Pond Plants in December

It has been eerily warm and humid here.  Christmas Day was close to 80 degrees and the humidity was so thick it was like a presence (not a present!).  So my son and I pulled out the waterlilies to repot them.  When they arrived last spring, I didn't have time to do much with them and they looked so tiny and improbable that I just tossed them into separate black plastic pots and called it a day, meaning to repot them when I found my water plant pots (although I was pretty sure I'd tossed them out when I left CT).  About a month ago I was at Home Depot and saw they had two water plant baskets for sale for about $2 each and I bought them.  I thought I would use them to repot the lilies in the spring, but it was so warm and the mood came upon us.  So we quickly transplanted them into the bigger, hole--ier pots--after oohing and aahing!

This one  had tiny new growth at the base.  I added some ordinary garden soil to fill up the basket (I didn't want to use anything too rich and cause it to start growing like gangbusters and then keel over and die!).

 I forget which is which so will have to wait until they bloom.  There are two of the same variety in this basket (either Charlotte Strawn--yellow--or Pink Beauty--pink and smaller).

Repotted in their new baskets and ready to go back in the pond.

 This is a few days later after being put back on their cinder blocks at the bottom of the pond.  They seem to have survived my attentions.

I then decided I needed to repot the pitcher plants.  They've been growing in a ceramic pot on a shelf in the pond.  I wanted to use that seafoam green/turquoise pot to plant a dwarf lemon tree in come spring.  I couldn't get it out of my head how glorious that would look.  So I'd been thinking what toI  transplant the pitcher plant into.  A year or two ago I  found a cracked recycling bin on the side of the road.  I asked the guy at the dump if I should turn it into the county, and he looked at it and said, " Nahhh.  With that crack, they won't use it.  It's no good anymore," and he started to throw it in the dumpster.  I asked if I could have it, and he let me take it.  It's been sitting in my garage holding junk all this time.  I took some old peat moss and filled it up and then transplanted the pitcher plant into it.  I'm thinking about sinking it into the ground up to the rim, but haven't decided the best spot yet.

This is a camellia bush I planted a year or two a go.

 

 It's got beautiful flowers.  I have a tea olive planted next to it and it smells heavenly, which makes up for the lack of scent from the camellia.

 I planted green onions today, too.  This is my new layout for my kitchen garden.   My son did most of the backbreaking work.  The paths are covered in leaves to keep the weeds down.  Once they rot down, we'll use them as compost in the beds and add more to the paths.  One thing I have plenty of is leaves!  We put a fence up to keep the dogs out.  They love to run all over the garden and dig like crazy. A week ago I planted Elephant Garlic that I bought from the produce section of the grocery store. It was three big cloves.  We'll see how it does.  It's next to the onions.

 

 

 

The vegetable garden is just 3 long rows with a 3' wide path (where the leaves are) on each side.  Each bed is 36" wide and 20 feet long.  I plan to use three soaker hoses to irrigate it. I can't stand to stand there with the garden hose in my hand every night watering.  I decided the only way I was going to do another vegetable garden was if I didn't have to hand water it.  So I  bought three soaker hoses (25 feet long each) that were on sale at Home Depot at they end of the season for $7 each.  We'll see how this works out. 

 Meanwhile, inside....

Close up of some of my succulents and a grafted cacti.

A long shot of all my houseplants crowded up near the southwest window.  I can't put them straight up against the wall because the dogs would knock it all over in an effort to get to the window to bark at squirrels and birds, or the occasional crazy cat that wanders onto the patio, taking his life into his paws!  While we're on the subject, about two months ago, the neighbor's kitten wandered into my fenced backyard and my 3 rat terrier mixes got hold of her.  I ran outside when I heard the screams and growls and got bit seven times in the process of trying to extract the kitten from their mouths.  Most of the bites were from the kitten, but one of the dogs got a good nip in on my bicep.  The cat survived.  The only blood shed was mine.  I was sure they had ripped her to shreds and I would be pulling tissue paper pieces of her  from their jaws, but amazingly, she only had a hurt leg.  It might have been broken or a ligament torn, but she limped for a couple of weeks and  has since made a complete recovery.  It was a bad experience and I'm lucky none of my wounds got infected.  Now, every time I let the dogs out, I check first to make sure there are no little black patches moving in the yard.

 

 

And my HOME sign in front of some bedraggled thyme out back by my patio.