A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Water Gardens Carol's Water Lily 2010

Here is some backround:

last year I told Lynne that I saw a half barrel that I wanted to buy so I could have a water lily. (I have wanted one since I saw them on the fishing ponds when I was a kid)
This spring I bought the 1/2 barrel and began looking for a water lily.
The one place that had them, a nursery, said they would not be in until some time the first part of May.

So last week Lynne said she would look for me as she thought she could get them at a good price.--WELL!!! Guess what I got in the mail yesterday?? yep!!! a water lily, and a basket to plant it in--and it has nice sprouting growth and the surprise of 2 (or possibly 3) itsy bitsy flower heads!!!

The surprise?? It was all a GIFT!!!---Bless Lynne :ding:

I will begin to give you all a photo narritive on what I did>

First I made a base out of 4 - 1 foor pavers, so the half barrel would be stable.



next I put the barrel on the pavers and filled it with water to give it time for the chemicals to settle & evaporate.



Here is the basket & the lily not quite filled with dirt


Story continues in next post>>>>>

So of course I forgot to take a photo of the basket after I had added the glass rocks & regular rocks on top of the clay soil. so after the water settled I took a photo thru the water--not so bad huh???
Not pictured, as I thought to add them later, are some clear/pearl butterfly shapped glass rocks.



here is my last photo of the barrel after I added the basket



and the story gets even better--NOT!!!
I left the sides of the mesh and the moss on the tuber so Lynne recommended that I "at least" remove the mesh.--so I took the basket out & I removed the one side of the soil & took the mesh off, but I decided to leave the moss there.
--BUT, did I remember to take pictures before I returned the basket to the water?? nope!!!
ah well at least I "kinda" have pictures of what I did, huh???.

anyway you have the idea.

[color:#3333FF] [b] Stay tuned >>>>>>[/color][/b]

Carol - you did a fabulous job setting it all up!!! Your pictures are all so clear, and really show what you have done, and the barrel looks great!

I especially like the glass stones touch - you can really see them in the barrel - I wouldn't be able to do that in my pond, but I do like that idea for yours.

The tuber looks like it made the trip ok, and the leaves look like they actually grew a bit already since I bought it last Thursday! Can't wait to see it when the leaves reach the surface and the flowers follow shortly after!

Lynne you have been a most wonderful friend & help to me on this project, and I REALLY appreciate it. Your kind words are most appreciated also.
I hope it is successful for both of us.

I can't wait !!

PS Rod asked me today if I was going to have a lily pad---
-----Poor boy----

That looks awesome, Carol. Gifts are fun.

Thanks Tina--and yes, gifts are fun.
While I could have found my own lily, I know I would not have planted it corectly, so this was really an extra wonderful gift.

Oh what great friends we have here

Lovely Carol..I can't wait to see pics of how it grows

Very nice. Will you have to change the water ever?

I agree Very nice! and I have the same question :wink:

Tamara-- thanks so much--and yes we DO have such wonderful friends here.

Sheri--Diane thanks so much for your kind words---

About the water---
you know?? I had not considereed that--BUT I am told I will eventually need to transplant it to A larger basket--
So, If I need to change the water I am thinking that would be the time--??

however, ya know when it rains it will get new water, so perhaps I will not need to???
sounds like a question for the master gardener at my fav. nursery---well unless Miss Lynne knows the answer????

YOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO Lynne......

I hadn't thought about that, Carol! Not sure if you would need to change it out - I guess if it starts smelling stale it woud be a good idea? But then again... you probably don't want to disturb the lily once it starts growing? I'll look into it and see what I can find out.

OK, Thanks, Lynne.

ya know I guess I could always empty out say 1/2 of the water & re-add new--that way the chlorine & such would not be as strong for the 8 hrs or so it would take for them to evaporate or settle ???

What a fun project for you, Carol! And how nice of Lynne to help you out so!!

My concern is.... still water is a magnet for mosquitoes... what are you going to do to deter them? (It is shocking how many will breed in an abandoned tire filled with water....)

And my question is... why didn't you fill the barrel further up?

Merme - Carol bought a spray for the water that she says is supposed to keep mosquitos away. I have not heard of that, but did recommend mosquito dunks. They sell them here sometimes for people to put in stagnant pools of water.

In the last picture it looks like the water is filled to the top?

I used to put the garden hose in the bottom of my pot and let the water flow out the top- probably about 1/4 container at a time, maybe once or twice a week. That was enough to stop any mosquitoes breeding. Barrel looks great! Look forward to seeing how it does through the Summer- might inspire me to set mine up again ;O)

Thanks for the idea/advice gardeningmomma.

The spray I have is in a small bottle & will work for several hundred gallons of water. it is some natural chemicals that while not harmful to animals, plants or fish, will prevent there from being any tension on the water top.
Flys & mosquitos need tension to land & lay their eggs, No water tension, no landing, so no eggs & thus no larvae, etc.

But for right now my mosquitos have not arrived here yet.

still keeping my eyes out for dunks, though.

5-10-10

I took my mom to my favorite Nursery to buy her some flowers for her Mother's day gift--and I bought myself a "Water Hyacinth"
now I know they spread and that I will have to keep it pinched back but hey, How could I say No???

Tomorrow after it rains I will take a photo of it and of the progress that my lily has made, OK???

below is a picture of my water hyacinth.
It is going to spread like crazy, so I will need to pinch it back. I am told that the parts I pinch off would make excellent fodder for my compost pile--trouble being that I do not have a compost pile---

Oh, I can't wait to see how it all grows together.

wel, me either really--so we will be excited together

but the main area is going to be left for my lily--
It is kinda silly but since I was a small girl going fishing with my Dad, I have wanted a lily pad---& now I will have one!!!

Look--Finally one of my lily pads has reached the surface of the water-----there were 2 all ready to rest on the surface & then we got that huge 1 & 9/10 inch rain fall. but now it finally grew enough---
Sorry the photo is not better----the sun was so bright I could not tell where I was aiming at.

Lynne says it will turn green with some sunlight.

Nice..now all you need is a frog for your lily pad

That's sooooooo exciting Carol!!! It will definitely turn green once it warms up and stays warm. Remember to cut off the spent lily pads and blooms to make room for new growth.

Very GOOD Carol,,,,,,

Thanks Diane & Lynne.

Lynne, keep at me until I get the hang of this stuff.

Very nice, Carol! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks much, Merme

Looking good - can't wait to see your progress!

Thanks.....
did you look all the way back ??
I have a lily pad now and I also bought a water hyacinth
more photos soon

Yes, it looks great ;O)

I must apologize. Over time I have taken a few photos of the progress on my little half barrel here, but apparently I have not bothered to post them--my bad !!!!

so here is the latest pic. so sorry that the pots & such are showing.-
it is my plan to buy some smaller round bricks to put the blue eyed grass on, so it will be back towards the edge of the barrel giving more room to the lily--

---all those lily pads & not a hint of a flower yet--but hey, I can be a patient person--- :wink:

I have 4 pads on the top of the water & 1 about 1/2 way up.




Thank you so much everyone---& a special thanks to gardeningmomma
for jogging my memory.

Carol - I didn't see this thread before now - it all looks terrific!!! Isn't it exciting? The lily pads are looking good, and I love your blue-eyed grass - can't wait to see it in bloom! I think I will have to look for one for my pond - thanks for showing it!

OH Lynne, guess wht???
yesterday when I was removing some water from my barrel (along with the mosquito larva) I saw a lily flower bud--about 1--2 inches off of the pot.

Yea me!!!

I added 1/4 a Mosquito dunk (prescriberd amount) and some tension reliever to the water--hopefully I am safe from such as that now.

Carol - that is soooooooooooooooooooo exciting!!! I am so happy for you!
Can't wait to see it in bloom!!! You have done a great job with your barrel!

Today I got so upset with the murky water that I lifted the pot to the top of the water so I could see the buds.
I have 2 newer pads, about halfway to the top of the water, and 3, count them 3, flower buds. the last one is just barely above the dirt.

Sorry about the murky water, Carol, but again... so excited about the new growth!!! Have you tried running a hose in it to flush the water, like Esther on the pond forums does in hers?

Thanks, Lynne.
Last night I researched the cause because earlier I had read Esther's comments.
When I did flush out my water--well really I replaced half of my water--the algea began to escalte. Well it seems that the ecosystem had not had time to balance itself. They say fresh water is sometimes the cause.--That and too many fish, thus too much fish waste but I have no fish.
So for now I will have patience.
Then if things do not improve, there are other steps in say a week or 2, that I will look into.

now when I say too much fresh water, I mean too much clorinated & treated water.