So I've potted up my four $1.75 PetSmart lilies, and they're in RubberMaid tubs that they will quickly outgrow, because they're only about a foot deep. I was contemplating buyin a larger tub, or cattle trough or similar.
Well, I was hitting garage sales yesterday, and was all ticked off 'cause I missed the turn for one, and had to go around the block. But - wonder of wonders! At the curb of this other street someone had thrown out a 30gallon plastic storage container - perfect condition!
I nabbed it (and got several packs of unopened notebook paper, file folders, etc., too!!), took it home, spray painted it black, dug some ruellea out of the flower bed adjacent my pond, which just happens to be exactly the width of the storage container, trimmed vines overhead to give more sun, then set the container on the ground, added water, put in my new lilies (already padding out like mad, after less than one week being potted!), tossed in a bit of duckweed and water lettuce, and, for good measure, two baby betta fry that were hatched in one of my tub water gardens.
What's extra cool is, I have a statue that's the head of what I call a sprite, and I set it on a strawberry pot in the tub, and when the lily pads get big, it will look like the sprite is floating in a sea of lily greenery.
Those lilies are growing sooo fast, I'm so excited! In South Texas, I'll bet there's a chance I'll have blooms by autumn's end (late October around here
).
