Oh. My. God.

.

We put the lower pond in 10 years ago. This last winter was just too much for it:



Oh, man! This is going to be so much work to get back together. ~sigh~
Lesson to y'all = Make sure you use concrete blocks if you're going to install a rubber liner.
Yes, we knew better, but they weren't/aren't in the budget.

This is how pretty it used to look -



The upper pond was put in almost 20 years ago and is still looking pretty solid.



We transferred the fish to the upper pond, but the stress of the move was just too much for them. We're left with 4 orfe and 1 koi. My heart is broken - we lost my favorite, Miss Sweet Pea.



:( These weren't just pretty fish, they were our pets.

Every time one door closes, another opens (or so they say), so I guess it's time for that redesign we've been thinking about.
What better time than now, eh?

We'll be moving the waterfall and also the little stream, which also means the flowerbed will be expanded. Since I've been looking into getting Wakin fish for years (they're expensive and the closest place we've found that sells them is in Pennsylvania), maybe we'll just eek out the work on this and leave it empty for a while. The Wakins can handle our severe winters without a second thought and losing our koi just makes me want to throw up. I can't go through that again.

This year, so far, has started out so crappy! I'm hoping summer doesn't follow suit.
It's going to be a perfect growing year, right? RIGHT?

Happy (redesign) Growing!
.

Roadside Shopping

:)
People are chucking their spent mums . . . again.
Yay!
I picked up three big mums and a pumpkin large enough for about four loaves of pumpkin bread. I love it when people have money to throw away.
Clearance sales are still on at Lowe's - huge Boston fern and two 'Double Take' Spaths (left outside to get frosted - ugh!) for a buck.
Go me!

The weather looks like I'll be able to get the mums in the ground on Friday.
I got the Iris cut back for winter and did a lot of weed pulling. Most of the flowerbeds are cleaned up. I'm still doing that nit-picky thing I do, though. I can't help it!

Planted the garlic a month ago and they're growing very well. Transplanted the rhubarb into the garden at the same time - I don't know how they'll end up taking it. We'll see.

Collected some more seed - aster and Zebrina Malva. I'm hoping those don't become a thug.
The large pond pump and flow-through pumps have been turned off and the smaller winter pumps turned on. The koi are sulking, but it can't be helped. They'll be fine, as always.

Now comes the real limbo. Too much love for the houseplants while I twiddle my thumbs waiting to start the wintersowing. It won't be as much as previous years as I can't afford the potting soil. Oh, well. I'll just have to pick and choose a little more wisely about what I want most in the flowerbeds next year and use the peat I already have - whether appropriate or not. On a side note: I was a little miffed when someone mentioned that they bought eight bags of potting soil for 8 something a bag and thought that it was no big deal and pretty much petty change. Huh? When your figuring out which bill to pay and which to leave . . . ummmm, 60 something dollars is a lot of money! What the hell is wrong with people saying it's no big deal to just go blow 60 bucks on soil? I could almost see her shrugging her shoulders with the 'what's the big deal' attitude. Grrrr.

I need to sort through my seeds again and get them in order. Maybe I'll wait on that until after Christmas when I'll be ridiculously sick of having nothing gardenish to play in.

Still so far, so good on the rosemary.

I still need to tent my lavender with some burlap.

I found out that my Polka Dots are more of a pain in the ass than I thought they would be.

I can't get the stem rot stopped on those stupid begonias, so have about a thousand cuttings piled everywhere now. If I end up with not one begonia come spring, I'm gonna be hot!

The Majesty Palm is still puttering along and throwing up new spears.

Oh, and the weirdness for the month - a Foxglove and Lupine are flowering! What the frig is up with that? The snaps that are still in full bloom aren't a surprise, but the Lupine certainly is. Also had a Delph just get a very late bloom frozen off. Hmmm . . .

Plans are in the works to widen the garden next spring and plant potatoes again. Yay! We haven't had the room for them in years.

I may do some more roadside shopping this weekend. Hehehe.

Quick Update

This post is a little pic heavy.

:)

My daughter stopped in and I got her to take some pics for me with her cell phone. The plants would probably look much better with a real camera, but I'll take what I can get and be glad. The sun set before she could take all she wanted to, but she got over 50 for me, so I'm very happy!

Everything was looking so fabulous . . . and then we got slammed with a devastating storm. The blue borage was lying totally flat on the ground and had to be ripped out. It was looking so good and was in full bloom. Our 12 foot sunflowers got blown down. The celosia was almost 4 foot and taller than the rose of sharon, but is now lying almost flat to the ground.

At least we didn't get hit quite as hard as some people did who got hit by lightening along with the wind and lost power, siding and shingles off their houses and roofs. My Uncle couldn't milk for 14 hours! Poor cows.

:(

The new (this year) front bed. There are tons of plants crammed in here - that's what happens with wintersowing - more plants than you know what to do with. Here's what is crammed in there, somewhere...

Mammoth Sunflower

Sunflower - vanilla ice

Sunflower - cinnamon sun cross

Borage (was)

Nicotiana

Foxglove

Celosia

Coreopsis

Balloon Flower

Canterbury Bells

Rose of Sharon

Gloriosa Daisy

Blanket Flower

Sweet William

Black Eyed Susan

Cleome

Cosmos (regular and seashell)

Lavender

Snapdragon

Portulaca

Chamomile

Nasturtium

Marigolds

Spirea

Fennel

Parsley - flat leaf

Parsley - Italian

Calendula

Strawflower

Blue Fescue

Aster

Zinnia

(and probably a few more I can't remember)

Shade bed. I'm in love with the balsam impatiens this year!

Blanket flower with a very happy bee.

Cinnamon Sun sunflower cross. (and another happy bee)

Center of the front bed - everything got blown flat :(

Asters and snaps. I adore the purple against the yellow snaps.

Black Watchman hollyhock (thanks Kim!) backed by the weeping pea tree. Between the bugs and the hail, the leaves don't look so hot, but the blooms are fantastic.

One of the Rhodos I started from seed. Or maybe it's an azalea. I didn't do so hot with the tag organization. I know - dumb, dumb, dumb!

The impatiens in the bench planters were wonderful this year. They looked so nice combined with the snaps until the storm showed up and made the snaps lean and blew their blooms off. The petunias popped up all over the place in the pathway, so I just left them to do their own thing. The Balsams stood up to the storm very well!

These Poinsettias are cuttings from the ones I got last year for 50 cents. (3 plants for 50 cents - can't beat that!) They aren't doing too well with the crappy summer we've had, but it will be a nice winter experiment to see how well I do getting them to bloom. I think I've absorbed every tidbit of info I can get on doing it!

Sweet Pea (white) and Spot (red) with a few Golden Orfe. Everyone else are usually the camera hogs, but were nowhere in sight. The water looked like crap all year with this awful weather, but I don't use chemicals to clear it - I'd rather have happy, healthy fish.

Gloriosa Daisies in the second front bed. I got quite a few doubles this year that I'll be saving seed from to see what shows up next year.

Zinnias in the front bed. Some got broken and blown flat, but most made it. For once, I'm glad I really packed them in there! Surprisingly, the Cosmos behind them made out well as the Zinnias worked as a grand wind break.

My daughter's favorite. The stem got a little bent from the storm, but it's still a gorgeous bloom.

The tree bed. The Lobelia was very happy here this year. The foxglove and columbine should bloom next year. The Polka Dot plants are some I got from a hanging basket (that had tons of stuff crammed in) on clearance at Lowe's for 50 cents. Go me!

My son's hot peppers. Damn storm! They looked so wonderful before they got blown sideways. At least he'll still get peppers! And yeah, they're hot. :)

I have more pics, but I'll save them for another day.

Nosedive

Right back into snow.
Ugh!
It's almost May, for pete's sake!
The koi and orfe are sulking. I can't say as I blame them.
No food for them for a few days - the water will definitely be nosediving below the 50 degree metabolism mark.

I am sooo not covering any plants or even worrying about my ws'd jugs. They made it through the quick freeze in April last year pretty well and are on their own again with the wacky weather. All I'm going to do is make sure they're well watered before the big freeze hits. Good luck, little guys!

All of my cheapie bulb plants I planted last fall are up. Yay!
Trout Lily
Virginia Bluebells
May Apple
Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Hope this freeze doesn't mess with them.

Oh, and we got the lawn mowed for the first time in 08.
:)
It's a good thing.
From 87 degrees to 30 - not so good.

Strange Poppy 2

My oldest daughter took some pics of the weirdo poppy for me today with her cell.
The colors don't show up as bright as they really are, but you can still get the idea of what I mean. (ignore the dirty hands and nails).

And...we discovered while taking the pics that there isn't just one, but two!

Some of our nishikigoi babies.

Getting Things Done

The soil is workable.
A bit too damp still, but I can ignore that small detail.

As is the case every year, the hubs had the usual fight with the rototiller. Apparently, just add oil and the motor will seize tight as a drum on you after it has started momentarily and then stalled.
I went on an internet hunt for used ones for sale. Ha! $1800.00?! Are these people kidding? They're used for Pete's sake. The prices never got down to a range we were even close to affording. I think the cheapest I found in my area was $600.00. Bah. So the fight continued after a few phone calls to friends for discarded motors, of which only one was found that wouldn't come close to fitting.

In the end it didn't matter as 'spawn of satan' tiller decided it had given him enough grief and was ready to go to work for another season. His arm is hurting like heck this morning from a temperamental rewind being yanked a thousand times, but at least he won in the end.

After the wasted few hours fighting with the devil tiller, we popped over to my step-mom's for her birthday. By afternoon we were more than ready to actually get something accomplished.

The trellis got set up and the peas are planted. All five varieties. I hate peas, but the rest of the fam love them, so I guess it's not wasted space? lol.

Alaska
Wando
Sugar Snap
Oregon Sugar Pod
Laxton's Progress

Whichever variety they decide they like best is what will ultimately get planted next year. I don't even know what variety we grew last year. They will eat them no matter what kind they are anyway, so I guess it doesn't much matter.

Half the onions got in the ground - Sweet Spanish.
We ran out of light before we could get the White Bunching sprouts planted. We'll get to those on Tuesday.

The koi are much happier as we've gotten the pond filter and waterfalls up and running. All seem well and happy. Unfortunately, we lost one last year (due to a pump malfunctioning) but this spring everyone looks good. I'd really, really love some Wakin, but they're impossible to find for sale around here, and if you do stumble on a few, they want $25.00 a piece! Unreal.

The Orfe were zipping around and looking for those first bugs of spring. It is glorious to see them whizzing through the water again. There may be no blooms in the yard, but there is color in the water. :)

According to last years records, we transplanted broccoli, cabbage, head lettuce, cauliflower and brussel sprouts on April 22 and they all did very well except for the brussels. Maybe I'll start hardening them off this week and get them in the ground a week or ten days earlier this year to see how they do compared to last. Hopefully, I'll have better luck with the brussel sprouts staying tighter.

My daughter got me some India Mustard seed last year. I have no idea what this is, or how to use it. The packet only says "used for greens", "pick outside leaves as they mature to encourage more growth". I've come across a few sites that say it is an invasive weed in some parts of the US, but dies at 17 degrees.

So, what do you do with it? Eat the leaves or grow it for the seeds? Some info said that it has a peppery flavor in salads when you use the small interior leaves, but it will have a 'burn your tonsils' effect if you eat the mature leaves. My youngest son would be happy with the burn your tonsils thing, but the hubs would not. Do you cook like collards (which I'm also hoping to try growing for the first time this year)? Mix with lettuce? Wait for the seed and make mustard? Seriously - what?

I'd hate to waste garden space on something we won't end up eating. Maybe I'll give it a half-row with the collards. Experiments are always fun!

Enough Is Enough

Seriously.
It's suppose to drop to 8 degrees tonight, negative numbers to the north.
Argh!

Humans aren't the only ones being affected.

The dog puts one paw on the frozen, snow covered front steps and balks. Apparently, the crap on the ground will outweigh the need to pee every time. She's depressed. She wants to go out and play on some green grass. I know how she feels all balled up in a sighing lump on the floor after staring out the window all day and longing to be able to just find a stick under all that frozen white crap.

I've taken to calling my daughter's bunny (why do they never take animals with them when they move out?) 'Slug'. She's usually so chipper towards spring, but the fresh clover and tender, new grass shoot treats aren't coming at the usual prescribed time this year. She's a depressed bunny. I don't blame her.

And the Koi - just plain ole pissed. Sun - thaw - snow - frozen - sun - thaw. Uhrg!
I'd be pretty miffed if I were them too. I imagine they wonder if the Jap Beetle treats will ever show up this year. Even the Orfe are sluggish when around now is usually the time they're zipping through the water like mini torpedoes in a race for those first bugs of spring.

It's suppose to be 60's on April 1st. Yeah, a real April fools since it's suppose to drop right back down to crap after that. They're hinting at another snowstorm next weekend. The joke is on us.

Poke us all - humans and animals - with a fork, we're done.
Winter can just bite me!

Watering Plants With PH

This should have been a no-brainer, a duh-moment, a slap-the-forehead thing.
Apparently, I've been suffering from a "Wake up stipid! You're killing your plants!" brain freeze for the last few....forevers.

Do I know that most plants prefer to grow in a certain PH? Ummm, YES. (Is this a trick question?)

Do I know the PH of my rainwater? Well, surprisingly, YES. (I have koi for pete sake!)

Do I know the PH of my groundwater? Ermmm, YUP. (See above mention of koi, but is it a winter or summer measurement you want? Waaaay different!)

Do I know the PH of my yard and garden soil? Well, DUH! (Of course, this is Central New York, so step over 2 feet and it'll change).

Do I know that the PH of the water that I'm watering my plants with (from rainwater, tap or hose) will affect the PH of the soil the plants are growing in? <----That, right there, was my "Wake up stupid!" thought a few weeks ago.

How could I have been so oblivious for so long? I have been gardening for 30-some years. 30-something freaking years! Has this thought ever appeared in my brain? Uh, obviously not. Why not? I dunno!

Our bedrock is composed of -
sediment stone
clay
gypsum
limestone
pumice
travertine
alabaster
granite
slate
sandstone
marble
and even diamonds

Whew!
Anyway, depending on the groundwater pressure and raising or lowering of it (especially in spring), the PH of our well water can change drastically - and fast.
It can sometimes be as high as 9 (though it occasionally tests off the charts) and drop to a 4.5 within the span of a few days.
Top this off with a rain water PH of sometimes 8 (yes 8) and this doesn't make for a good plant watering combination.

This high of a rain water PH makes absolutely no sense to us as we're suppose to be in one of the areas most directly affected by acid rain. Nope, we don't understand it, but that's what we've measured it at on some days.

Am I going to test and adjust the PH every time I water my plants? No freaking way! But does knowing that this is going on make me more adept at dealing with watering them? You bet.

Case in point:

My poor Rhododendron and Azalea seedlings were unhappy. But why, I wondered.
They have excellent soil with adjusted PH at transplant, Hollytone, they're kept moist but not soggy, perfect light amount and I tell them how cute they are (yeah, in baby-toned babble) every day. OK, sometimes a few times a day. And they just weren't those happy, strong seedlings they should be.

So, what the heck is wrong?

Duh-moment: It's the water, stupid!

I tested: OMG! I've been watering them with groundwater at a PH of 9! So, what's happening to their soil? Duh! (yes, I actually slapped my forehead.) It's changing the soil PH.

Have I read to water them with distilled water only? Oh, yes. Many, many times.
Did I want to spend the money on it when I have water flowing from the tap for free? Heh- not this cheapskate.

I gave in. I bought the damn water, flushed their soil, and waited.

What happened?

Well, in less than a month, they've put on weight, gotten taller, stockier, healthier, colored up beautifully and put out many new leaves.

I wish kids were that easy to adjust!

The moral of me almost killing my helpless plants?:

Don't just check your soil PH - pay attention to your water, too!

Hannibal

Yeah, like the one you're thinking of.

The largest koi fry turned into a toby (or shooter for those that prefer) and ate everyone. Ugh!

Hannibal just sounded like a better name than Jeffery. Besides, Hannibal was smart, right? lol.

My daughter isn't amused with the situation in the slightest. For her, his name is simply 'The Murderer'.