Division And Multiplication

Day 330: It's time to do the math: divide and multiply. All of my Sarracenias needed repotting. One had simply depleted its soil, but the other two had grown too large for their containers, and their blooms and foliage were both showing signs of overcrowding, becoming smaller with each passing year. It was a task I'd put off for far too long, so once the flowers had faded, I mixed a good-quality commercial soil 50/50 with peat to reproduce the conditions in which these insectivores grow naturally. Fortunately, they are fairly easy to divide by separating the crowns. One was split into two pots (you can never have too many Sarracenias) and the other two were put into somewhat larger accommodations. All four pots sit in trays of water on my back porch, there to gobble down mosquites and flies, or even the occasional hornet or wasp. During last year's mild winter, I experimented with covering them with bubble-wrap rather than bringing them inside when temperatures dropped for a night or two into the low 20s. They're amazingly hardy! If I wasn't dependent on a well, I would construct a more elaborate water garden, but for now, I just make certain that their "feet" are always wet. Daily maintenance keeps them happy, and is quick to do on my way back from the bird feeders.