Messages

1

Pond Chat / Re: My female turtle still wants out!!

« on: July 16, 2010, 05:44:02 PM »

Julles is right, they can and will climb fences but if you've turned the edge in, she'll just fall back in the sand.  If you have the time, you might want to let her out and watch her while she is out.  If she doesn't think that beach is suitable, she will either drop those eggs in the pond (and that's a mess, trust me) or become egg bound and die.

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Pond Chat / Re: for Jerry

« on: July 16, 2010, 05:40:23 PM »

I hate to disagree Mike, but it's just not true that if you feed him enough he won't eat your lilies.  Turtles instinctively eat when they see food regardless of the state of their hunger - simply because only mother nature knows when the next meal will be provided.  If he/she is not eating your plants yet, then that's great but eventually the plants will be a meal and my turtles always preferred lilies, especially the rising buds, to any other plant in the pond.

Vickie, if you plan to let him go anyway, sooner would be better.  The more you feed him the more dependent on that feeding he becomes.  Let him go now so that he can learn to find his own food while it's still plentiful in whatever lake you plan to release him into.  And unless your pond is pretty large and deep, he hasn't got a great chance of surviving the winter in it.

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Pond Chat / Re: Post all Waterfall Pics Please

« on: July 16, 2010, 05:34:39 PM »

I haven't posted pictures of my pond in years (literally, years), but I have spent the last two days out there rebuilding parts of it, so here goes!!!

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Pond Chat / Re: Small pink waterlily that blooms a lot in cooler climates?

« on: June 28, 2010, 11:44:48 PM »

I have Perry's Baby Pink and it blooms well for me, even in mostly shade.  I would think that if Perry's Baby Red blooms well for you the pink would also.  I don't have Perry's Baby Red . . .

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Pond Chat / Re: T Mike help! The Egg Laying Pen is done! Photo added

« on: June 28, 2010, 11:40:05 PM »

Jerry - a gravid female turtle is an escape that WILL happen.  They won't lay their eggs in soft ground and they won't lay them at water level.  They are acting on instinct and their instincts tell them that they MUST find ground that is above at least the 50 or 100 year flood plain so that the eggs, which are permeable, will not drown before they are ready to hatch.  Your female will wander around, generally heading uphill until she finds the perfect spot and then will dig her hole.  The hole will be big enough for however many eggs she's carrying (5 to 8 if it's her first lay, up to 16 if she's older and has done this a few times) but the opening to the hole will be just big enough for the egg to drop thru it.  She will use her own urine to make the ground soft enough to dig.  Then she'll close that hole up and even if you watched her dig it and cover it, you may not be able to find it when she's done.  I always dug up the eggs and incubated them in a safe place because there are so many predators that will destroy the nest or eat the babies as they hatch.  It takes about 70 days for RES eggs to mature and then they will usually hatch during or immediately after a rainstorm - presumably because the ground is then soft enough for the babies to dig out. 

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Pond Chat / Re: Who used to be on AWGS.org?

« on: June 28, 2010, 11:31:09 PM »

I was there, way back when awgs started and even before.  I think I joined Garden Web and what was the forum Roger ran called - IPS?  Something like that.  Think I joined the first one somewhere around 96 and Joyce was already there.

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Chit Chat / Re: More projects

« on: May 09, 2010, 06:41:31 PM »

Those are VERY nice!  A keepsake the kids will have for many, many years.

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Chit Chat / Re: Little man in my yard

« on: March 20, 2010, 06:26:58 PM »

Way, way cool.  Wish I had a little guy living in my yard . . .

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Chit Chat / Re: Buckhead

« on: March 20, 2010, 06:23:01 PM »

Buckhead Diner is definitely good food from a fine chef but also definitely not everyday food.  I live less than two minutes from the diner.

Sorry I missed you Johns . . . would have liked to meet you.

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Chit Chat / Re: Internet pond site musings

« on: March 18, 2010, 07:13:29 AM »

Never did rec.ponds but was there for IPS and watergardening.com and even garden web . . . never got sent to disneyland by Spike, but saw many friends go there . . .

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Pond Chat / Re: Red stuff living in here.......

« on: February 20, 2010, 07:47:11 AM »

It's been my experience that Koi (and even goldfish) love to eat water hawthorne.  I would put at least a small peice of that somewhere safe from the koi until you see what they do to it. 

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Chit Chat / Re: Beaded Koi Amulet Bag

« on: February 19, 2010, 05:33:42 AM »

I"ll say Teresa. Where the hell have you been? Would be nice to see you once in a while. 

Actually, I try to come look around every so often I just never post anymore.  There's a new (well not new anymore) knitting site that's so much more than a forum where I tend to go first when I have a little time on my hands.  I'm teaching knitting now at an arts center here and the girls are growing up, so I don't have nearly as much time as I used to.  But I do like to keep up with people at least a little.  Have you stayed in touch with Lynn?

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Pond Chat / Re: Turtles beginning to show, but what's this?

« on: February 18, 2010, 07:33:37 AM »

It's how their shells grow.   The scutes are what cover the bone (the shell is bone).   You can pull the scutes off if you want, and you should if they stay on too long.  Don't pull them hard as the turtles can feel it and if the scutes aren't ready to come off, it can be painful.  Watch them to make sure that they do fall off because if they don't, they can get dirt and bacteria under them and the turtle can develop an infection. 

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Chit Chat / Re: Beaded Koi Amulet Bag

« on: February 18, 2010, 07:23:08 AM »

Nancy that is absolutely fabulous!  I've seen kits for those and thought they were gorgeous but no way would I ever have the patience to finish something like that!  You really are the expert in beading now, aren't you!!!  (and that was so gorgeous it made me come out of lurking, so you know I'm impressed).

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Technology Talk / Re: A Palm Pilot, New in the box best offer takes it.

« on: November 22, 2009, 01:24:29 PM »

If you still have it, I still use a palm pilot and really like it.  I don't have a blackberry or Iphone. I'd be interested in knowing what you want for it . . .

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Pond Chat / Re: Volunteers of America

« on: October 24, 2009, 10:15:17 AM »

I sure wouldn't kick any of your volunteers outa my ponds . . . . a couple of those are just gorgeous!

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Pond Chat / Re: Brazilian Water Cactus

« on: October 03, 2009, 07:17:28 PM »

If by 'prickers' you mean thorns, then yes, it has them aplenty!

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Pond Chat / Re: Brazilian Water Cactus

« on: September 26, 2009, 07:49:37 PM »

I checked the cactus and it has all kinds of new leaves - so I'm guessing it really liked the flood!  We've had another couple of inches of rain today, so if it wasn't wet enough before, it should be now!

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Pond Chat / Re: Fall Flowers

« on: September 26, 2009, 07:47:14 PM »

You need to save that last little blue one for me for next year.  I am absolutely swooning over it.  And I have just the patio pot to make it very happy.

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Pond Chat / Re: Brazilian Water Cactus

« on: September 22, 2009, 08:43:53 AM »

I have to say that my Brazilian Water Cactus has done well in the water we have around here these days . . . . there is no longer a shortage of water or a drought or even water restrictions in Atlanta.

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Pond Chat / Re: My Lotus did not recover.

« on: September 21, 2009, 08:09:29 AM »

When we were going through all the drought years, when it was so hot, my lotus often went dormant in August.  They'd turn all brown and yucky like that pic and then they'd just go dormant.  They always came back in the spring.  I also think that different types of lotus have different tolerance levels because my dwarf would always outlast the full sized lotus.

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Pond Chat / Re: Turtles and water Lillie's. what I have learned.

« on: September 21, 2009, 08:05:54 AM »

Mikey's right - age and sex do have a lot to do with it.  I found that tropicals were always the preferred treat and if I had enough of those in the ponds, the hardies got to keep their leaves.  Buds never ever opened without at least a large bite out of the side . . .

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you move a lily or add a lily to the pond it's always going to be the first one they go after.  If the lilies are there and part of the environment and unchanging, they stand a better chance of being ignored.

Snappers are much worse - they chop all leaf and flower stems off at the dirt.

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Pond Chat / Re: Tobago Red

« on: September 21, 2009, 08:03:04 AM »

We've been having some seriously crappy weather here - they've actually closed school districts in the metro area because of flooding.  If it doesn't quit raining soon, I'm going to have to enlist some help in building a nice ark!

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Pond Chat / Re: Tobago Red

« on: September 10, 2009, 06:36:55 PM »

Hi Darcy!

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Pond Chat / Re: Bowl lotus

« on: September 08, 2009, 05:27:15 PM »

Kay -
I have a bowl lotus that I leave outside all year round.  I all lotus are hardy perennials and do need a dormant period. 

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Chit Chat / Re: Stuff happens, Sorry Craig!

« on: September 03, 2009, 06:21:59 PM »

Geez Craig!  I thought you left because people were hassling you!

Was beginning to think it was me!

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Chit Chat / Re: The Grinch lives

« on: September 03, 2009, 06:20:45 PM »

Yeah - I agree that the Mom should have either quieted the child or taken the child home.  I can't tell you how many shopping trips were cut short when my girls were young and misbehaved or lost it.  But that guy!  Wow!  All I have to say is I better never run into him in a store . . . . and he lives too damned close to me!

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Pond Chat / Re: Random Non-Lily Pics

« on: August 31, 2009, 06:25:26 AM »

I can't believe you are still getting hibiscus blooms . . . my red star is still blooming but mostly done, the pink and white got damaged in the spring and haven't done a thing, the carolina red is still blooming occasionally and the yellow is still alive but showing no signs of blooming. 

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Pond Chat / Re: More Ferocious Lilies, and others...

« on: August 26, 2009, 05:40:29 AM »

Those photos are fabulous - the last one of pygmaea looks a little like a miniature magnolia and the closeup of the leaf would make a terrific framed shot or desktop.

Love the colors in the flower . . .

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Pond Chat / Re: I have this lily and have no idea what it is? Any guesses?

« on: August 26, 2009, 05:33:46 AM »

Looks like a very pretty, unnamed pink lily to me . . .