Orchids in a bog garden?
 

Sorry if this is in the wrong area but it’s a novel question and “bog” is too generic of a term for the search bar


I am building a bog garden for my carnivorous plants and wanted to know if there are any sympathetic orchids that liked the same growing conditions?

This will be full sun and tree shade alternating, south Florida, I have a fortunate drop from an AC runoff that will be used to feed into the bog reservoir, so it will always be wet at the bottom of the bog but the top medium will just be moist.

So I wanted to know if there are any orchids that you guys know of that would fit the neighborhood?

My thoughts are no, but that’s because I have no experience with hydro and orchids and I am always trying to get oxygen and air to all my orchid roots and that doesn’t seem to me thAt a bog provides that.

Thanks

That's kind of a coincidence! I built an outdoor bog for orchids and found that I could keep carnivorous plants in it as well! The list of suitable orchids for a south Florida bog is a long one indeed! Multiple members of the genera Spiranthes, Calopogon, Habenaria, and Platanthera come to mind. Pogonias and Dactylorhiza as well. I suspect they're largely sold out until spring, but it wouldn't hurt to touch base with Lee's Botanical Gardens. They're an excellent source.

Speaking of that bog garden Subrosa... I saw some "building it" pictures, but no after you got established pics. That would be great to see, please.

Well I really wouldn't even call it established yet, and we took a hard freeze 2 nights ago, but Spiranthes odorata 'Chadd's Ford' and my S. cernua grown from seed from the Valmont Industrial park location are still looking pretty good:

Another good one for south Florida is Arundina graminifolia. I just started growing it, indoors for the winter of course!

Thanks! I want to keep seeing pictures as it progresses. I'm thinking about putting in a little bog area by my pond next spring.

Same with you Coconut... let's see some of the build pictures as you're going along!

That’s amazing!

Mine will be a LOT smaller. I am thinking based on a large storage tote or small pond liner.

Thanks for the tips I’ll look into those plants

Bumping. I would love to see a bog orchid list! my husband is also growing carnivorous plants and is interested in native North American species in particular.
please share your bog photos! :)

i opted to do a smaller test bog-

i went with a small mixing container as my base and i have a layer of lava rocks at the bottom, then a mix of 10% perlite, 30% sand and 60% peat moss.

i planted a few dormant root sarracenias i had as well as a fly trap, a S purp and a nice growing Sarr that i had in another pot just to give it some color

i'll put in a pic in a second, i'm trying to learn how to post them without them flipped sideways


plan is to let it grow a while and see if the location is a happy one before i bury the container and make it look nice in the side yard

I have best luck with getting pictures to "stick" instead of flip by putting onto my PC, opening in photo gallery, then rotating a couple of times and saving. Don't know why it works, but for me, it does.

I've always wanted to grow a carnivorous plant or two... a Sarracenia or Venus fly trap of some sort. I end up killing them every.single.time. :rofl: