Intro/new user

Amy Edwards (aedwards@zookeeper.zoo.uga.edu)
Mon, 5 Apr 93 16:39:59 EDT

I'm new to this group and to growing carnivorous plants. My husband and
I are zoologists who have decided to let most of our yard become a habitat
for wildlife. No chemical sprays are used in the vegetable garden and a
lot of the lawn has been replaced by wildflowers (weeds?) and native
bushes. This is the fourth year of the project and the yard has become a
haven for wildlife. Two years ago we decided to add a small pond as a
source of water to draw more animals. This seems to have been enormously
attractive, and the pond now serves as a nursery for what sounds (at
night) like at least one half of the state's amphibian population. The
noise these little things make is incredible!

Now we get to the reason I have subscribed to this group. Since the yard
is pretty wet around the pond we decided to add a bog area. So far the
bog has only has one test plant, the only pitcher I could find (species
unknown - it is less than a foot tall and all the pitchers are a dark
red). It seems to have survived our very wet winter (even snow!). I
read about this list in rec.gardens and hoped that I could learn enough to
keep from killing the test plant, and maybe choose other plants to add to
the bog that would be suitable. Spring is back (I know because all the
spring peepers are back!), so I guess it is time to plant a few more
plants. Does anyone have any suggestions? We would rather plant
species that are native to the southeastern US, since so many of the
native plants (and animals) are losing out to imported species. The
plants will have lots of insects to feed on, since our pond doesn't have
any fish and most of the yard flowers have small flower parts which
attract small insects. Our soil is heavy red clay to which we have added
peat, so its very acidic and holds water. We also have a dense crop of
moss in the bog area. I noticed someone commenting on how moss bothers
the plants, should we remove it? All suggestions/comments are welcome.

I have enjoyed reading the group's mail, and am learning a lot.

Amy Edwards
Museum of Natural History
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
email aedwards@zookeeper.zoo.uga.edu