Blooms, clawfoot tubs, and shirt! Oh my! LOL *UPDATED W/MORE PICS 6/24*

[joeyb5980]

Well, here are some photos from me for the week   

Innerlight


Perry's Orange Sunset (HUGE blooms!)






Mexicana


First bloom from Clyde Ikins!!

[joeyb5980]

First bloom from Gypsy!!!




First bloom from Joey Tomocik!!


My new fountain... Angels aren't typically my thing, but my grandma had a little concrete cherub kneeling with a pitcher that poured water into her pond, and when I look at this it makes me think of her 

[joeyb5980]

Arc-en-ceil


Colorado and Gonerre


Mayla


Gladstoniana's (?) first bloom

[joeyb5980]

My raised pond is filling out


Got two more clawfoot tubs on Saturday!!  $60 for both    I am anxious to get them cleaned up, plugged up, and filled up    They look a little rough now, but just wait- I will post pics once they are clean and level and full of lilies 






And me in my new AMERICAN PONDERS SHIRT!   

[Ruthie]

So. Many. Pretties.    They are gorgeous!  And the new pond really looks nice   I am adding a few more lilies to my wish list.  I gotta stop that.  Seriously

I need to post a photo of my big stock tank one of these days.  We moved it and repaired it (it had been run over by a tractor or something...at least once or twice...from the looks of it ) It is filled with lilies and a few plain jane baby goldies for mosquito control.  We still have't unearthed the claw foot tub from behind the horse pen yet.  I have't decided where I want to put it yet.

[tranquility]

Great Pics Joey....can't wait to see what you do with the tubs  ...
Lawanna

[spanishleprachaun]

Looking great joey !!!! fantastic pics on those lillies !   Looking forward to your creativity on those tubs !!! Going to be doing one here in the next month or so for a friend !

[Kat]

Your lilies are doing well & great pics!  Great buy on your tubs & have fun getting them set up.  Your raised pond is definitely filling up fast 

[rdrboone]

Joey, Your lilies are gorgeous!!!   

Good luck with your claw foot tubs.  I recently bought an old spa from Habitat for Humanity for $65.00.  I am in the process of turning it into another pond.  I finished fiberglassing the holes from the old plumbing in the shell over the weekend.  I need to final sand it, drill the new holes that I need for my plumbing and then paint it black.  The paint arrived about an hour ago.  Hopefully, I can get it painted this week and in the ground next week.

Ruth

[joeyb5980]

Thanks for the kind compliments all!

Monique- get that clawfoot out and put it to use!    I still haven't decided where to put my 2 new tubs... I thought I had, until when I went home at lunch today and realized that where I wanted to put them is only going to get sun from about 2:00 on....  May have to find a sunnier spot....

Carlos- be sure to post pics of what you do with your friend's tub!  Can't wait to see it

Kat- filling up??  It is FULL!!  LOL  I have an "Empress" lotus in the center, but it sure is struggling to get going... And because of its sluggishness, the lilies are choking it out 

Ruth- Be sure to post pics of that hot tub!  I have had my hot tub for sale since February with no luck... If it doesn't sell soon it is going to be home to fish and plants too!! LOL  It is a really nice hot tub though, so hopefully I will sell it before it comes to that    What kind of paint are you using?

Lawanna- you will see some of the lilies I got from you in those tubs soon

[tweetybaby2005]

Joey,
Loves those lilies.    I brought up the subject of getting more stocktanks for the lilies and lotus and DH asked me where I was going to put them.  I said "right there in the backyard!!"  and he just cocked his eyebrows and no reply.  I guess he really doesn't like seeing all the little stocktanks laying around in the backyard.

Like the blue shirt on you.  It matches your eye!!

Kuan

[MikeW]

Great pics - and so many different lillies.

Mexicana is a dirty word for me right now. It escaped its' pot sometime last autumn, established itself in the muck at the bottom (teach me not to clean out the pond more often) and turned into the monster that ate Cleveland. It is enmeshed in all my other crates that I use as plant stands, wrapped around the hoses leading from the pump, and the pads have piled on top of each other, three and four high, smothing all the other lillies. Grrrr
All winter I was chuffed with this luxurious growth in the pond, little knowing it was spreading like a cancer along the bottom.

Two days of solid toil this weekend, and still only about 70% removed.

So, how do you like your Mexicana?

Cheers,

Mike

[Mikey]

A great looking bunch of lilies!  And a nice looking T as well 

...and turned into the monster that ate Cleveland.

Is that a bad thing? (ducking)

[Desertponder]

Everything looks wonderful Joey! Innerlight is sure a pretty yellow. No Denver bloom yet??
Perry's Orange Sunset is on my wish list but I have to figure out more room before I can get any more.
Great deal on the bathtubs.  Can't touch 'em for that around here.

[Blondieskatz]

All your lillies are beautiful, especially that Gladstoniana. I wish I could come across some of those clawfoot tubs! Great job 

[karen J]

Joey, thanks for all the nice pics. I love the old water pump at the corner of your raised pond, and yes it really filled in great. LOVE love love the clawfoot tubs! .
AND the lilies AND the fountain. You've really done a lot of work.

However, I like the pic of you the best. I love seeing what other members look like in person. Especially when wearing their crisp, new AP T-shirt. 

[miguynmkoi]

WOW!  What are you feeding those lilies!!???!!  They're bea-U-tiful!!!  Great photos!

You find the best containers for your green friends.  Can't wait to see how you beautify them!  I think you look like quite a Ponder in that spiffy shirt. 

[SueSTx]

   Very pretty...I added a couple tp my wish list.  Now to find another stock tank to put them in.

[landey1230]

Very nice, Joey.  I love Mexicana.  That'll be on my wish list.  Hey, How many pots do you have in your raised tub?  It filled out quickly.  Looks fantastic.

[rdrboone]

Joey, I will take some photos of the hot tub/soon to be pond tomorrow.  I am going to use a fish safe black epoxy paint from Aquatic Eco Systems in Florida.  They have a web site.   
Ruth

[happyoutsidegirl]

Great pix Joey! Love the tubs, and your above ground is great! I want to do one but would be such a pain here in winter. Either keep it heated or move everything every spring and fall to the pig pond!

[joeyb5980]

Wow thank you everyone for all the nice replies!

Debbie- Yeah, Washington would have a pretty cold winter for a raised pond... I am going to try hooping mine with plastic this coming winter/spring, and see how that goes.

Ruth- thanks for the info on the paint.  I have some tubs that I need to paint the inside of so I may check into getting some of that.  Can't wait to see pics of the tub!

Landey.... Hmmm... I think I probably have about 18 lilies in there, and an Empress lotus... the lotus is looking pretty puny though....  I got my Mexicana from Kat- keep an eye out- she will probably have another division of it for sale before I will 

Sue- I always envy your stock tanks!  Hopefully you can find another one for cheap and add mark a couple more lilies off your wish list

Annette- I used Osmocote & Bloomburst on some....Jobe's tomato spikes on others....

Karen- I like seeing others too... I must say that is a horrible picture of me though, but its purpose was to display the shirt anyway LOL. 

Gayla- Thanks- I like the Gladstoniana too, but it doesn't seem to look accurate... Maybe it is just "first bloom syndrome" and the next bloom will look more correct...

Shanna- Nope..... Denver's bud is taking it slow on the way up- I am dying for it to get up there and open!  It has 2 or 3 buds, but like I said, they are in the slow lane LOL.  Perry's Orange Sunset is one of my favorites.  Those HUGE mottled pads at the near end of the raised pond belong to it- they are the biggest I've ever had!

Mike W- I will definitely have to keep a handle on Mexicana then    So far I really like it though.  I can understand your frustration with it though.  Your description made me laugh.  I am in trouble too, because I have several lilies near it on milk crates- wouldn't it love to get its runners tangled in those?! 

Kuan- too funny about your husband's reaction to your comment 

Thanks again all for the kind compliments 

[joeyb5980]

Here is a slightly better photo of me- I am not very photogenic... at least not as photogenic as Carlos LOL    Here I am in front of my laptop thinking...."Hmmmmm... Wonder where I could put that lily if I ordered it??"  LOL 

[tinkster]

joey... Love the lilies, tubs and your mug

I would love to find me a few claw tubs.. guess I am gonna have to head to the country to see.. a few of my aunts still have them.

tinkster

[joeyb5980]

Thanks Tinkster... hope you can get your hands on a tub! 

A few more pics from today including a better shot of Innerlight, first bloom of the season from Almost Black, another shot each of Clyde Ikins and Mexicana, and a couple of blooms from Joanne Pring... then a couple more full shots of the raised pond- It has more blooms than any of my ponds, because it gets sun all day long...well, that and it holds more lilies LOL   

[rdrboone]

Joey,
Here are a couple of photos of my Habitat for Humanity spa to pond conversion.  The first one is after I removed all the plumbing and fiberglassed all of the holes.  The second one is after one coat of 'Sweetwater epoxy paint' from aquatic eco systems.  It took me approx. 1 hour to paint the spa.  I will give it a second coat around 7pm today.  The paint was really easy to use.

Ruth

[Brian]

Wow, Ruth!

That sure is a dramatic transformation.  Do you plan to bury it in the ground or build up around it for a raised pond?

[Kat]

I had a chuckle, too, about the mexicana invasion description.  I feel bad for you for having to deal with the mess as I've heard that it can be very aggressive.  I keep mine in a small patio pond all by itself just in case it tries to escape.

Joey--love the additional pictures ... you need some tropicals in your raised pond 

The hot tub looks perfect for pond use now that you painted it.  Keep us updated on it's progress.

[landey1230]

Let me know when you have some divisions of that Mexicana.  I have some tropicals.  Maybe we can trade.

[rdrboone]

Brian,
I will bury it in the ground, leaving the top edge about 4-5" above the soil line.  I did a similar project lyear before last, where I converted a fiberglass shower stall (one that had the ceiling moulded in) into a pond.  We buried it and than put a stone coping around it.  It is doing well.
Thanks for the comments.
Ruth