The Sunny Pond Reimagined

A New Immersive Carnivorous & Coastal Plain Plant Collection

By Maegan Luckett, Horticulturist in the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants

Imagine for a moment you are walking through a longleaf pine savanna. It’s quiet except for a gentle breeze and the occasional call of a bird from somewhere above you. The tall, stately pines stand watch over a sea of wiregrass and creeping blueberry. You scan the horizon, and in every direction, there seems little change to the scenery. Appearances are deceiving, however, as your current vantage point belies the incredible plant diversity inherent to this increasingly rare ecosystem. You soon round a bend on your path and suddenly catch glimpses of color. Splashes of pink, yellow, orange, red and white hover over the vista of grasses. Tubular clumps of vivid yellow with gaping maws seem to meander haphazardly across the sunny expanse. You recognize the unmistakable form of the yellow pitcher plant, Sarracenia flava. Suddenly the monotonous landscape is vibrantly alive.

As the horticulturist in the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, the most common question I’m asked by visitors is, “Where are the carnivorous plants?” — not just from children, but from people of all ages. The attraction to these bug-munching wonders seems almost universal. While we have a small collection of pitcher plants and their close relatives, the sundews (Drosera spp.), currently on display, the public’s overwhelming fascination with and enthusiasm for carnivorous plants has compelled us to expand our current plantings. We are in the process of creating an immersive carnivorous plant and coastal plain collection, which we will unveil in the coming year.

This collection will highlight not only carnivorous plants, but also the charismatic neighbors that grow in moist, nutrient-poor soils along with them, such as pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens), several species of bog orchids and the delightful orange milkwort (Senega lutea), also known as “Bog Cheetos”.  But the star of the show, of course, will be carnivorous plants, especially pitcher plants. Hybrid forms as well as straight species will be displayed in elevated beds and small floating plant islands around the Sunny Pond, a water feature built in 1986 by the first Blomquist curator Ed Steffek, located at the southern end of the garden. A new boardwalk will lead guests over the water to a small arbor with seating and surrounded by plantings that emulate the diversity of the southeastern coastal plain.  The design inspiration for this space comes from walks in the Green Swamp in eastern North Carolina, visits to numerous conservation-focused gardens across the region and an especially quirky boardwalk at the University of Bochum in Germany that we recently visited.

However, adapting this site to accommodate the new collection came with plenty of challenges. The Sunny Pond is a collecting point for surface water from both Duke Gardens and surrounding impervious sites.  Heavy rains can scour the adjacent hillside, bring in sediment and cause the pond to overflow. The moist wetlands where carnivorous plants tend to grow are highly acidic and don’t tolerate rapid changes in hydrology, so mitigating stormwater impacts to enable the proper conditions for plant growth in this dynamic wetland system will be demanding.

The first step was removing 30+ years’ worth of sediment. In October 2023, we began the task “de-watering” the pond, which took more effort than expected, thanks to our mercurial pump and several rain events that conspired to thwart our progress. But in the end, we prevailed.  Once the water was removed, we used an excavator to remove an extensive amount of silty sediment.  To reach the base of the pond, we created a ramp of railway ballast; without this, the excavator would have sunk to who knows where.  Although the mucky process only took two to three weeks, it felt like a much longer, arduous task.

To address excess rainwater infiltration of the pond, we created a series of step-pools at the point of stormwater inflow to capture and reduce the velocity of the water during rain events.  Our stonemason, Brooks Burleson, installed two stone terraces below the step-pools at the edge of the pond to act as the final element of our stormwater system. These terraces will doubly function as a naturalistic planting site for wetland plants like iris, ferns and pitcher plants. As rainwater events become heavier and more unpredictable in this era of climate change, we will need to continue to monitor and adjust our stormwater system as needed.

The installation of the wooden boardwalk was started in May 2024 by Glenn Construction Company.  We chose thermally modified ash, a unique lumber for the decking boards harvested from eastern North American forests where these trees would have been lost to emerald ash borer attacks had they not been harvested. The preserving process uses steam rather than chemicals to alter the cell structure of the wood, making it impenetrable by decaying fungus and giving it an estimated lifespan of 25 years.  This wood also has an attractive fine grain and will fade to grey with age. 

Construction is currently underway on the small arbor with seating at the back of the site, which will offer visitors a peaceful view across the pond and beyond to the piedmont prairie.  Beneath the arbor will be a stone patio leading to the core of the carnivorous plant collection. Additionally, the boardwalk will take visitors through a representational coastal plain shrubland, or “pocosin.” Pocosins are a type of wetlands that occur in shallow basins and are dominated by woody vegetation. They provide excellent wildlife habitat, help reduce coastal flooding, sequester carbon and naturally clean water as it passes through the system.

Planting the site will begin in spring 2025 and will allow visitors the opportunity to see these amazing, rare plants in close proximity. Our primary goals for this space are twofold: give visitors an immersive experience and educate them about an imperiled and biologically rich region that exists just a few hours away.  We hope people feel like they are walking on a boardwalk in a pocosin, swamp or coastal bog rather than in a garden in downtown Durham. Just as importantly, we aim to teach the public about the natural ecosystems that this project represents. Signage detailing these fascinating plants and their imperiled ecosystems will give visitors a better understanding of the incredible diversity we have in our regional backyards. Perhaps this collection will plant a seed in some of the next generation of plant conservationists.

Questions?

Please contact us at gardens@duke.edu.