I went to s. va yesterday on Phil Sheridan's rendition of a repopulation effort of s. flava, and s. purpurea. All in all I was very impressed. I learned alot about their habitat, and growing conditions, and most importantly to me, medium. I had NO idea at how sandy their medium is. I just couldn't believe where they were growing, how wet it was and the amount of sun they did or did not get. I always was of the impression that sphagnum was just an inexpensive way to get plants to grow, when in fact it is a HUGE part of at least s. flava, and s. purpureas growing environment. They grow more times then not on what are called sphagnum pillows, large clumps of pure live sphagnum. These often times are located in the middle of standing water or even running water. I was dumbfounded though...really. The sand content was ridiculous. Now I know that alot of people have their own % of sand they use, if at all, but I'd say the sand to 'peat' ratio was probably upwards of 70%-30%. This was a serious eye opener for me. I ofen wonder if a sar could be too wet....well, I don't think that is possible from what I have seen...not to say you want to flood them, but wet is certainly the order of the day. I was also taken back by the size of some of the s. purpurea...wow, I mean the pitchers on this one plant were giant. They must have been upwards of 10". I am not exageratting. The s. flava were about three feet tall. I have pics, but I cannot post them from my cpu. I am going to send them to plantakiss and have her do it for me. Well, I hope to have them up in the next day or two. If you ever get the chance to take a tour of a natural bog in the middle of nothing, go, but remember, take bug spray! The deer flies were indeed the worst part about the entire experience.