White Top Pitcher Plant 'Tarnok'

White Top Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia leucophylla 'Tarnok'
(sar-uh-SEN-ee-uh) (lou-ko-FIE-la)

This is an interesting cultivar of White Top Pitcher Plant introduced by the Atlanta Botanical Garden. My Pitcher Plants failed a couple of winters ago when it was really cold here. I had enjoyed them for several years but they are listed as a USDA Zone 7. We are right on the edge of Zone 6 and 7 here. You can get away with growing some Zone 7 plants but they usually succumb to our sometimes very cold winters. If you can plant them in a protected location you'll have a better chance for success. This was growing in the Rock Garden at the New York Botanical Garden with several other species and cultivars of Pitcher Plants. In the Spring this one has a beautiful red flower that is considered double. The color of the pitcher is outstanding with the whites really white and deep crimson veining. According to some websites I visited this Pitcher can get up to 3 feet tall! The ones at the NYBG were more like 15 inches tall, which made them a lot taller than most of the types in the collection. If you have a boggy area and mild winters you should try Pitcher Plants, they always seem to cause a sensation in the garden.