Bog Gardens
Soggy areas of the yard can pose a challenge, but not if you choose the right plants.
Bog plants are fascinating in their ability to withstand water-logged soil and serve as a sponge for rainwater runoff. Some are even carnivorous, with the ability to trap and consume insect prey.
How to create a bog garden
Bogs are a type of wetland ecosystem, so naturally they require wet conditions. To create a bog garden, you should choose a sunny, open area of the landscape that has poor drainage and collects rainwater. Bog gardens can also be planted as part of a water garden, along the shallow areas of small ponds or waterfalls.
For dry sites, you can create a bog garden by digging 12 inches into the ground and placing a pond liner on the bottom. Make sure to place holes along the sides of the liner so that the area can drain. The soil should consist of a combination of 80% peat moss and 20% sharp sand (also called horticultural sand, this coarse material improves drainage).
If you don’t have the space for a bog garden in the landscape, you can also create a smaller version in a planter. To do this, choose a large container and use the same 80-20 ratio of peat moss and sharp sand as described above. To preserve the soil moisture, place a saucer beneath the pot and keep it filled with water.
Since the water found in bogs comes mostly from rainfall (which keeps the soil acidic), you could even use a rain barrel to distribute water onto the bog garden. It’s important to keep the plants wet enough by monitoring and watering regularly. Never apply fertilizer, which can harm the plants.
Plants for Your Bog Garden
Blue flag iris (Iris virginica) is a native flower growing 4 to 7 feet tall and 1 to 3 feet wide. Its gorgeous lavender-blue blooms rise up above the light-green foliage in spring. This iris can be planted year-round in USDA Hardiness Zones 8b to 11.
Golden canna (Canna flaccida) can be found in most counties throughout Florida. This wetland species is useful as an ornamental landscape “filter,” as it removes excess nitrogen and phosphorus from water. It usually grows up to 4 feet tall but has been known to reach up to 9 feet. The clustered bright yellow flowers are about 3 inches across and have a long bloom period.
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is a native aquatic perennial with showy, tubular red flowers. It depends on hummingbirds for pollination, making it excellent for attracting wildlife to your bog garden. Found mainly in North Florida and hardy in zones 3 to 9, cardinal flower reaches 4 to 5 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide.
Scarlet rosemallow (Hibiscus coccineus) makes a statement with its large, deep red flowers, reaching 5 to 6 inches wide. These blooms appear in mid to late summer and attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Scarlet rosemallow can reach a height of 4 to 8 feet tall and width of 3 to 4 feet. This Florida native can be grown in hardiness zones 8 to 10.
Aquatic milkweed (Asclepias perrenis) sports small white flowers and grows roughly 1 to 2 feet tall and 1 to 3 feet wide. It can be grown in hardiness zones 8b through 9b. This is not to be confused with swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), which has small rose-purple flowers and can grow in zones 3a to 9b. Both are native to Florida and can be used as a butterfly plant as well as a bog plant, for they serve as a host for monarchs and other species.
Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius) is a native species that adds cheerful pops of color with its sunny yellow blooms throughout the fall. The flowers are especially attractive to bees and butterflies, making this a perfect pollinator plant for your bog garden. Swamp sunflower can be grown in hardiness zones 8b to 10 and reaches 2 to 6 feet in height (sometimes taller).
Carnivorous Plants
Seemingly straight out of a science-fiction book, carnivorous plants are just as mesmerizing as they are—let’s admit it—slightly creepy. They use appealing scents and sticky substances to lure and trap insects, then use digestive enzymes to absorb the nutrients from the insects. If you really want to wow people with your landscape, consider planting carnivorous plants in your bog garden. Many native carnivorous plants have showy flowers that can make your bog garden even more appealing.
Carnivorous plants are common in Florida, which has the highest number of species compared with other states. Florida is known for its sundews, butterworts, bladderworts, and pitcher plants. Many of these plants are threatened in the state, so never remove them from the wild.
Sundews have tiny hair-like tentacles that secrete sticky sap. This sap looks like dew drops and attracts insects, which get stuck in the sap. Similarly, butterworts have leaves that act like sticky tape, releasing an enzyme to break down trapped insects. Bladderwort is an aquatic, rootless carnivorous plant that floats in lakes, ponds, or wetlands. When the hairs on its tiny bladder-like contraptions are triggered as something swims by, a “trap door” closes on the unsuspecting insect or tiny aquatic organism. The prey is then dissolved and absorbed.
American pitcher plants (Sarracenia) are equally as interesting—they have a colorful “hood” that attracts prey to its nectar-lined leaf rim. From there, the insects fall down the slippery, funneled leaves of the “pitcher,” to be trapped and digested by the plant. Some native commercially available pitcher plants include yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava), whitetop pitcher plant (S. leucophylla), hooded pitcher plant (S. minor), and parrot pitcher plant (S. psittacina).
American pitcher plants (and many bladderworts) like to be in very water-saturated areas, so keep that in mind when choosing a location and watering schedule. On the other hand, sundews and butterworts cannot survive being completely flooded and are better suited for moderately wet soil versus drenched soil.
A bog garden can add a miniature wetland habitat to your backyard. These interesting features bring together a diverse array of water-loving plants and support the health of local waterways by absorbing runoff.
Also on Gardening Solutions
More from UF/IFAS
- Catesby’s Lily–CAIP Plant Directory
- Comfort Root–CAIP Plant Directory
- UF/IFAS Bookstore: Freshwater Plants in the Southeastern United States, a Recognition Guide
- Narrowleaf Sunflower–CAIP Plant Directory
- Native Aquatic and Wetland Plants: Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis–Ask IFAS
- Star-rush–CAIP Plant Directory