Sarracenia x catesbaei
Dormancy: Recommended
Native Range: Wet Pocosins and peat bogs of Southeastern North America
Zones: 5-8 (4-9)
Catesby's Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia x catesbaei is a robust, vigorous growing hybrid with delightful yellow-green and orange traps, and wide red veins. It has a broad, flaring hood with ruffles, and is richly covered with dark red veins and bands. It is striking in full sun when the traps develop their darkest colors. In the Winter it frequently turns a gorgeous deep reddish purple color. The pitcher is thick and waxy and stands upright and stout. It tends to clump and form large colonies, about 2 feet across. Traps hold their color through the Winter. It is a fragrant, early Spring bloomer with orangey-pink blossoms on 12 inch scapes, that flower well before the new traps develop. Flower stalks and sepals last through the year, resembling green daffodils. It is native from Virginia to Florida where the parent species' ranges overlap, and is hardy to zone 4. It is well-suited for terrariums and the backyard bog garden north into Canada with winter protection. S. x catesbaei is a naturally occurring hybrid of S. flava x purpurea. It was one the first hybrid pitcher plants to be encountered by Europeans. The name honors English naturalist Mark Catesby who explored the Carolinas in the 1720's.
Catesbaei Pitcher Plants are shipped bare-root, wrapped in damp sphagnum moss. In its dormant season, it will be shipped as a dormant rhizome with trimmed-off pitchers. Photographs are representative of the hybrid, and not the specific plant shipped.
Height: 6" - 10".
Plant Type: Perennial, Temperate
Soil: Upper Bog Mix or All Purpose Mix
Light: Bright to partial bright indoors, full sun to partial sun outdoors
Use: Grows well in the bog garden, greenhouse and indoors. It is an excellent accent terrarium plant.