Your bog garden must never dry out. A natural bog garden will be replenished by rainfall, but if a dry spell hits, you will have to help out with the hose. Some standing water indicates a healthy bog garden. The presence of frogs, salamanders, or even turtles also tells you a bog environment is present. If you wish to cultivate bog plants but don’t have a natural depression that collects water, create one by sinking a plastic kiddie pool into the ground. A pond liner can also serve as a bog garden beginning. Disguise the edges with rocks, and fill the bottom with peat moss and sand. Don’t discount wildflowers as less showy than hybrid flowers; the exuberant hues of standout varieties like blanket flowers, tiger lilies, and coneflowers will make the butterflies and bees wonder why they went anywhere else. For exceptional height, grow the perennial sunflower Helianthus, which can grow up to eight feet tall by the time autumn arrives.
