Summer Morning

Two words for you today.

"It's HOT"

😎😎

Way too hot to hang out in the garden for any length of time.

My garden time now is early in the morning or after the sun sets.

Even then, it's only for watering and light weeding.

While out there this morning there was a slight breeze which made it possible to linger a few extra minutes.

Just long enough for a little video.

If you can stand my first time attempt at iPhone video, I invite you to join me pondside.

There you have it.

Summer sights and sounds in my NC garden.

We'll get up close and personal with those flowers again once the heat subsides... at least to a tolerable level.

For now it's iced tea and A/C for me.

How about you?

Are you managing to keep cool?

Pond Maintenance and Water Gardening

Since becoming pond owners, we have added a new dimension to our gardening chores.

That would be the addition of water lilies.

It began when we were having trouble keeping the pond clear of algae.

It was suggested that shading more of the surface with the addition of the water lilies might be helpful so we sent away for a few plants and began a new venture.

We followed the instructions provided and planted one plant just to see if it would be a success.

It wasn't long until the flowers came and the plant seemed quite happy in it's new home.

While the plant thrived, the algae was still a problem.

So, the next year we added two more plants.

They also thrived and we enjoyed discovering new blooms on a daily basis.

This year we decided to add two more plants.

They arrived last week and Brett spent several hours on Saturday cleaning the pond and planting the new lilies.

Sometimes these events are recorded here on the blog to remind us of exactly when the pond was last cleaned.  That would be the case here.  If, however, you might be interested in the process...

here we go:

It began with emptying all of the water from the pond.

But first, the fishies were re-located to a temporary home.

After emptying the water, he scrubbed down the (slimy) liner and set to work planting the newest lilies.  One of the older ones had become so big it was escaping it's pot so he divided that one up into new plants.

The plants are planted into fabric bags.

Pebbles are added to the top to prevent the soil from spilling into the pond water.

Once the planting is done, it's time to re-fill the pond with fresh water.

For Brett it was also time for a (well-deserved) nap.

Glad to have that job behind us, we now get to enjoy the beauty of the flowers and keep our fingers crossed that the water stays clear.

Last night Brett made an after dinner run to PetSmart.  24 little fishies have found a new home.  First thing this morning I saw him out there checking on everyone's welfare.

Once in a while he grumbles about me wanting this pond that has added more work to his load.  I nod my head secretly knowing that he is finding a certain measure of enjoyment in this new "hobby".

Hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend.

🐸🐸🐸

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