FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have never seen a carnivorous plant growing in the wild, but I have seen photos of such on the internet. In these photos, flytraps and 'dews tend to be surrounded by weeds and grass (?). What are these plants, and could I plant them in a bog to absorb excess nitrogen from the substrate?

Panman wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 8:53 pm That one looks like a cranberry plant. Th problem iss that they tend to outgrow the other plants.

they coexist in the wild though? or is this not normal ...?

I love the companion plants in our northern bogs! They can certainly compete for space and sunlight but I think that can be managed. I’ve added cranberry and blue eyed grass to my planters but I think that most sedges and rushes get too dense for my space. The orchids are beautiful but expensive so I just visit them in the wild instead.
Pics are wild bogs.

In the limited number of bogs that I’ve visited, the cranberry winds through everything but doesn’t get terribly dense. It also has to compete with sphagnum and other plants which might be a factor.

Good point- we don’t experience wildfires anymore in this part of MI and controlled burns for conservation are rare. It’s probably been at least a century since these bogs have burned which is why the brush is such a problem.
If things get too out of control in my bog planters I guess I’ll just roll them over to the fire pit for a cleanup

The larger maintained bogs that are along the northern Gulf coast are regularly burned back by prescribed fires. The isolated, mostly unknown smaller ones, the drainage ditches, etc., survive however they can...maybe ROW mowing, maybe burning off pine plantations, maybe the occasional ROW fire, etc.,. But, the big wildfires are long gone from around here except for very isolated instances. Before the country became "civilized", lightning would start wildfires that would burn thousands of acres before being extinguished by rains or maybe getting to a river to wide to cross. Then man decided that that wasn't a good thing (you know...it burned $$$trees, and $$$houses, and $$$crops, and...) so they starting putting the fires out as quickly as possible. Now, for the large bogs, it has come around full-circle and the bogs that are maintained get prescribed burning. I can only imagine what the coastal plain looked like back a hundred to a hundred and fifty years ago...can you imagine coming upon an ocean of white-topped pitcher plants shining in the sun!!!!!! It had to have been a sight!!!!

I do like the look of native "weeds" growing with the carnivorous plants...it looks natural. But, beware, as has been mentioned...most of those weeds will dwarf a capillaris or similar plant...even the filiformis and pitchers can be dwarfed if you get the wrong thing in there. And, it's just not above ground where they get crowded, but the root system of some of those weeds can be extensive to the point of choking out the carnivorous plants. But, if you have room for some, and it won't be a threat to the cp...they do look nice and natural (IMHO).

Very cool pictures, @Bug_cemetery ! Thank you for sharing. Do you by any chance know the name of the spiky orange flower in your third pic?

@intheswamp - my motivation for companion planting isn't so much for looks, but because I believe these companion plants might be better at scavenging nutrients out of the soil, given that they don't eat bugs. In doing so, maybe they can prevent TDS buildup in a bog. I live in the desert where we get zer0 rain for half the year; my pots get downright gnarsty if I don't change out the soil every year.

The natural look is natural for a reason.

elaineo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 2:42 am Very cool pictures, @Bug_cemetery ! Thank you for sharing. Do you by any chance know the name of the spiky orange flower in your third pic?

Platanthera ciliaris
https://goorchids.northamericanorchidce ... /ciliaris/

I make a point of visiting every year to see these in bloom

Bug_cemetery wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 10:34 pm I love the companion plants in our northern bogs! They can certainly compete for space and sunlight but I think that can be managed. I’ve added cranberry and blue eyed grass to my planters but I think that most sedges and rushes get too dense for my space. The orchids are beautiful but expensive so I just visit them in the wild instead.
Pics are wild bogs.

Absolutely stunning. Where about do you live to have such awesomeness growing near you?

If you can get to Okefenokee in GA, it will be worth it. Barry Rice has a field trip on the ICPS web site that is a good read from there. Back in 80-81 a truck load of us GI's floated the stream there. Did not know a thing about CP's then but they are all around there.