Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Pond…yes, we finally have a pond.

Off to Hughes Water Gardens! But we couldn’t get right to business and buy plants for our pond, nope. We have to tour the place first and see all that is new! Like this herd of elephants. And their pond…naturally they have a pond.
Someday my Rodgersia tabularis leaves will be this big, right? (hand for scale)...
The Tropical Water Lilies were starting to bloom. I love these, but at $47.99 a little to expensive for our pond. Besides our pond is in too much shade for them to be happy.
This Papyrus long ago escaped the confines of its pot.
These must be required tools of the trade.
Whenever I see a colorful display like this I want to buy them all!
Their version of a shade pavilion…
So after touring we finally got down to the business of shopping for our pond plants…I really wanted Moisac plant and remembered (from previous visits) it being a floater. Well I guess it’s not, it's potted and it was fairly expensive and wouldn’t have a chance of overwintering. So I passed.
The Chocolate water fringe has leaves that are reminiscent of Lily pads, and it’s hardy! Sold.
Of course we would need some Papyrus.
And Water lettuce!
But it will have to wait to go outside until things are a little warmer.
Aztec Arrowhead is nice. Interesting shaped leaves and cute simple flowers.When it came time to choose our floater plants I had a hard time deciding between the Fairy Moss
And the Duckweed. But once we discovered that the Duckweed should live through the winter that’s what we went with.
Ready to go home and “plant”…
And I love it!
Hopefully the Water lettuce will be able to go out soon.
And I can’t wait for things to grow and cover a little more of the surface. I really don’t like seeing the cement blocks and the plastic pots.
The best thing about the Water hyacinth…...is their fabulous black feathery roots!
Our pond is missing one thing, the fish. We are waiting for the weather to stabilize before we introduce the little guys.
Oh and one other plant made it home with us…remember the orange blooming Euphorbia I’d been pining for? Only to discover what a spreader it can be and then passed it up? Well I’ve got one now.
It’s in a pot, for its own good.

10 comments:

  1. Nice plants- wow I can't believe water lillies are that expensive- I know I wouldn't have paid that much, I bought mine a few years ago from Cistus. They survive just fine over winter, as do my cheap pet shop gold fish , I started with 2 - now I don't know how many ... they had babies last summer,enjoy

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  2. Oh wow! I can't wait to see how your pond does through the summer. Everything looks great!

    I love that herd of Elephants!

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  3. I got water lilies at Freddy's for, oh, about 4 bucks. Keep promising myself a visit to Hughes...maybe not to buy, but just for the whole experience. R goes down to the river to dip up buckets of duckweed. Our fish gobble it up big time.

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  4. I love that Hughes will warn you about the water lettuce not being ready for prime time. That's the mark of an excellent nursery. But does that mean it won't winter over?
    That Aztec Arrowhead is great: showy in a simple way - I'm a bit of a fool for any three-petaled flower.
    Glad you finally got your pond (and your euphorbia!)

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  5. Congrats on your water garden! Hughes seems like a great store...I love the elephants!

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  6. It was very nice of them to have the warning sign up about the water lettuce.

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  7. linda, I think they were so expensive because they were tropical. Great news about your goldfish...I think that's the route we will go.

    Laura, thanks! I'll be sure to update, esp when we get fishes!

    ricki, I saw a few at our FM but they looked like warmed over death. Hell...maybe not even that good. Pathetic. If they get a new fresh shipment I'll probably have to buy a couple just to rescue them from certain death.

    MulchMaid, yep...I thought that was pretty cool of them. Not hardy through winter, unless I bring them back inside, perhaps. But at $3 not to bad to just buy new.

    How it Grows, thank you! And I suppose that is what I should be calling it, a water garden, rather than a pond.

    Mary, agreed.

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  8. Lovely choices, and it looks great. In our climate, the plants would triple their size in about 2 weeks and you'd never see the water again. But perhaps your cooler temps will keep those water plants in check. I know you'll enjoy your pond. I love mine.

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  9. AnonymousJune 10, 2010

    Congratulations, Loree! I love it. Your plant choices are perfect. I like the Water Fringe leaves a lot. I should tell you, although Fry Road doesn't have a water plant section, per se, they've got a lot of different types of Elephant Ears. Plus a green/white variegated Cyperus and variegated Acorus. :) Better save room!

    I too have goldfish in my water bowl. Started with 8 a few years ago, down to two but at 8 for a buck, not really a problem. If you do get fish, may I suggest a floating thermometer too? It's a good idea to keep the water in the temperature's safety zone.

    I've never been to Hughes but it sounds fun.

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  10. I'd like the water lettuce inside in a floating bowl just for decoration's sake. Sounds better than a cut flower.

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