Wow that’s a lot to respond to. I’ve been away from the computer for a day or two.
First of all thank you all so much for every encouraging and nice thing that you have ever said to me from the time I first posted pics of my plants here.
Those where my first posts on line ever and just about my first time on a computer.
I figured that I would show some pics of my plants and give them a little exposure and see what kind of reaction they received. It has turned into much more than that.
I really feel like I have made a bunch of friends here and you have helped launch me into a whole other life.
I’m not an attention seeker. If I was I would not have chosen to spend my whole life since I was 15 living in the forest by myself without even any friends most of the time.
My love of nature is the motivation for my lifestyle and my ponding interest and therefore the lilies just followed naturally and here I am. If my dad hadn’t moved here I would not have a computer and you would know nothing about me and I about you.
I don’t know what would have happened in that scenario but now the lilies rule my life and I guess I’m going wherever they take me. I’m just along for the ride!
It reminds me of a Nova show I saw recently about how plants are manipulating us humans to reproduce and distribute them and breed them to be even more enticing to us which makes us breed and distribute them even more widely and on and on in a symbiotic relationship between us and the plants. I said “That’s me and my lilies for sure.”
Plants are replacing bees with humans ! Again using those ever enticing petals that they have evolved. Amazing, and what a thing to be a part of. It just blows my mind!
Rickinla What jerry said. Much more lilies in cages like you are doing and plant your pond with Water purslane , and water plantain and spike rush and other native shallow water plants.
My ponds are full of red ears and snappers and they just nibble on the lilies and do no damage. I feed them and the fish now and then and if I don’t feed them for a long time I might find a Ladekery Fulgens , that’s their favorite, has been damaged.
Build a turtle trap and trap and eat or relocate all of those snappers, they are your main problem. If you’re not the turtle eating type get a local good ol boy to come and get them out of the trap and you can let him take care of it. Good eating! Please be nice to the other turtles I don’t think they are much of a problem.
Your hybrid lilies are novel and tasty to your turtles. Give them more and you will hardly notice the damage. Enlarge the diameter of your cages or run the fence from on shore out into the pond along the shore and then back to land. That worked for a friend of mine.
Are you sure that It’s not also deer that are eating them. Deer will go into water as high as there shoulders and eat all of your lilies. In that case you will see lily stems sticking out of the water.
Hi Tim give me a call after work sometime maybe you’ll catch me here.
Sunfire seems slow to really get cranking this year probably because I divided them up last year and their getting reestablished. I’m still learning about my plants.
The really weird thing is that Yellow Watermelon is not making light vein patterned leaves yet this year ! It’s the weirdest thing. My yellow Arcenceil cross has no leaf patterns either. Very strange, I don’t like it. I like consistency in color and form if possible but unpredictability can be fun like with Purple Day which is now named Lavender Day because it’s lavender really not purple ..
I’m sending 4 more plants to Ken tomorrow and I plan on calling him today or tomorrow I hope. I really want to talk to him. It’s been a long time.
