Pitcher Plants in flower…truly unique

Sarracenia leucophylla Tarnock flower closeup

Here are some recent images from the gardens here at Juniper Level of one of our favorite pitcher plants, Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Tarnok’. This amazing double-flowered pitcher plant was discovered in Alabama by plantsman Coleman Tarnok in the early 1970s.

Sarracenia leucophylla Tarnock in flower with pitchersHere is the clump growing in the garden.  Pitcher plants are quite easy to grow, provided the soil stays moist about 3-8″ below the surface.  They do not, however, like soil that remains waterlogged.  In both the ground and in pots, we grow our pitcher plants in pure peat moss.  Most pitcher plants are reliably winter hardy in Zone 5.  We hope you’ll give these a try in your garden.

 

2 thoughts on “Pitcher Plants in flower…truly unique”

  1. Tyler Gramley

    Hey guys! Hope all is well. S. ‘Tarnok’ is hardy to zone 6b-7 at best without protection. Most species offered in cultivation with exception of Sarracenia purpurea ssp. purpurea is not hardy to zone 5. Most hybrids and species are 5b-9b. Publications can be found on the internet on how to properly overwinter Sarracenia all the way up into the canadian territories and even to grow them in more tropical climates. S. flava and S. purpurea ssp venosa would be the next hardiest species in which their hybrids will offer extended winter hardiness. There are some that simply will not over winter without some real protection like Sarracenia rosea (sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa var. burkii) like the cultivar ‘Fat Chance’ offered by Agri Starts 3. Just wanted to share some facts about sarracenia with ya’ll.

    1. Thanks for the info. The late Fred Case told us that all sarracenias were hardy in his Zone 4b Saginaw, Michigan garden. Unfortunately, I never got to visit his garden and see if and how he protected his plants. So, is S. ‘Fat Chance’ a form of S. rosea and not S. purpurea? Thanks.

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