Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 11/12/2011

Question
I live in zone 5b and I was wondering if it would be good idea to over winter Sarracenia and Darlingtonia in a cold frame??? I was thinking of placing the cold frame on the south side of my residence or greenhouse. The winter temp sometimes drop below 10 degrees F. Since it get this cold outside sometimes during the winter where I live, would it be better to over winter them in an unheated room in my home?

I have some S. oreophila seed I am going to "water test" this month...I will keep you up to date on my progress and let you know my results.

Thanks Jeff and Jacob!

Answer
Hi Derick,

Believe it or not, the plants will be better off if you keep them in a less sunny location in the cold frame.  If the frame is transparent, temperatures can get quite high in there if it's sunny even in very cold conditions.  The huge temperature swings are very bad for them.

I would say that if you have just a few plants in pots, go for the unheated room.  If you have a larger collection, then outdoor overwintering would become more necessary.  If you can keep temperatures in the room in the 40's - 50's you'll be fine.  Be sure to use a fungicide spray.  If you go for outdoors combine the coldframe with mulching to give the plants extra protection.  Water them if temperatures go above freezing.  Fungicide is a must here also.  I also recommend removing all foliage from Sarracenia, except S. psittacina and S. purpurea ssp. purpurea.  Only  remove dead leaves on Darlingtonia.

If you don't have it already, our e-book has an extensive chapter on this subject with several different options on overwintering U.S. natives in colder climates.  http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&cPath=1&products

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com