Topics

1

Pond Chat / Strange multicolor hybrid

« on: June 22, 2014, 05:44:42 PM »

Hi everyone,

Been a long time. My watergardening has been taking a back seat to my flying career.

However, I have something strange here. I have a mud bottom pond and in it I have the yellow Joey Tomocik and the multicolor Wanvisa.
I had a strange bloom open up this morning, and it appears to be a new seedling. It has the colors of both plants. I dont believe I have ever seen this before.

I dug down into the mud and its a new plant, this is the first  year it has bloomed. All I can think of is that its a bloom that has the traits of both parent plants.

Since this is the first bloom, its going to be interesting to see if this happens again.

Has anyone seen this before?

Louis

2

Photo Album / Louis' meager collection

« on: August 10, 2012, 03:08:47 PM »

hi everyone,
been a too long time. hope all is well with everyone. I am more of less out of the waterlily business. Last year, all my prized tropicals and my own hybrids were destroyed by the deer, they left me nothing but the pots.

I picked up an Albert Greenberg from a local watergardeninging center and will treat it as an annual. The plant has one pond all to itself and it has a 10 foot spread. The pads are 18 inches long and almost as wide. the blooms are huge at 8 inches.  Also i have a new hybrid lily that i got this spring. immediately the deer pulled it out of the pot and ate most of it. it has come back and its stunning with the speckles and stripes. they also ate the tag also, so i don't remember which one it is. can anyone help me with the name?

i also have tons of pink ribbons and texas dawn. gonna stick with the hardies. oh, and the deer keep the pads trimmed about 3 feet from the pond's edge.

So, I decided to fight them. I bought a cattle electric fence and have it around my raised pond. i packs a 5000 volt zap. i put it in two months ago and the plants in the pond are fantastic. i have the electric fence on a timer, it goes on at 8 pm and off at 8 am. funny thing, the day after i installed it i found the fence wire bent and a pile of deer poop on the grass. i assume he or she got the xxxx scared out of them. they have not been back in that pond since.

all your photos and plants are grand. its nice to see a lot of the old timers here.

cheers,

Louis

3

Pond Chat / Some blooms in the pond today (Added photo - 8/17)

« on: August 11, 2010, 05:05:46 PM »

hello everyone,

i have been hiding in the bushes trying to rid my place of deer. they are killing me this year. as soon as i put my tropicals out for the summer, they came along and had a buffet. i now have the waterblasters all over the yard. its working but a big pain, i am the one that is getting hit. i keep forgetting about them.

first bloom is the great aquarius:



second bloom is the spectacular charlie's pride.



and finally - silver moon. this is the first year that i am getting huge blooms from this plant, they are at least 8 to 9 inches in diameter.




This is the most accurate reproduction of the Silver Moon color that i have gotten so far.




Louis

4

Pond Chat / Pink Ribbon Hybrid Lily Photo

« on: July 05, 2010, 05:44:37 PM »

Hi everyone, been a long time. ponds are getting a slow start, however my 4 pink ribbon plants are going gangbusters. this plant had 7 blooms on it last week.

I dont remember where i got this plant, its been split several times and keeps getting bigger. blooms are quite large, i would say about 8 inches in diameter.

louis

5

Pond Chat / Hibiscus - Sleeping Beauty

« on: October 08, 2009, 06:46:10 PM »

hi all,

got me a new plant from hidden valley hibiscus. this is a second day bloom. bloom is 9 inches in diameter.

thought i would share one of my "wintertime waterlilies"

louis

6

Pond Chat / A little off topic. Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary passes on.

« on: September 17, 2009, 06:17:49 PM »

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for posting these photos here, I am not sure if everyone joins in the chit chat forum.

As most of you know Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary fame passed away this morning from complications from cancer.

One of Mary's last public performances was at our Palace Theater last March of 2009. I had the privilege of photographing the show and meeting the wonderful lady

When I took photos of the show, i resisted the urge to add them to my Palace Performer page and show them to the public. I thought it might be exploiting a very sick lady.

Now that she is gone, I would like to share some photos from her concert at the Palace theater.

She was on oxygen and confined to a wheel chair but still sounded like an angel.

Their music was an important part of my younger life.

louis

7

Pond Chat / The most magnificent Belle Du Jour Hibiscus

« on: September 16, 2009, 02:28:34 PM »

Most of my hibiscus plants come from a wonderful company in Calif by the name of Hidden Valley Hibiscus.

See here--- http://www.exotic-hibiscus.com/

I purchased this plant last week on tuesday and i received it on friday, shipped by UPS. their packing is unreal, the plant was in a 2 gallon bucket, pot is wrapped with a heavy plastic, bamboo rods are inserted in the pot the height of the packing box and plant and all placed in a paper sleeve and then in the box. no matter how you turn the box, the plant is not crushed. these photos were taken the day after i received the plant, the only damage in cross country shipping was two broken leaves. the plant is a little over 3 feet from crown to tip of plant. the plant came with 20 buds in all stages of opening. main trunk is about 2 inches in diameter, its a fairly older plant. blooms are about 8 inches in diameter

what do you think?

louis

8

Pond Chat / Brooklyn Blue second day blooms

« on: September 10, 2009, 05:54:14 PM »

hi all, i posted some photos of a nice tropical from John Meeks in Waterford gardens a few days ago. here are some photos of the bloom on the second day when the bloom flattens out.

the first photo is from the first day bloom and the second and third photos are from the second day.

9

Pond Chat / Squirrel attack on lilies >:(-

« on: September 09, 2009, 06:12:13 AM »

I don't believe it. if its not the deer, its the heron, then the mink, then the dogs, then the kids, then the big city people, then its the raccoons and now its the squirrels.

I was wondering what was tearing the lilies, i had a hunch it was these guys and this morning caught him in the act. the photo is very bad, because it was taken from behind glass.

cute little buggers though.

louis

10

Pond Chat / Unique lily - N. Brooklyn Blue

« on: September 03, 2009, 11:52:03 AM »

This is a plant that was a chance seedling grown by a friend - John Meeks from Waterford Gardens.
I think there are only a couple of these plants and i am so pleased that I have one. Its a huge, huge plant. It has a spread of 8 to 10 feet with pads 2 feet long by one foot wide. i would love to see what this plant would do in an earth bottom tropical pond. flowers are about 8 inches wide when the plant is given the chance to spread.

the colors are true to this plant in the early afternoon sun. this is a first day bloom and as the second and third day come, the flower flattens out quite nicely.

louis

11

Pond Chat / New Hybrid Hibiscus

« on: August 20, 2009, 11:31:04 AM »

Sorry not a waterlily, however, its a neat plant. the story goes: back many years i had a greenhouse filled with beautiful hibiscus and eventually had to close the greenhouse due to rising energy costs. I gave all my plants to various nursing homes and they eventually were neglected and died.

I had crossed two plants and did get some seeds and put them in storage for a few years. I decided to give them a try last winter and out of 20 or so seeds, one germinated and gave me this super plant. This plant is a cross between H. Fifth Dimension and H. Path.

this flower is first day and actually they only last one day. the bloom is 7 inches in diameter and foliage is a bright mint green.

Now if we can only get a waterlily this color.

Louis

             

12

Pond Chat / A Few Tropicals in bloom today. :)

« on: August 16, 2009, 05:36:21 PM »

Hi all, its been hot and the plants love it. had a little catastrophe yesterday when one of the neighbors black labs jumped into the pond and trashed some plants. of course the owner said that is was not his dog, could have been another black lab. gotta love the big city folks who come to the country to let their dogs run free.

Ok the first is the wonderful N. Charlies Pride. its the most red lily that i have ever seen. its really hard to photograoph and get the correct color.



Closer of Charlies Pride.



Wonderful first day of N. Lynn Ellen.



And my own - N. Silver Moon, first and third day blooms.



Louis

13

Pond Chat / Some of today's lily blooms

« on: July 28, 2009, 02:20:25 PM »

Hi All, yipiee we hit 90 degrees today, here is what is blooming in the ponds. maybe i will get a few more before the snow 

Louis

Aquarius


Aquarius


Charlies Pride



Lynne Ellen


Lynne Ellen


Pink Ribbon


Pink Ribbon

14

Pond Chat / The Agony and the Ecstasy of living with wildlife

« on: July 16, 2009, 05:08:07 PM »

As most of you know, i lost all my fish, at least 2 hundred of them to minks last summer. I do not have one fish left, not one. I live on a lake and expect to fight the wildlife, but I am waving my white flag. a friend who lives miles away from the lake and its hungry inhabitants, started a big pond about 12 years ago and i supplied him with nice fish and he then had an accumulation of about 100 nice, over 8 inch koi and goldfish. last week a combined effort by heron and mink cleaned him out in two days before he had a chance to realize what was going on.

Now that i have no fish, i have a wonderful accumulation of money bugs and zillions of tadpoles and tons of string algae for the first time. so i decided to treat the pond with potassium permanganate for the algae.  i saw a post by joyce on the dosage and went to the pond to pour it in when i saw little tadpoles looking at me. my heart melted, i knew that the PP would kill them all. so i will live with the algae and enjoy the tadpoles.

I guess if you cant fight them, join them.

louis

15

Pond Chat / Frost in July, the summer that wasn't

« on: July 16, 2009, 08:51:52 AM »

Outrageous, i live in northwest Connecticut and at a elevation of 1500 feet. we had frost last week and some spots in northern mass had light snow. all my tropicals have gone into shock with the pads glowing a orange and red. i am sure the plants are fine, however i do not have one bloom on them. the last time this happened was during the summer of 1878 when the northeast had snow into july. Of course, i don't remember that

its a lost summer. bummer

louis

16

Pond Chat / The Magnificient Hardy - Pink Ribbon

« on: July 09, 2009, 05:27:04 PM »

Hi all, this is the second year for this plant in my pond. Last year it was a disappointment, only blooming a couple of times. however this year its going gangbusters. there is always at least 4 blooms open at once. the buds are the size of tennis balls and the blooms are very full and about 7-8 inches in diameter.  Please enjoy.

Louis

17

Pond Chat / Please identify this frog

« on: May 30, 2009, 06:19:53 PM »

hi everyone,

i hope everyone is well. apologize for not being here that often. nothing to talk about.

i was having dinner on my porch tonight when i heard this croak from behind me, scared the daylights out of me.

this little guy was sitting on the back of the chair. he had to climb a flight of stairs to get on the porch.

i have never seen this type, anyone have any idea what kind he /she is. he never moved while i was taking his photo.

louis

18

Pond Chat / You may not be able to legally buy a koi or a goldfish again, if.........

« on: April 20, 2009, 03:52:06 PM »

I am not sure if this has been posted before, I could not find it.

If the crazy legislators in the Capital have their way and pass the proposed bill HR-669, ponding will cease as we currently know it.
 Basically it will make it illegal to import and sell any animal, fish, bird that is not native to the United States. That means that you will not be able to buy goldfish, koi, parrots, and the such. Big box pet stores, such as Petco and others will more than likely shut down.

Virtually all fish in an aquarium are not native to the United States
Most pet birds are species not native to the US
Most reptiles kept as pets are not native to the US
Hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and ferrets are not native to the US
Most pond fish are not native to the US

Here is a Utube video that will explain it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FPfL212CB8

Here is a web site to give you more information:

http://www.nohr669.com/

Louis

19

Pond Chat / I am fishless

« on: November 01, 2008, 07:36:02 PM »

Hi everyone, sorry i have not been around. have been very busy at three jobs (why 3, i cannot turn down a job).

To bring you up to date on the mink problem: I ended last year with about 75 to 100 fish of all sizes, from babies to 20 inch goldie. during the winter some time, mink got into the ponds and ate about 80 % of them. come spring i found many fish partially eaten and still alive. i netted them out and put them to sleep in the freezer. during the summer i caught 3 of the mink, and let me tell you, they are nasty and smelly. up to last week i had 5 fish, and now there are none, even the babies are gone. for the first time in my pond life, i have no fish, and i will not get any more, no sense. its impossible to net the pond due to the hydrangea along the pond.

last summer, i gave a friend about 30 large fish for his new pond, he lives about 10 miles from me. he had problems with raccoons and herons during the summer. they got some, but he has mink also and they took every one of his also.

i never had problems with these little buggers in the past, for some reason there has been an overpopulation of them.

i can look on the good side, if there is one, i don't have to put heaters on the pond this winter, a big energy saving there and i don't have to worry constantly if they are getting enough food when i am away.

i will stick to my plants and be happy.

i hope all is well with your guys

louis

20

Pond Chat / New Hybrid revisited

« on: September 20, 2008, 07:40:41 PM »

Hi Ya All,

I posted some photos of this new hybrid earlier this year and someone came up with a neat name for it. I don't remember the name and cant find any post to reference. this flower has a peach tone to it from the setting sun. the light was low in the sky and i could not resist the photo. does anyone remember the name?

lou

Todays photo



And its normal colors:

21

Pond Chat / Pink Ribbon and friend

« on: August 14, 2008, 04:44:20 PM »

This is my first bloom on the Pink Ribbon plant. It was very slow. I planted it in April and 4 months later the flower comes. I hope now that its established, it will bloom early next year. This little fella spent most of today sitting in the flower, occasionally turning to spread the warmth.

lou

22

Pond Chat / Today's Blooms

« on: July 20, 2008, 06:10:44 PM »

Today was a good day. lots blooming but only had time to get photos of a few with early morning light.

There are two photos of Anne Emmet ( first time blooms). Its a pretty flower, very delicate blue, green and white, with yellow center. Pads are plain green.

And another photo of Pink Candy. Note the very dark pad in the background.

And one of Enigma. Its a neat flower, again very delicate with blue/green/yellow. Pads are plain green.

Louis

Anne Emmet #1



Anne Emmet #2



Pink Candy

]

Enigma



 Louis

23

Pond Chat / Some of today's blooms

« on: July 18, 2008, 04:29:03 PM »

Boy its been hot, the plants love it though.

The first is Charlies Pride, the most red tropical that I have ever seen. Digital cameras do not like red, and i had a hard time to get the color right. this is the first day bloom and its intense.

The second one is one of Craig's,. called Day Glow. Pretty flower.

and the last one is one of my unnamed hybrids. it has a slight blue cast to the outside of the petals and the yellow throat. Its a cross between Golden West and Moonbeam.

lou

CHARLIE'S PRIDE



DAYGLOW



UNNAMED TROPICAL HYBRID

24

Pond Chat / Does anyone have Pink Ribbon blooming?

« on: July 18, 2008, 04:23:28 PM »

I bought a hybrid - Pink Ribbon from Lilypons this past spring and i have  not gotten a bloom yet. Its a slow grower.

anyone have one in bloom?

lou

25

Pond Chat / Snail infestation

« on: July 17, 2008, 01:36:42 PM »

I have one pond that is infested with snails from some pond grass that i put in a while ago. I have used Potassium permanganate a while ago to treat for snails, but forgot how much to use. The volume of this pond is 1200 gallons. does anyone have a formula for treating and sending the snails to snail heaven?

thanks,

lou

26

Pond Chat / New Hybrids, some named, some not

« on: July 15, 2008, 06:02:30 PM »

I thought I would post some of my hybrids of the past couple of years. Most I still have, some I no longer have. Some have been eaten by deer and racoons an now an occasional muskrat. Note the name on the top of the photo:

40 petal pink



Multi petal pink



Named - N. Pink Candy



Unnamed



Unnamed



Unnamed multi pink



Unnamed peach yellow



Unnamed multi petal pink



Another unnamed multi petal pink



Named - N. Raspberry Sorbet



Some not mine:

N. William McLane



N. Pamela



N. Manassas



Hope you enjoyed the long post.

Louis

27

Pond Chat / N. Blue Aster photo

« on: July 08, 2008, 08:54:54 AM »

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you all. The weather has finally started to warm up. (where is global warming, AL Gore ?)

This lily is probably the darkest blue I have seen. the color in this photo is as true as I can get. the flower is the first day and has a pleasant aroma.

I did not replace my lost goldfish this year, one less worry. Ponds are doing great with plenty of noisy frogs.  I have not seen any mink lately but there is a den of muskrats in my wall by the lake. gotta admit, the babies are cute.

lou

28

Pond Chat / New red Knockout photo

« on: June 13, 2008, 05:46:48 PM »

gotta love this plant. this is from the back, the sun is directly behind the bloom.

louis

29

Chit Chat / Death of Mr. Common Sense.

« on: June 10, 2008, 07:25:26 AM »

Unfortunately this is too true

Louis


London Times

Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplasts to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; along with his daughter and son, Responsibility and Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

30

Pond Chat / Yellow Knockout Rose - photo

« on: June 10, 2008, 06:41:56 AM »

Happy Spring, my friends, been a long time posting any image.
We are in the middle of a heat wave in the Northeast and the garden is doing great.  Back two years ago a friend who runs a nursery out west asked if I would mind being a "beta" tester for a new Knockout rose that will hit the market in a couple of years. It does not have a name yet, but for  now, its called the Yellow Knockout. I know most of you have seen or have the red or pink Knockout rose and what a wonderful rose they are. Mine bloom all summer long. Each bush is non stop color waving in the breeze.

The red or pink bush will get to 4 feet by 4 feet in good conditions. The yellow one is a bit more compact, growing about 3 feet wide by 3 feet high. I counted well over 100 buds and blooms on the yellow bush this morning. I am lucky to have two of the yellow ones and two reds and two pinks. I also have a nice red called "Home Run"

let me know your thoughts on this plant. I had to darken the photo to show the detail in the flower. the color is accurate.

Note: as you can see in the photo, every once in a while, a single stalk will grow up to 4 feet or higher, maybe there is a climber in its past. I clip them down to keep the bush compact.

Louis

Individual flower:



Bush that is 3 years old: