Hello fellow Canadians from Hamilton, Ontario, which is suppose to be USDA Zones 6A. But where I am, near the downtown, we get a microclimate due to being below the Niagara Escarpment and with Lake Ontario to the North.
I overwintered my Sarracenias I obtained in the late Spring/early Summer 2024 outside this Winter of 2024/2025. I overwintered these Sarracenia by burying their pots on the ground up to the rim of the pot and ensuring no ground soil contaminates the actual pot. I recently pulled out 2 pots of Sarracenia buried in the soil on the ground for Spring. I have heard of some growers in Southern Ontario who tend to overwinter their Sarracenias indoors instead of outside but I decided to risk an experiment with these guys.
Im pleased to say my Sarracenia "Bug Bat" and Sarracenia x excellens (all the parentage of these hybrids are found in the Deep American South) survived this Winter. In February 2025 we had 2 consecutive days of heavy snowfall, each day had an average 2 ft of snow and there was a lot of plowing to do in my city. These guys were basically buried under layers of snow for over 2 weeks before we got our above freezing relief where the temperatures went above 5°C for over a week or so. We also had temperatures where the wind chill was below -20°C during short periods of a 2-3 days. Somehow these two Sarracenias managed to survive our southern Ontario winters.
The Sarracenia "Bug Bat" back in June 2024.
The Sarracenia x excellens when I recently bought it in June 2024 (I didnt take pics in the late Summer ).
And here are the two pots recently pulled out of the ground for this Spring 2025:
I also learned the hard way after pulling these plants out of the ground that Venus flytraps cannot survive being overwintered outdoors where I am, as this was the 2nd year now that my outdoor overwintered VFTs died with brown mushy rhizomes. So it makes me assume that VFTs are more subtropical plants where as these two Sarracenias are more temperate.
More Sarracenias to be put on here as I slowly pull them out of the ground
I overwintered my Sarracenias I obtained in the late Spring/early Summer 2024 outside this Winter of 2024/2025. I overwintered these Sarracenia by burying their pots on the ground up to the rim of the pot and ensuring no ground soil contaminates the actual pot. I recently pulled out 2 pots of Sarracenia buried in the soil on the ground for Spring. I have heard of some growers in Southern Ontario who tend to overwinter their Sarracenias indoors instead of outside but I decided to risk an experiment with these guys.
Im pleased to say my Sarracenia "Bug Bat" and Sarracenia x excellens (all the parentage of these hybrids are found in the Deep American South) survived this Winter. In February 2025 we had 2 consecutive days of heavy snowfall, each day had an average 2 ft of snow and there was a lot of plowing to do in my city. These guys were basically buried under layers of snow for over 2 weeks before we got our above freezing relief where the temperatures went above 5°C for over a week or so. We also had temperatures where the wind chill was below -20°C during short periods of a 2-3 days. Somehow these two Sarracenias managed to survive our southern Ontario winters.
The Sarracenia "Bug Bat" back in June 2024.
The Sarracenia x excellens when I recently bought it in June 2024 (I didnt take pics in the late Summer ).
And here are the two pots recently pulled out of the ground for this Spring 2025:
I also learned the hard way after pulling these plants out of the ground that Venus flytraps cannot survive being overwintered outdoors where I am, as this was the 2nd year now that my outdoor overwintered VFTs died with brown mushy rhizomes. So it makes me assume that VFTs are more subtropical plants where as these two Sarracenias are more temperate.
More Sarracenias to be put on here as I slowly pull them out of the ground
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