Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants Trying Tropical Lilies to Overwinter in Freezing

Well I am trying to expand my efforts in getting several strains of tropical water lilies to overwinter, or stay in the pond in subfreezing temps. My other push the boundry projects with lilies are getting strains to survive drawdowns, where they are out of the water and on dry land during the growing season, and maximum depths, have some surfacing from 9 feet deep already.

The reason for this project is tropical lilies are better flower producers, and have more available colors. In colder water temps they can be slow starters, but once they get going they outperform any hardy. Another reason for this is I have tried taking them out of the soil and bringing them in. Results have been mixed at best, and that is just something no customer wants anything to do with. If I can't get them in the ground, or at least stay in the water over our winters, I can't deal with them.

The four varieties I am trying are Albert Greenburg, Pamela Blue, Castaliflora and Tina. I have already succeeded with Panama Pacific. But that is 4 new types, 4 different colors. Some will go containers, some in fountains, some directly into earthen ponds after I get them going in my stock tubs. I am also adding three more 300 gal. rubbermaid stock tanks. I should be able to have 250 lilies at my home base, and even more in ponds and fountains I manage.

If I don't go way outside the box I cannot help people with difficult demanding ponds. For example Jeff has a drawdown pond. I don't know of one single guy out there working to solve that obstacle. I have and am expanding. In my area when anybody has a difficult or a no success project with lilies, people call me in. I hope to have 4-5 tropicals with colors hardies don't have available within a year. And yes, they will have to survive under ice.

TPF, Nice to see someone trying to fill a void when they see one. Good luck with the projects.

The void is the path less traveled. Most of these people have just given up. I can't have water lilies because...

My pond has a severe drawdown.

I can't have water lilies because...

I have rock or riprapped shorelines down to 7-8 feet.

I can't have tropical water lilies because...

The water temperature in my pond goes below 60F.

I don't perform miracles, I just don't believe in not trying or can't. It might be difficult, it might not even work, but I will try. And the more you try, the harder you try, the more often you are rewarded. And when you succeed, you can expand on that success.

But the best part of all, everyone benefits. My lily supplier sells more lilies. I sell more lilies and most of all the customer gets to have something they want that they have been told they cannot have. It is a sweet set up for me because they have very low expectations to begin with. They have been spoonfed absolutes that are not.

Sadly my business is going less and less fish, more and more aquatic plants. But I go where the business is. And in California the small private pond stocking business is just about done. But the lilies are a lot of fun. Challenges abound and demand is very high. Opportunities to expand are everywhere. Drawdown strains are bank. You just go harvest the plants when they are out of water. I cannot develope enough of them. Droughtbusters.

You sound like a small business owner that will succeed...even if you have to come to the east coast

TPF,

Why is that exactly?

Stanford Law Students had nothing better to do than sue Cal F and G for planting fish threatening endangered species. As usual with the most imcompetent state agency in the history of mankind, they lost. The ramifications are huge. F and G already halted planting fish in most bodies of water, a practice over 100 years old. They followed up with a study, costing taxpayers $2,000,000. They worked out regs just released. Any hatchery selling non food fish for stocking must go through quarterly inspections. Most if not all have bailed already. Having that agency visit your farm inspecting all species 4 times a year is a disaster. Also private pond owners must get certified by same fools. They can deny a pond a stocking permit if an endangered species might be threatened. If the potential exists. All surface water is now deemed under thier protection also. These are the same morons that were in charge of protecting the Pacific coasts biggest estuary, which has been decimated, and eradicating pike out of Lake Davis, a $20,000,000 fiasco. They have a track record of abysmal failures.

Bunch of silver spooners have nothing better to do than sue an incompetent state agency. Just wiping out another business segment. The hatcheries are going to appeal, but I have my doubts how that will pan out. And F and G will also look for any reason to deny any fish from being imported, ask Jamie from Anderson. Google Stanford lawsuit california fish and game.

California sounds worse than ever, between controlling all surface water and charging you for the water from your own well no wonder so many people are moving out.
My daughter lives near Sacramento and she loves the weather but that's about all. A lot of people are leaving NY but thats ok, the less people the better.

It's bad. They are scaring away most of the good guys that have supplied fish to pond owners for decades. Including members here. And what you will have left is places like proaqua that charge 400-500% above market value to pay for all of the hassles. Stocking a normal one acre pond with a decent bg/lmb population will go from around $1,000 to $4,000.

And a lot of private pond owners are not exactly enamored with the concept of CA F and G coming out to thier private property and telling them whether they can even stock thier own pond on thier own private property.

Another complete fiasco is the septic tanks and leach field disaster. The government is getting more and more intrusive on private property owners, stripping one right after another. It's getting to the point where your paid for private property is owned by you, but controlled by state lackies.

TPF, Your ok when you come east...but no straglers.

"telling them whether they can even stock thier own pond" That happens when you live in the most lib state. I hope you do good with the lilies adapting to cold water and overwintering under the ice. Tropicals are tropicals for a reason. They are the nicest lilies. I hope you do well.

I am not thinking liberal has anything to do with it. To me it is more or less the America we live in today. A litigious society. Where the brightest minds in private universities are encouraged to sue the government, sue everyone and just find frivelous lawsuits to actually hinder productivity. Class action lawsuits, malpractice suits, even suits protecting the rights of red legged frogs and fairy shrimp.

The second part is most assuredly CA Fish and Game. An agency that ran fine when it was not required to manage anything. But when that changed, it's total ineptness was shown. They stood by and watched an entire estuary become almost extinct. Closed an entire salmon fishery. Closed an entire rockfish business. Blew through millions on one dink lake eradicating one species. Pretty much destroyed anything that was worth fishing for publicly. Now, they are trying to finish the deal on the private end of it.

Which brings us back to the topic. Tropical water lilies. Without hatcheries supplying me fish to stock at a reasonable price I can barely work that segment of my business. Then new pond owners being subject to CA F and G authorization just to plant thier ponds will pretty much end most of the new business. So what is left is stocking already established ponds with overpriced fish. That won't pay for the gas in my truck.

It's a shift over to aquatic plants. Fighting invasive species, providing aquatic landscaping and hopefully expanding the water lily market. That is pretty much all that is left. Luckily I am on the tail end of my career. But where fish are pretty much go or no go in my area, trout and tilipia both die off, I can push the limits on lilies. And although they are for sale at many places, very few individuals take it to the extreme I do planting them. And unlike sticking a tomato plant in the ground and watching it grow, lilies require a lot of experience or expertise, or they just don't work.

I have another job coming up where the guy tried really hard to get them going and just did not get the desired results. Most of my jobs are like that. I get to clean up messes or get it right. Not only do I get desired results but I get to educate customers and support them long term. People generally make a pond, throw some fish in and say let's fish. But when they look at it, something is missing. Aquatic vegetation. You rarely see the fish, they are underwater except when you feed them. But plants are always there. And they can bloom, add color and make the entire pond eye pleasing. But they don't want to work hard after the plants are in.

I need to find out as many tropical lilies as I can to add colors and better flowering duirng peak seasons. Plants that can overwinter, that can be planted directly in the ground and not be taken out. No customer is going to do that. And to expect them to would be foolish on my part. I know after time the plants begin to adjsut as much as genetic limiters allow. They do acclimate. Their offspring are better than the parents. The plants that don't overwinter don't pass on thier genes. It isn't rocket science but it is life science. Plants are very adaptable. That is the whole focus of this. Trying to adapt 5-6 different color, different types to work in my locale. I'll keep journals, careful records and keep trying. The upside is huge. The downside, I lose a few plants. Nothing new there, you just keep experimenting.

I'm not sure it does either but the more densely populated states do have more regulations especially the east coast. However my state of Indiana, which is quite conservative for the most part, won't hesitate to come up with regulations as a knee jerk reaction to a situation.

As far as litigation, my German relatives in the so called "socialist" Europe can't figure out why a trespasser or burglar can sue the landowner if he gets hurt. It makes absolutely no sense to them.

Thanks for explaining what is going on in California. Such a shame.

Hardy waterlilies bloom more than tropical waterlilies in a cooler range of water, while tropical waterlilies will like 90's waters, hardies will go heat dormant and stop blooming.
It's fairly easy to think one blooms better than the other, when seeing them in different temperature range settings.

Oh, and hardies bloom months earlier in the year with quite often a two months head start...

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l42/adavisus/

Thanks for some clarification, Andrew.

Well, no. That generalization is not even close. It is very species dependent. I am getting some tropicals with profuse flowers while most of the hardies have not flowered at all. I have 5 species that will flower through ice. Tropicals. I have sold and planted 28 in the last 3 days and have to do 10 more tomorrow. The last of a six day run of 10-12 hours days. But I have to start getting caught up on my customer waiting list. Right now I am down to less than 100 in my inventory. But I am also expanding outside inventories in ponds I manage. I hope to be carrying 250 onsite and have another 250 offsite. Right now I am carrying over 30 species. The tropical species I have in stock outperform every hardy I have, all season long. In lower temperatures. Earlier and better.

Well, actually it is generally accurate, from the 200 or so varieties of hardy and tropical waterlilies I tinker with

Photo below shows tropical waterlily starts after a week of growth in Spring, over a month since last freeze (in a cold frame doing 70°f-90°f) its going to be at least one to two months before they bloom.

These include some of the most cold tolerant of all tropical waterlily known, the Micrantha hybrids

At the same time, the earliest hardies in outdoor ponds have pads at surface, and buds about to pop in a weeks time

Care to specify the names of the five species of tropical waterlily that flower through ice.

It usually takes tropical waterlilies one to two months to bounce back from waters cold enough to have ice, if they had over wintering surviving tubers from which to sprout

Some photo's of these unheard of marvels would be of interest

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l42/adavisus/

Not really. Sometimes I wish I was a smurf though.

I for one am very interested Pond Frog. Could you please share with me some names of the cultivars/varieties of the hardy tropical water lilies you have experience with that perform so well even with ice cover. I am sure others would be interested as well...

I am interested too, which Smurf do you want to be, Papa smurf, or Smurfette,

Farmer Smurf. He just wears his coveralls and sort of lives outside the village. He brings home the bacon, feeds the village, grumbles a lot and would rather be left alone.

I'm off to plant lilies. I prefer Carhartts.

Mr. Pond Frog you should share your lily secrets, it's the Smurfy thing to do.

Where's Farmer Smurf? I don't have any secrets. Yesterday was one of the reasons why I am in this business. First up was the second phase of a pond landscaping project. The customer had tried lilies but was not given good advice and they performed poorly. His desire is to give his pond some visual pizazz but also stay within his local setting. Shade some of the pond. Long term might be going with a trophy trout pond.

This was day 6 on a long run of backed up jobs. And long 10-12 hour days. First phase was to get pond drawn down for deepest planting. I try to get some lilies down around 4 feet. This ponds shoreline was totally lined with large round river rock. Lilies just can't excel growing through them. So I picked out 12 different types, all from my inventory in my special soil blend. Prepotted gives the plants a quick start, way better than bareroot into whatever pond bottom you may have. Some are rootbound ready to explode. I planted two points of a triangle spread around the edges at various intervals as to not look formal. I planned for certain spread. But with short term overlap, this customer wants quick results. If they overpopulate we drawdown and dig out excess. Pretty much have to plan for all contingencies.

Yesterdays phase was bring the water up to a foot below the rockline. I could see many of my previous plants almost reaching the surface. So I could triangulate fairly well with same species. I keep precise notes of what goes where. Even though these are much shallower from the surface it will look like a 3 plant patch filling in. Rocks were removed in a half circle with the flat at the lily planting area. I post hole out a hole for one gallon plant and also break loose soil around the hole. I have all of the lilies in water, in ice chests until planting. The special beaver pond bottom, black muck blend just pops out of the pot, roots holding it all together and is placed in the hole. I then place jagged grey rock, 1 1/2 -3 inch around the base of the lily and press it in. Then I take same material, same color but 1/2 and sprinkle that all over the top, not burying any leaves or flowers. This has two main obejectives. One, keeps plants or rhizomes from floating up. Yes, they will float on you. And it will also keep fish from rooting around the new plants, fish hate pointy rocks. I then place leaves in water to prevent wilting in sun and start filling pond for next phase, marginals.

During this lunchbreak I went to visit DIED and finish up fixing his vandalized boat for leaks. He was not home. My fault. Then since I was in the area, I hit a couple of wineries for tasting. They make frowny faces when Farmer Smurf walks in with his coveralls, even though they are high end Carhartts, brown. I am clean and don't stink like mud. Besides I don't give a ff what they think anyway. I drink my fine wines, buy a bottle, have lots of laughs with other customers at the bar and then the same frowny people thank me for coming in because I make everyone laugh and have a good time.

Back to the pond to check fill and make sure no floaters. All is well, 34 plants total, with one triangle of tropicals that I hope will overwinter, and 1 trial plant. A couple of patches of my droughtbuster species, bareroot floaters with lots of leaves and roots, even flowers nubs. I bring along special soil for same quick nutrient fix. I'd say 90% Hardy.

Sun starts going down, owner said fish all you want. I am getting a lot of two pound cc's and also ultralighting for bg with my fresh out of the box FE II 5 ft from Cabelas. Now I have every 1 piece size. Puffing on a fine cigar I get a takedown on a nitecrawler on one of my lite outfits. Fight and fight, drag is ripping out. 7 lb 5 oz cc on my nicest Kistler. Just has the ultimate sensitivity. Okuma VS-30 with matched 8 lb test. Weigh that fat girl and struggle unhooking it because I can't get my normal cat grip behind the fins and that big fat head. Naturally bites the hell out of my thumb, grunting and laughing at me for sticking it in it's mouth, a what were you thinking moment. Lucky lip hook, gently set back in water and away she swam.

Probably one of the better days in my life and I am working. On days like this I count my blessings and give the customer an additional 10% off just to let me fish, without being asked.

Next up, marginals.

Interesting planting technique, what varieties do you recommend for a cold climate like mine?

As far as the planting technique, that varies with what time of year it is and if plants are dormant, late season or emerging, also. It really varies. But I really like going with blended soil in containers with roots coming out of bottom.

To be completely honest, I don't have experience in your neck of the woods. Out here, some call me an expert. I just laugh, hopefully what I try works, it usually does and I get all my business from word of mouth.

I really like to see seasons lowest temps, icing, customer risk aversion or tolerance for failure, soil type, water clarity, amount of sun per day in hours, color preference, plant size preference, budget, timeline, density, then I sacrifice a chicken and say three hail mary's.

Even though I always say every pond is different, every climate is not. A general safe rule of thumb I always give people without visitng thier pond in person and eyeballin it is what plants or lilies in your case work in your immediate area. It would be reckless of me to just throw out species and say go for it. But if that is what you want...

I'm not looking for guarantees I like to experiment, I had a Calla Lily on the artificial island last year but being hardy to only zone 8 naturally it was done in the fall. Do you think similar varieties would work if planted 4 ft deep? I'm in zone 3.

Some good info with the descriptions of lily plantings. Mine are starting to finally come around. Hope to get some in the pond soon. Need to get the old well up and running.
Good fish and wine stories. I can relate to the snotty winery staff. Probably the kids and nieces/nephews of the money.

AP, I kinda need to know what it is you are exactly trying to do? Give me a brief description of what you are trying to accomplish.

Burger, I think you had me read wrong at first. I am more humble and down to Earth then you could imagine. In fact, I can bet they were thinking, this dumb redneck is lost, he just fell off the turnup truck and missed the 7-11 at the last turnoff for his six pack. It don't bother me, I don't let it. I am just like Farmer Smurf, I swear and mumble under my breath, in my overalls, and if they don't like it, that is thier problem for being judgemental and uppity snooties.

There was even a customer half in the bag who was really a worse jerk then them. Brings his dog in, spills his wine, acts like an arrogant jerk and gives me these hard looks because how I am dressed. I could have just backhanded that look right off his face, but like I said, I just do my deal.

i saw water hyacinth in that photo...

I float a water hyacinth and a frogbit or two in my tanks as well. Great filtering plants. But only babies. And they never leave my tanks. I throw the bigger spent plants in the composter. Spent as in roots filled with crap. I also like parrotfeather but that stuff will root in your pots fast.

I am getting tropicals with 6-8 flowers already and no hardy's with more than one. I'll say it one more time, the tropicals I get are better performers, faster growers, better and earlier bloomers than the Hardys. Plus colors not available. That is just a fact. I am not going to great lengths to build up my inventory for no reason. I just don't have enough seasons with them to judge thier collective overwintering in my climate. So I am not comfortable delivering them en masse to my customers. The ratios are and will be low for now until I get adequate product testing. I'm getting there.

Same with my droughtbuster strains and deep depth growers. One season could be a fluke. 3 to 4 seasons is a proof over time test. I am adding new strains there as well, and marketing more proven strains. In my area I am the lone ranger there.

I would just like to experiment with 3 or 4 lilies and see if any survive our winter. Maybe putting them in 4ft. of water will do the trick but I don't have access to much variety around here, mostly at Lowes or Home Depot.
My wife would like to see more color on the pond and even though she has a green thumb with garden flowers she's not familiar with water plants.

The stores or chains like Home Depot or Lowes sell very inexpensive lilies, some in a box. You ever hear, you get what you pay for. They are junk. In order to get satisfactory results you need quality stock. Rootstock in this case, even rhizomes. In your climate you would be best served trying 4 Hardies known for cold weather and maybe 1 tropical. And for each species there is a known optimum band for planting depth, not just all at four feet. Some species do a little bit better deeper than others. Also, they tend to grow towards that zone. Too deep, they start migrating up. Too shallow, they start going deep. The plants themselves know better than anyone else where they want to be and try to get there.

Sounds like a good plan. Too bad I don't do mail order or I would hook you up. In your case I would look locally for an aquatic nursery. If they have a website run it by me, I'll look it over for you. If not you should go mail order. Be prepared for sticker shock on single plant retail plus priority shipping. Then you realistically should get bareroot and start them in containers in your pond water, maybe even in your pond, but maybe with better soil or amended pond bottom. Let me know your available options and I may be able to get you some breaks or help.

I'll start checking around for garden centers that have water plants, there use to be one in Saratoga Springs.

Maybe http://www.thepondpeople.net

I'll have to check them out, They're only 30 minutes from my daughters place.

Sounds like a plan, very interested in what they offer in your neck of the woods as far as species, prices and advice. Fact finding missions are fun.

This late spring rains, worst since 2003 according to one of my rice grower customers are hurting me, in multiple ways. Backing up jobs for one, but even worse I can't get to any decent pond bottom soil. My key beaver pond is flooded, and all back ups as well. I need to replenish my stock tubs as I sold quite a few of my largest plants already and need to get going on replacements. I made the mistake of taking recent weather patterns as constant and normal, where I could go out in May and start getting new soil to blend.

Live and learn. This year I am going to stock up heavy, and have two seasons worth. Of all dumb things to slow down production, actually grind it to a halt. I have part two of the photo series when I bring the beaver pond bottom chunks home and blend it. I will try to post them in the new photo area today.

Pond Frog, I did get to that water garden place you mentioned and the lilies were all hardy species, no tropicals, I can see why you grow your own the cheapest ones were 19 bucks.
Needless to say I decided that I didn't want to put out that kind of money right now so I will stick to putting different plants on my floating islands.
Thanks for the info, I would like to try some in the future.

Yes, they retail way up there. The cheapest ones at a place I wholesale with retail for $24.95. I am expanding as fast as I can. I wish you were closer as I could get you a break. You probably should have bought all that lady was selling with that very nice filter. I am also beginning to farm them out in ponds I manage. I almost have unlimited amount of my Frog's Droughtbuster special. They are flowering big time and have leaves over 12" across. The tropicals are just a experiment, but I am rolling many new kinds into production this season. Especially Reds, Yellows, Peach and another White. It's a bit of work, but they sure sell well.

This project is going badly. Operation tropical lilies picked a very bad year to start. I took rootstock with 3 to 5 flowers per rhizome and potted them up and put them in cold water. Talk about transplant shock! All the leaves tunred yellow and since died. The new growth is sluggish at best. Not one new flower out of 20+ plants. Even my previous tropicals are just hating these cold temps and wild flucuations. Tons of rains, cold rain can't be helping.

I might just swap tanks around and get these in my hottest best hours of sunlight tank and give them another season to acclimate. I think I am at the mercy of our weather patterns and should go with developing new colors and strains of drought resistant strains. I'm still at crest or just below many of my ponds, in fact all of them. In previous seasons I'd be down 2-3 feet by now. I'd have to speculate many of my fire ponds are not going dry, and I am not going to lose 9 feet or more of water this season. Just a hunch. So I can plant many, many different rhizomes at low water this season and easily be able to get them back out next year. We went from having back to back to back serious droughts to incredible low temps and maybe 150% of normal rainfall. Did not see this coming.

I have a 13+ workday run coming up anyway so I just have to dedicate a few hours here and there to convert things over and put operation tropical on hold.

I'd have to agree with you there. Our pond is at the highest level I've ever seen it and the spillway is still running like mad.

Always on the move, especially reacting to the current market. Minis are really selling, so are Red Hardies. And the demand for droughtbuster lilies is neverending. I do have a great potential source for new droughtbuster strains and colors near JHAP's place. I am keeping my fingers crossed there and hope the lady will wheel and deal.

I'm set for minis and the rest I want like changables are getting sold out. As are the reds.

So I am filling the holes in my new every tank has a color set up. Two more Reds and three more Peaches. The Reds will be Attraction and Rembrant. I want Black Princess and some French named one but I cannot pay $20 bucks a plant. The Peaches are my good ol stanby Colorado, Peaches and Cream and my new favorite Peach Munkala Ubon. Of course my favorite water lily guy Dusty at Texas Water Lilies is taking care of me as always.

So now I will have a Tropical tank, a Mini Tank, a Red, Peach, White, Pink and Yellow tank. The types with a little bit of white but another primary color will go in that colors tank. And I will keep working on droughtbusters. My deep water experiment really went well, especially with the abundant rain this season. I have some excelling at 8-9 feet deep, where many said they would not work. They are. Off to mow and tint for the day.

Have to start or pot close to 100 lilies the next couple of days. Trying a new soil blend this season, one part clay/snad canal bottom, 1 part old beaver pond black bottom, well rotted. Touch of fish emulsion 5-1-1. Beavers look to be gone after being there my entire life. They made this weird diversion, cistern looking thing upstream and there was a fire. But the last den within several miles of creek is abandoned. Went to scout it out, pick some wild blackberries and grab the black bottom mud.

Water is at all time low, lots of turtles stuck in puddle in middle of parrotfeather surface. I'm getting them out sooner than later. Even bullfrogs are lost, stuck high and dry, dead polliwogs in dried out cracked depressions.

Got 14 5 gal buckets full, rolled a dolly down with two milk crates. Filled them up and back for more. In 100 degree heat midafternoon there was more water in my t shirt and skivvies than in the creek. In the 4 inch cracks between the chunks there is fresh soft muck. I leave that and took only slices of the black bottom.

Blend that wet with red clay sand mix, stinky fish emulsion. Going with 3 whites, 3 reds, 3 peaches. Going for 7th 300 gal stock tank. Should have over 200 plants at home, nearly double that at ponds I manage. Trying to expand droughtbuster series with more colors. Might also start some pond smartweed with pink flowers. Have a new customer with a lot of it. Looks like great fish cover, and pond entry plant to go with lilies. Almost maxed out on tub space, 7 300's, 3 100's. My goal is 10 300's, but they might not fit, and wife is having a fit. But I need to get a head start for Fall planting at low water. If I have 2-3 months of growth in pots my overwinter success rate vastly improves.

New customer where I planted 10 doubles and triangles of 11 species doing great. The only dud was weak stock with little leaves. Also did 10 different marginals, they all survived. Mixed in some bulbs, daylilies and dahlias. Have to replant a few of those and drop off some baby bullfrogs I grew from polliwogs in the lily tanks along with gambusia. Each tank produces lilies, either gambusia of FHM and bullfrog polliwogs. Taking photos of course.

Great report, PF. I got a little uncomfortable at the part where you were talking about your skivvies and then fresh chunks of black muck, but I caught on quickly!

I'd love to see some pics of not only the plantings in client ponds that you mentioned in the post, but also of your grow out setup at home. I'm sure others would, as well.

I was ringing wet from sweat, just humpin those 5 gallon buckets out two at a time in that heat and lack of air movement was brutal. But I am under the gun as I have lots of bareroots arriving by priority mail soon. And they don't handle the heat at all bareroot.

I always photo document and journal all of my work. Just have to figure out how to shrink photos for forum thread or pester Omaha. But have to roll as not getting much done posting. Figure about 14-16 hours of work. Also got new free source of variegated giant reed for free. Pretty cool plant, gets tall, nice looking, but easy to control and maintain. That was a good deal. Just have to place plants in water til they root.

Looking forward to the pics. And if I'm not mistaken, you don't actually have to resize them now as the forum software may do it automatically. Another option is to use the "File Manager" function that appears right below your response box. That just lets you find the pic on your computer and attach it, then it shows up as a link in your message and viewers just click on it and see the pic in a new window. No uploading to a hosting site, no resizing issues, nada. It's the easiest way to do it, I think.

Understood about getting to work. I probably ought to do a little bit of the same! Have a good one, PF!

Arghhh!!! Thought I had photos attached...