Expert: Christopher Littrell - 7/30/2007

Question
I have just purchased a Dana's Delight Pitcher Plant for my pond.  I live in Zone 5.  I would like to know what I should do with it in the winter.  I asked at the nursery where I bought it and they told me to bring it in, but when I search the internet I am reading that this might not work.

Answer
Hello Honor,

That Sarracenia hybrid is a North American plant that does overwinter outside in cold weather, however; in zone 5 might need some protection from extreme cold. You can bring it in to a cold room or garage after it has gone dormant in the Fall with the lower light photoperiod and colder weather, just make sure to keep it's soil slightly moist during winter and keep it in temperatures over 30 degrees  while it is in a pot as it can be freeze dried by colder weather. Make sure the cold space you use has some light, like a window in a garage, as that would provide the plant with a natural way to time it's exit from dormancy. In February, or after fear of any freezing weather occurs there, you can bring it back out to resume spring growth next year.

An alternative is placing the plant in the refrigerator if you have no other way to overwinter it outside. You can leave the plant out in fall until the first light frosts occur, then bring it in and place it in the fridge, not the freezer, if you have space (this will keep it at about 40 degrees which is a good temperature to overwinter most North American carnivorous plants). Spray it occasionally with sulfur or neem oil based fungicides, not soap based one's, and let it stay there until spring.

Sarracenias need a dormant period in winter to survive in the long term just like a garden plant does. A Sarracenia that gets full sun and winter dormancy will often live for decades, just getting bigger and more numerous.

Keep up the good care for your Sarracenia.

Christopher