:

Open up the stairwell and clean out all the spider webs with a broom:

Put all the plants in place:

Close both doors..and the plants are ready to snooze away the next three and a half months..they wont be seen again until the middle of February. (I sometimes check the temp over the winter,
but its always nice and cool..and even when its 0 degrees F outside (negative 18 C) its still around 35F (+2C) inside their little chamber..its perfect!)

the view from outside the stairwell:

(those spindly silver maples (upper left) are "failed bonsai"! 
a few years ago they were the trees on the right side of this photo:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/scottychaos/CP/CPshelf8a.jpg

More pics of the attemped maple bonsai forest is on page 1.
they are the middle bonsai pot in those 2003 photos.

I grew them from seed, intending to make them into a bonsai forest planting,
but the leaves ended up being too big..they arent good bonsai material...so im going to plant them out in my sister's yard
in the spring, where they can grow up to become "regular" maples.)
 

Its also the day for putting away the rain water collector, it wont be needed again until spring:

the "normal" downspout is replaced, and the water bin is cleaned out and stored in the shed for the winter.

The "CP corner" on the deck looks barren and lonely:

And the trees are ready for winter too:

Autumn is a short season around here..it only lasts about 6 weeks,
and by November 1st, its pretty much over, and winter is here.

And thats it for the 2008 growing season! 
but its not the end of the "year in the life"! 
not yet...there are still 3.5 months to go in the year!
They plants have merely started their "fourth quarter"..
only 75% of the year is over..the remaining 25% is very important to the long-term
health of the plants..winter dormancy.

now we wait for winter to pass by again...
 

Scot
 
 
 
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