POPULAR BOG GARDEN PLANTS
Bog garden plants, especially carnivorous plants are not particularly hard to grow as long as they have at least six hours of sun a day.  They also need a very high acidic growing medium
that is high in organic matter.  Bog garden plants must also have constant moisture.  Carnivorous plants sometimes fail to grow as houseplants because they do not get enough sun and they are not allowed to go dormant in the winter.   The following plants can be successfully added to your bog.
  • American Pitcher Plants.  Native Pitcher Plants, some of which can reach 3 feet tall, have eight species.  They get there name from modified leaves that form trumpetlike "pitchers".  The pitchers are often speckled and veined in different colors and insects become trapped when they are attracted to the plants nectar.   In the spring, when the unusual droopy dogs-ear flowers finish blooming, the plants "open shop".  Although most pitcher-plant species are native to the southeast United States and are cold hardy only to Zone 7, an exception can be found in the common or purple pitcher plant.  This plant is native as far north as Canada.  Its pitchers are held low to the ground growing only six inches tall.  Its insects are trapped by drowning them in rainwater collected in its leaves.  Many natural hybrids and several easy-to-grow varieties are available for your bog garden.
  •  Venus Fly Trap.  This carnivore can grow to 18 inches tall, and is a good plant for your bog garden.   If you look at its insect trapping mechanism,  it resembles a clam with spikes along the edge of each "shell.  It is pink inside, and has three tiny hairs that serve as triggers.  When an insect brushes against them, they cause the plant to slam the two halves shut.  Although the Venus Fly trap is native to parts of the Carolinas and is generally cold hardy only to Zone 8, some have been established in New Jersey.  Buy now from Amazon.com!
  • Sundews.  These fascinating bog plants have some 130 species found from Alaska and Siberia to New Zealand and South America.  Sundew's leaves are brightly colored and have hairlike tenacles and are a lovely addition to your garden.  The tips of the Sundew have a drop of glue-like nectar that sparkles in the sun like dew.  This lures various tiny unsuspecting insects such as gnats and similar tiny bugs.  When the insect starts to thrash, it causes the sundew's tenacles to curl further inward, further trapping its victim.  Although Sundews vary widely, most are round and flat with five pink or white petals.  The Love-nest sundew has maroon foliage and white flowers.  It is hardy in Zones 6-9.  The Love-nest limearis does best in Zones 3-6.  Both grow to about 6 inches tall.
  • Bog Orchids.  North America is home to more than 200 species of Bog Orchids.  Although they are a beautiful plant, orchids are difficult to propagate.  For that reason  few nurseries sell them.  Many are threatened by development and should never be collected in the wild.  They rarely survive transplanting to the home bog garden because they depend on the presence of particular fungi in the soil.
Some nurseries are now making an effort to propagate, or breed their own carnivorous bog garden plants rather than buying their inventory from people who collect in the wild.  The Venus Fly Trap and the Pitcher Plant are two examples of plants that can be purchased from a nursery and successfully added to your bog garden.  Bog plants collected from the wild depletes the population of those that have managed to survive the draining of wetlands for development and other uses.