I eMailed TFFC director Allen Forsage with some suggestions and, to my huge pleasure, he eMailed back asking me if I would be willing to consult with TFFC and help them build the bogs. I drove to TFFC the next day. We toured the property and looked over the sites of marshes, beaver ponds and other projects-in-progress.
We selected the best available locations for
the two bogs which are next to each other, at slightly different elevations, and separated
by an embankment of dirt on top of which a concrete path is laid. The higher-elevation
bog drains into the lower-elevation bog, and that one drains into a pond next to it.
No trees are around the bogs which would let the pitcher plants get plenty of direct sun.
Issues such as bog depth, drainage, water, and lining were discussed. The site
is on a layer of clay which fact, along with budgetary restrains, made the decision
to not line the bogs with pond-liner. Water from Lake Athens, which borders
the TFFC property, is constantly pumped and filtered for the fisheries, and now would be also pumped into the upper bog.
Glen Raborn, TFFC wetlands designer and project manager, would be responsible
for having the holes dug to specification, with help from inmates from the
Henderson Co. jail who would also mix the sand and sphagnum peat moss and
fill the bogs. All that is left now is to find several hundred Texas
trumpets (Sarracenia alata), pink sundews (Drosera
capillaris), D. brevifolia, Texas butterworts
(Pinguicula pumila), and any of the native bladderworts
(utricularia) to plant in the bog gardens.
Related Stories:
Rescued Pitcher plants and Sundews get new home
Bog gardens part of wetlands exhibit
TFFC & CPT rescue Pitcher plants and Sundews
Site No. 2, Tyler Co.
