Drove to the Bog, But the Bog Was Dry

Splinter Hill Bog in Alabama.

 

In October I attended the annual American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) Conference, which this year was held in Mobile, AL. One of the activities that interested me the most was a day of botanical sketching at the famous Splinter Hill Bog, about an hour north of the city. We were informed that this area, which normally has the highest amount of rainfall in the nation, had been in drought conditions all summer, with no measurable rainfall in months. The bog was as dry as it could be!

The Nature Conservancy, which owns this preserve, does prescribed burns periodically in order to maintain the condition of this Long-leaf pine savannah, and had done one in early March. The Long-leaf pine bark is resistant to fire, and the pitcher plants have underground rhizomes that allow them survive these burns, but they die to the ground and need rain to sprout back, and that hadn't happened much this year.

Before going out to find the plants we were to sketch, Judy Stout, a volunteer with the Mobile Botanic Garden, spoke to us about the specific plant communities found in this unique bog, and passed around some drawings to explain how the pitcher plants trap their insect food. She then demonstrated by splitting one of the pitcher plant leaves to show us the insects inside in different stages of being digested.

Insects inside a pitcher plant leaf.

Walking into the bog.

 

 We walked around for a bit looking at the White-topped pitcher plants (Sarracenia leucophylla) for which this site is most famous; unfortunately many of them were brown and dry. We saw another type of pitcher plant--a decumbent variety, Sarracenia rosea, as well as a clubmoss with fruiting stems on their ends. There were no sundews (Drosera genus) anywhere to be seen, it had been too dry for these plants to regenerate.

 

White-topped pitcher plants (Sarracenia leucophylla)

Decumbent pitcher plant (Sarracenia rosea)

Clubmoss with lighter fruiting stems on top (Lycopodium alopecuroides)

 

There were many other wildflowers typical of the fall season blooming that I could identify by genus, but getting the right species is another matter: purple Gerardia (Agalinis purpurea), swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolia), wild ageratum (Conoclinium coelestinum), four-sided milkwort (Polygala cruciata), a tiny Lobelia (Lobelia ? ), a very narrow-leaved goldenrod and a yellow flower with pinked petals (tickseed?). 

Purple gerardia (Agalinis purpurea)

Swamp sunflowers and Pineland bogbuttons (Lauchnocaulon anceps)

Wild ageratum (Conoclinium coelestinum)

One curious flower called Pineland bogbuttons (Lachnocaulon anceps) was completely new to me, and I couldn't begin to identify any of the grasses that carpeted the long-leaf pine savannah, I'll leave that to experts.

Lobelia syphillitica?

Four-sided milkwort (Polygala cruciata) and my sketch side by side.

Very narrow-leaved Goldenrod

Tickseed (Coreopsis linifolia?)

Bracken fern with no ID flower stalks

There was so much to see and explore it was hard to settle down to sketching, but I finally did, and chose to sketch some of the abundant White-topped pitcher plants. I found one dry pitcher plant flower in the morning. 

 

White-topped pitcher plant sketches.

 

After our lunch break, we switched instructors to continue, and Lara Call Gastinger, pointed me toward one lone pitcher plant flower that still had some of its vivid colors, although the petals had fallen. I wanted to include this in my pitcher plant sketches, since the flower has such peculiar structures.

 

Dried pitcher plant flower.

White-topped pitchers

Colorful Pitcher plant flower

My sketch of the pitcher plant flower

 

A little before three in the afternoon, we were rounded up to share our day's work and get ready to go back in the bus that had brought us here from Mobile. It was fascinating to see what everyone else had done--I wish I could have photographed every one of the sketchbooks, but here's a sampling of some.

Sketches from the class

More class sketches

Lara Call Gastinger's sketchbook

Another sketchbook with purple gerardia and pineland bogbutton flowers.

All day I'd worn my Wellington boots, thinking they'd keep my feet dry--and the bog was so dry I didn't need them at all!

On the drive back home from Mobile a few days later, I stopped by the bog again, to allow my friend and travel companion Ann to see it. This time, since we weren't sketching, I had a chance to walk further into the preserve, and found another type of pitcher plant I hadn't seen a few days before -- the Parrot pitcher plant (Sarracenia psittacina), which I identified thanks to my visit to the Mobile Botanic Gardens and their miniature bog, which had been watered regularly. They had some lovely sundews in there too.

The distinct species of pitcher plants at the Splinter Hill Bog have hybridized over time and one can see so many variations in color and hybrids sporting the characteristics of two or more species... what a fabulous natural laboratory! Oddly enough, no one has done a comprehensive botanical survey of all of the plants found at this location; I hope eventually some enterprising young botanists will do just that.

 

Parrot pitcher plant (Sarracenia psittacina)

I'd love to return to this beautiful bog some day, and see it in its full glory.

October Bloom Day A Bit Late

Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue'

The first flower scape of Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue' was devoured by deer in early summer, and with it being so dry, it is only now that the plant has decided to re-bloom. Its deep blue flowers complement the red bush Salvia next to it. I kept thinking this Salvia was 'Windwalker Royal Red' and referred to it as such, but today I ran across the plant label (I save them so I can later identify the variety, but I sometimes lose track of them) and found out it is actually a red bush Salvia 'Maraschino.'

 

Red bush salvia

I was away the week before, attending the ASBA Annual Conference in Mobile, AL and missed posting at Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden's "Bloom Day" on the 15th. When I tried to post, I had trouble loading the images onto my blog. It took a while to figure out how to change the settings to fix the problem, so it's only now that I'm catching up with October Bloom Day. 

The pink Muhly grasses are sporting their feathery plumes as the leaves begin to turn--amazing what a transformation can take place in one week!

 

Herb's bed in October.

The Verbascum 'Southern Charm' my sister gave me is re-blooming, and the few Chrysanthemums that didn't get eaten by deer over the summer are also in bloom. The red variety is very pretty; I bought the orange one at Lowes' recently and am looking for a spot to plant it in the ground.

 

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'

Red Chrysanthemums

Orange Chrysanthemum.

The yellowwood tree ( Cladrastris kentukea) in the west side had turned gold when I got home last week, and this week the hickories in the woods behind our house are turning. The oaks are just starting show a bit of color.

West side bed with yellowwood tree turning gold.

The woods in back from the deck.

The back yard from the west side.

 

The aromatic asters are starting to bloom, but aren't fully open yet. My oldest clump seems to be hollowing out in the center, an indication that it will need to be broken up and re-planted next spring.  Two other clumps that were separated and planted in other beds aren't making much of a show yet.

 

Aromatic asters (Symphyotrichum oblongifolius)

 

I brought in most of my tender houseplants before leaving on my trip, just in case there might be a frost while I was gone. When I got back from my trip, the yellow hibiscus greeted me with lots of flowers--I rarely see this many at one time.

Yellow hibiscus.

I wonder if there will be any flowers in my garden for November Bloom Day? Surely the first frost will come before then.

A Warm Fall in my Garden

Colchicum 'Waterlily' bud.

 

Nothing says "fall" like the fall-blooming crocuses: two days ago I saw the first bud of the Colchicum 'Waterlily'  peeking out of the ground. Today, the flower is fully open! I hope there will be a few more flowers, the bulbs have been multiplying slowly. I must plant more fall-blooming crocuses! Maybe try some golden-flowered Sternbergia next year?

Colchicum 'Waterlily'

 

Some seasonal flowers are appearing, but the deer have been so voracious this year, there's not a whole lot left to blossom. I found a few flowering spikes on the smooth blue asters (Symphyotrichum laevis), but by the time I took this photo, the few yellow mums in front had been devoured. This year the local deer have eaten plants I've never known them to touch before: mums, Asian lilies and salvias?

 

Smooth blue asters.

 

I did come across an unusual find--a beautiful deep purple wild aster hiding among the tall weeds in a hard-to-reach area in back. I wonder where it came from? Last year I collected a couple of dead flowerheads from some wild purple asters I found in Warm Springs to broadcast in the back yard, could this be one of them? Or is it a natural hybrid of the wild asters with the smooth blue? I definitely want more of these beauties, and will try to transplant them to more visible locations in my garden.

Volunteer wild aster in a weedy area.

The blue prairie sage I planted this spring hadn't become very tall, but was starting to bloom when the deer devoured them--all that is left are a few bare stems. I hope the plants make it through the winter and have a chance to become established. I've been working on establishing my very own "Postage Stamp Prairie" in the area we call the badlands in back.

Blue sage (Salvia azurea)

Another lovely surprise was to see some buds on the Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' I planted last year. The deer had been eating this one so much I had to put a wire cloche over it or it wouldn't have lasted very long.

 

Buds of Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

 

I think this red salvia is 'Royal Windwalker Red' and not 'Texas Red' but I'm not sure--will have to look at my collection of saved labels to find out. This one was munched by deer too, but not badly, and is only now starting its display. The weather predictions say we should be having a warmer than usual autumn, with no frost until the end of the month, which will give these flowers a chance.

Salvia 'Royal Windwalker Red'

Only a few flower buds of the tall swamp sunflowers that usually bloom so profusely in my fall garden escaped the depredations of the deer. Ditto for the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and the Beautyberries.

 

Swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolius)

Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' (Callicarpa dichotoma)

Not very noticeable, but I finally found one or two red berries on my 'Berry Poppins' hollies in front--it seems the 'Mr. Poppins' I acquired last year turned out to be a male plant for real. The previous specimen I'd bought had turned out to be female, so let's hope Mr Poppins grows bigger next year for a nice crop of berries..

A berry on "Berry Poppins' holly.

The foliage on the Viburnum 'Brandywine' is turning beautiful shades of red while the berries turn from pink to blue. The white lilac which didn't bloom at all this past spring has put out a few buds now, after the 2.5 inches of rain that tropical storm Ophelia left us. That's the second fall this shrub has bloomed, isn't that odd?

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine'

Pink and blue berries of viburnum 'Brandywine'

White lilac blooming in fall.

Next week I'll be away at the ASBA Conference so I won't be around for the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day on the 15th, but this is what is blooming in my garden now. It's not the masses of flowers I'd hoped for,or even the modest displays of the past, it's been a bad year for gardens here in the northwest corner of Virginia.