The Bog Garden

 We had the bathroom re-fitted at the beginning of 2020 which left us with various bits of hardware to dispose of. It was easy to re-purpose the toilet into a bog garden. The artwork on the pan lid is entirely Mary's.

The pan was lined with black plastic and filled with coir (recovered from last season's Quadgrows) plus a little homemade compost and perlite. A small plastic plant pot was added for watering; the compost needs to be kept damp and coir is especially good at retaining water. Two pitcher plants, bought from a local shop, were set in the compost fore and aft. The picture below was taken on 7th June 2020, about two months after planting. Both plants (Sarracenia purpurea) had settled in well and were producing more trumpet pitchers on a regular basis.

During the hot summer of 2020, the plants suffered some scorching as the bog garden was facing nearly due south. The pitcher plants seemed to 'enjoy' the sunshine but not the heat. In August we moved it to a more sheltered east-facing location where it over-wintered.

In Spring 2021, the bog garden was moved once again to a west-facing position near the newly built summerhouse where it would be more visible and more likely to receive regular watering.

This year the pitcher plants have flowered (11th June 2021):

The flowers are an engineering wonder designed for pollination by bees whilst avoiding self-pollination (diagram courtesy of Wikipedia). 

The flowers generally last for about 2 weeks after which seeds form and mature. Here are photos from  June 30th:

July 5th:

Sept 21st:

They certainly give value for money and require very little maintenance apart from keeping the soil damp with rainwater. OK, sometimes they get the odd treat if I find a dead fly but they are largely self-sufficient.