Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia species and hybrids. SARRACENIACEAE.
Planting and Growing Pitcher Plant
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow pitcher plant in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of pitcher plant
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for pitcher plant
- Season of bloom and planting time for pitcher plant
- When, how deep, and where to plant pitcher plant
- How to plant pitcher plant
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of pitcher plant
- Landscape and container uses of pitcher plant
- Comments about pitcher plant and its features
Growing Pitcher Plant
Eight species and many hybrids of erect, rhizomatous, carnivorous perennial herbs, 5–25 in. (13–63 cm) tall, depending on species.
Plants have uniquely adapted, shiny, green, red-spotted or striped, pitcherlike, tubular leaves, 2–4 ft. (60–120 cm) tall, each with a keel- or winglike vertical rib and terminal cap, standing erect or sprawling in a circular, radiating base.
Insects drawn to the plants’ attractive scent mistake these leaves for flowers, enter the pitchers, drown in acidic, secreted water deep inside, and are digested by the plants. Downward-facing hairs line the sides of each pitcher to prevent prey from escaping.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Showy, coral, green, pink, red, greenish yellow, nodding, caplike, 5-petaled flowers, 2–4 in. (50–100 mm) wide, on tall, fleshy stalks, in late spring–summer.
Best Climates
Hardy or semi-hardy. Plant as annual, zones 4–6; ground hardy, zones 7–10. Common pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, is hardy to zone 3.
Soil Type and Fertility
Wet to moist, mixed sand and peat or, in water features, shallow-depth marginal or shoreline sites. Fertility: Average. 5.5–6.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full to filtered sun, 1 ft. (30 cm) apart, or submerged to 1 in. (25 mm).
Proper Care
Challenging. Keep evenly moist; avoid wetting foliage. Deadhead spent leaves. Shear in autumn. Protect tender species from frost. Propagate by division, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, edgings in bog, natural gardens and water feature shorelines. Good for children. Attracts insects. Endangered in wild; plant only cultivated specimens. Pest and disease resistant.