Its been about 5 years now since I started growing all my Sarracenia, Venus Flytraps and North American Drosera outdoors. Still nothing makes me panic more than cold weather.
We are in the midst of some very cold weather right now. Last night we recorded the coldest night of the winter (so far), -15C, that’s 5F for all my US friends! THAT’S COLD. Granted for some of the folks in other parts of Canada who may read this, they’re probably saying to themselves “that’s a warm winter’s day” LOL. Today we recorded our coldest winter high temperature, -8C, 18F. Looks like we’re staying in this pattern for a few more days! By next week we should be back above freezing.
So why am I so freaked out, I’ve been doing this for years… hell, I live in Canada and it gets cold! Well, the main reason is snow! That horrible white crap (sorry snow lovers) acts as a thick toasty blanket, keeping the plants protected from the dry winter air that sucks the moisture out of the ground (freeze drying). It also protects the plants from the horrible cold temps. Bog temps under snow remain at a constant 0C or 32F (give or take). So that’s why I’m freaked… there is NO SNOW. We’ve had one good 20cm snowfall this winter and that’s pretty much it. It so happened we’ve had some balmy (by our standards) January weather earlier this month. Temps between 10 and 17C, 50-63F for a few days got rid of the snow. Haven’t had any significant accumulation since!
Granted, my bogs are covered in 10-20 cms of pine needles. That helps protect from the drying winds… so everything should be fine!
CJM
Zone 6b 
Well, it’s still weired to see a guy living in Canada Zone 6b crying about -15C…
Here in Beijing, China(Zone 7 according to USDA Hardiness Zone Map) we got serveral nights in the low -15C in the past few weeks. And it’s common for us not to have any snow/rain until March.
Ya, I know its weird, I’m a big baby when it comes to winter. Not to mention, that generally winters here have been getting milder and shorter. So its weird when it gets really cold. I remember as kid, frequently experiencing temps in the -20C to -28C at night in the cold spells, sometimes with days not even getting above -18C and lots of snow! But these days, where we are, its nothing like that anymore… and I’ve got soft! LOL, Normal climate cycle? global warming? who knows… They are saying we’re supposed to have very cold February! Time will tell.
I see the point. The fact is not many people care so much about sun, rain, water and temperature like us gardeners. USDA Zone Map seems to be more useful for those who lives far far away from a certain area, so he/she knows what could be expected If he/she decides to travel or settle there, or when it is the best time to ship plants/animals there. Climates even differ slightly from hills to hills, houses to houses. So no one knows the actual “Zone” better than us who live there.
Any way, it’s really fun to read your life story with carnivorous plants. I dreamed one day I can have a house with garden like yours, where I can grow beautiful carnivorous plants, lilies, and crocus there :).