Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

Lewis Ginter Bog Garden

The most famous botanical gardens for carnivorous plants may be Atlanta Botanical Gardens, but I'm not sure many people know that Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia has a fantastic display of Sarracenia, too. (Well, I say "too" but my last visit to ABG was a bit disappointing in that department).

Lewis Ginter Greenhouse

Lewis Ginter is perhaps best known for its large conservatory. It's a prominent feature in promotional materials and wedding photos. And it's a pretty cool place to visit, even if it is lacking in Nepenthes.

Orchid Room

The focus of the indoor collection is definitely orchids and Lewis Ginter has quite a few. It was very nice to be able to see so many in bloom.

Nepenthes x ventrata

Among those orchids, if you look closely, you might also find a couple Nepenthes x ventrata poking through, too.

Butterfly on Lantana

Although, if I were to pick one aspect of the indoor garden that I liked best, it was the butterfly room. It reminded me of the gardens I had growing up. There were always so many butterflies. (Now, unfortunately, I don't have quite the same amount of room to grow the diverse gardens needed for promoting butterflies).

Bog Garden in Bloom

Outside the conservatory is really where Lewis Ginter shines. Near the tea house is a fantastic section of garden loaded with Sarracenia.

Sarracenia leucophylla Flowers

Among those plants present are quite a few leucophylla...

Sarracenia leucophylla x flava

Along with hybrids between leucophylla and other species, such as flava, and there are a number of flava, too.

Sarracenia leucophylla

While I may have been particularly drawn to the leucophylla (how couldn't I be?), I was truly impressed with the integration of the bog garden.

Sarracenia Blooms

It was, of course, a little early for pitchers, but we visited at peak bloom, and that was a fantastic thing to see, too.

Sarracenia flava

The most prolifically planted species was S. flava. That didn't surprise me too much. On this trip, I learned Virginians really love their native species.

Sarracenia purpurea x flava

There were quite a few natural hybrids as well, such as this Sarracenia x catesbaei.

Sarracenia leucophylla x psittacenia

I also saw this nice Sarracenia x wrigleyana.

Sarracenia Flowers

Although my flowers are just now coming up, some of the ones down at Lewis Ginter were already finishing up.

Sarracenia flava var. cuprea

I really enjoyed trying to spot the varieties of species that were growing.

Sarracenia minor

And I enjoyed seeing this not-yet-open S. minor.

Sarracenia flava

But, again, the most colorful plants were the native Sarracenia flava.

Mini-Bog

One of the neatest displays was this single pot filled with a few Sarracenia, Utricularia subulata, Drosera filiformis, and a nice Larch tree. It was quite nice, and I hope to revisit Lewis Ginter sometime.