Its ice everywhere.....but at least its February so its almost over. I will say its a pretty site but I still prefer the green color over the white! I look outside and imagine pictures like this...
The plants continue to grow nicely in the greenhouses and while standing in there you almost can forget what's going on outside. Call it an escape from reality. The marsh marigolds are starting to bloom alot and I must say they are really nice plants this year.
The snow storm isn't over yet so we are all in a holding pattern....waiting on the next blast to come through. Whether it will be ice or snow remains yet to be determined. So I will continue to think of all the plants growing and start to update our store to share the plants with you that we will be offering this year.
Well the holidays are over, the tree is down and all the holiday christmas decorations are put away. I could probably leave my christmas tree up for months as I always miss it once its put away. Its hard to imagine the room is exactly like it was a month ago because it looks so bare now. With that behind I start thinking that in just a few months it will be spring again. My how time flies. The plants are all beginning to grow nicely in the greenhouses and within a couple months will be ready to plant.
No sooner said then the snow began...let's hope February is a quick month and we can all get started on our spring projects and planning our gardens. Actually January is a good month to start ordering some plants for your gardens, at least I'm getting alot of plant magazines in the mail. So its getting me in the mood.
I'm not certain of the identity of this butterfly. I thought perhaps it was a male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. I'm really not certain, although it sure liked my dwarf crab-apple tree. It came back day after day.....I'm thinking it was the same one.
I know we don't want to think about it but it won't be long and fall will be here and we all know what comes next.....its time for us to be thinking about taking the extra care with our pond plants to make them comfortable for the winter cold. I've noticed the butterflies aren't as plentiful as they had been but occassionally I'm able to catch one.
HARDY BOG/MARGINAL PLANTS
Once your hardy marginal plants begin to brown, usually after the first hard frost, prune back excess foliage and discard any decaying material, so it does not compromise the water quality over the winter months. Potted bog plants such as Pickeral, Thalia Dealbata, and Japanese Variegated Iris should be placed at a sufficient depth to avoid freezing the crown of the plant. Most of the other hardy bog plants can be left as they are and will return the following spring.
Tropical Bog Plants
Many of the tropical bog plants will winter well indoors in a sunny window or with a grow light. They do not need to be submerged in water. Keep the soil constantly moist by placing the potted plants in a tray of water.
Its such a great life for the frogs....sitting on the lily pads basking in the sun. Could life be any better???? These pictures were shared by one of our customers who received these tadpoles in the spring and now they are frogs enjoying the life in their new home. Thank you again for sharing your pictures.
Just another benefit that a pond can provide for our enjoyment and relaxation. Plants, boulders or fallen logs provide good sunny resting areas for frogs, dragonflies or turtles to take a breather.
Now that winter is approaching another good idea for those having frogs in their ponds is to provide a hiding place for the winter. If you need you can create an area for them by placing a container in your pond filled with sand. This will give the frogs a place to bury themselves for the winter. Make sure its deep enough so that if your pond freezes over it will be beneath the ice. Always leave an open space in your pond to provide oxygen for your friends.
We've been so busy taking orders and shipping orders, we just haven't had time to write on the blog as we should. It has been a whirlwind of a spring so far. Those in planting zones 8 on the west coast have had an usually cold spring and should have had their plants in a month ago. But thanks to good old mother nature, they are still waiting for their normal warm temperatures. Hopefully things have finally warmed up. We held up shipping their plants and it became a daily routine of checking their 10 day forecast to see if they could climb out of the 50 degree weather they were experiencing. That was their high! For those of us in the lower planting zones, we should be able to begin putting our plants in the pond, mother nature cooperates for a couple days and then slips in a few fridgid night time lows in the 30s and 40s. What do we do?
Just remember, we need to play it safe and make sure the weather is going to cooperate and keep our new plants protected from the cold. If we put water lettuce in too early, the leaves will turn from their nice green to white.....water temperatures too cold. Water hyacinths turn brown......again too cold. Play it safe with your newly purchased plants and if you think the weather is still too cold, put them in a container and keep them indoors for a few days. If it is warm during the day, go ahead and place them outside to get the sun. I would rather play it safe and protect the plants, then to take a chance of them dying and having to replace them. We do our best to ship the plants when it is safe for you to put them in your pond. We watch the weather highs and lows across the nation and try to ship the plants accordingly. Unfortunately, those cold fronts coming down from Canada, make it somewhat difficult to second guess Mother Nature!
Next month hopefully we will all be sitting by our ponds thinking how nice everything looks and forget about the crazy spring we just had.
Walked out to the pond the other morning, and there they were, a pair of Mallard Ducks! My first thought was, oh how pretty they are, and what a cute couple they make! I started to have visions of the nest they would build next to the pond, after that the family of ducklings would appear. It would be so wonderful to watch them grow up, learn to swim, follow their parents around and in the pond. Then the voice of reason came! Ducks are not really welcome visitors to your backyard water garden. Unfortunately, ducks make a mess. Their droppings add unwanted nutrients to your pond. Not to mention, they are vegetarian for the most part, and they will eat your plants. The same plants you have spent your money on, they will eat. So, I listened to that voice of reason, scared the pair off, made them feel unwelcome and they have not been back since. I'm sure they have found one of the larger ponds or lakes in the area to call home.
Here we go again. I call it the Spring Tease. Just when plants are beginning to sprout and the warm weather hits....big time....it teases us with a mention of snow! The cold front here in Ohio and across the north has moved in for a few days. If you have already put plants out in your ponds, be sure and bring them in or protect them.
I was going to clean my pond last week, but with taking care of our customers and being busy taking your orders and sending orders I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I did see that I had some marsh marigolds blooming and bog bean. It gets me anxious, wanting to put more plants out. Good thing I held back. I'll just leave them be in the nursery where they are nice and warm. Besides, I really need to clean my pond at home since I neglected to do that last year. It's pretty bad. I think I need the Microbe-Lift Sludge Away. I have alot of build up of sludge on the bottom of my pond. Maybe then I'll only need to change out half the water this year. I did start putting the Microbe-Lift Spring and Summer in a couple weeks back and the water is crystal clear, but now you can really see the goop at the bottom. For those that haven't tried the Microbe-Lift Sludge Away it works great at speeding up the removal of sludge & muck naturally.
It is especially helpful for ponds that have a rock or gravel bottom, where vacuuming is impractical. Microbe-Lift SA/Sludge Away is formulated specifically for the removal of organic bottom solids that are slow to degrade but works faster at warm water temperatures, however, Microbe-Lift SA/Sludge Away may be used effectively at any temperature year-round.
We had highs in the low to mid 80's the last couple of days here in Ohio. One week snow, the next unseasonably warm. Don't want to get too used to it though, next week we will be back to the normal spring time temperatures. Normal here this time of year is mid 50's to mid 60's. Nothing like a few warm days though to get people out working on their ponds. The weather has been on the unusual side. One week snow, the next record breaking high temperatures. It makes it very difficult to know when to ship plants. Many of the plants we sell are cold sensitive and trying to second guess Mother Nature is sometimes impossible! We have customers in the Pacific Northwest that are still freezing, the time has passed when we usually can start to send their plants. Old Man Winter just isn't moving out of that part of the country yet. Hopefully, things will start to warm up for them in the next week or two. And for us in Ohio, we can only hope the milder temperatures will continue. We just want to remind everyone, just because you are having warm temperatures today, does not mean it is safe to put plants out before your last frost date. It has been such a long winter, I know everyone is a little impatient....I am too! But, always remember, Mother Nature likes to throw curve balls at us! Just when we think it is safe to put plants out, along comes a freeze warning!
As we get ready for another season, Dragonfly Aquatics is currently working on adding some new plants for the 2010 season. In the upcoming weeks we will be announcing our new plant varieties.
The first we've added are our new Lotus for 2010. The Penelope and Double Rose. The Penelope is a pure white lotus and the Double Rose is a pink full lotus. Both are a great addition to our store. You can find more information on them on our site. https://www.dragonflyaquatics.com/lotus.html
The newest bog plant we've added this year is the Rain Lily or Zephyranthes candida. They have six-petaled flowers that are 1-3 inches across with grassy foliage and grow 3 - 10 inches tall. They grow in full sun to part shade in moist soil or water to 3 inches deep. They are a tender perennial bulbs and hardy in Zone 8 and up. They have however, survived in Zones 5 or 6. You can winter these over by taking them indoors. Just don't water them until you return them to the pond in the spring. They go dormant in the dry season and grow and flower in the wet season.
You can purchase Rain Lilies here on sale through end of March, 2010.
There is nothing better in late winter, than going out to the greenhouses and seeing all the bog plants growing and some of the tropical water lilies starting to bloom again. We heat several greenhouses, so most of the plants we sell are available year round. But, as the days get longer and there is more daylight, the plants really start to take off. A few of the iris are starting to bloom here and there. Before we know it the 2010 shipping season will be in full swing. I can't wait to hear from all our pond friends across the country again. Looking forward to another great season helping people with their pond and plant questions.
