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I thought I had Sarracenia Purpurea so I left them on my sun porch (which isn’t heated) for their winter dormancy. Outside temps hit 20 degrees a few nights in a row, but they never froze in the porch. I now think that I purchased Sarracenia Venosa… Over the last few days some of the pitchers started turning brown. Any tips on damage control? Repotting and trimming the dead pitchers? Thanks

Venosa is a variant of purpurea, so you likely have purpurea var Venosa. Here's mine that really colored up this fall. As to the dried pitchers, purps grow slowly, usually keeping pitchers a couple of years. Don't trim them unless the pitcher is pretty much completely dry, then cut it off.

FYI - Sarracenia purpurea comes in two subspecies: ssp. purpurea (northern) and ssp. venosa (southern).

One more item to consider: Could your plants be Sarracenia rosea instead? It can look very similar to S. purpurea, but its native range is along the Gulf coast. S. rosea isn't fond of temperatures below freezing (at least, most of mine aren't). The easiest way to tell the two species apart is to wait until the plant blooms: pupurea has a red flower on a tall stalk, and rosea has a pink flower on a short stalk.

ChefDean wrote: ↑Fri Nov 26, 2021 10:39 pm Venosa is a variant of purpurea, so you likely have purpurea var Venosa. Here's mine that really colored up this fall.
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As to the dried pitchers, purps grow slowly, usually keeping pitchers a couple of years. Don't trim them unless the pitcher is pretty much completely dry, then cut it off.

Thanks for the advice! Great photo. I’m going to wait for the Spring and get the northern purpurea purpurea. I’ll try to grow it in my backyard where there is a spring (that’s alway a damp).

Thanks. They could very well be rosea. They did not like the sudden drop in temperature. Hopefully it will flower this spring and answer the question.

MikeB wrote: ↑Sat Nov 27, 2021 2:21 am FYI - Sarracenia purpurea comes in two subspecies: ssp. purpurea (northern) and ssp. venosa (southern).

One more item to consider: Could your plants be Sarracenia rosea instead? It can look very similar to S. purpurea, but its native range is along the Gulf coast. S. rosea isn't fond of temperatures below freezing (at least, most of mine aren't). The easiest way to tell the two species apart is to wait until the plant blooms: pupurea has a red flower on a tall stalk, and rosea has a pink flower on a short stalk.

StephenB200+ wrote: ↑Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:28 am I’m going to wait for the Spring and get the northern purpurea purpurea. I’ll try to grow it in my backyard where there is a spring (that’s alway a damp).

Do you have the right kind of soil in your yard? That's what stops 99.99% of us from growing them in the yard. If you have a spare sundew (like a Drosera intermedia), I would use one of them as a test plant first.

Thanks for the advice Mike. I was planning on doing exactly that. Last year I saw a few sundews in the state park that’s about 8 miles away, So I’m hoping the conditions here aren’t too different.