If the plant was in the shade, it's doubtful that heat was much of a contributing factor to the plant's ills; and I actually think that your husband's efforts might have been a blessing in disguise. I say that because pots without holes will always become progressively limiting as dissolved solids (salts) from tap water and fertilizers accumulate and make it increasingly difficult for the plant to absorb water and the nutrients dissolved in water. The end result is a plant that dies of thirst in the middle of a sea of plenty. That you transitioned the plant to a pot with drain holes is assuredly a good thing, but the drain holes can only do half a job unless the soil also drains well. If it was my plant, I'd bare-root it (now is a very good time to do this) and repot into a durable medium I KNOW will drain well & retain its structure until it's time for another repot. You'll be quite surprised at how the plant will respond when you eliminate the old collapsed soil and alleviate the root congestion that is undoubtedly limiting its growth and vitality. LOTs of people bring me plants that have some sort of sentimental value, and the story behind their decline is almost always the same - congested roota along with a collapsed or poor soil that forces people to water in sips, which promotes high salt levels in the soil. The remedy is to bare-root and repot into a fast-draining and durable soil if I get the plant in the summer, and a scoring of the root ball and potting up if I get the plant in the winter. The later practice is only a stop-gap effort that allows the plant to limp through until the following summer when a proper repot can be done. Have you examined the roots to assess their condition (rotted?)? If you're still undecided about what to do, I'd slip-pot it into a larger pot. That is, fill a larger pot with about 4-6" of soil, then set your pot on top of that soil and fill in around the sides with more soil. The soil at the bottom of the larger pot acts as a wick & will 'pull' excess water from the smaller pot - much like the wick Jean described, but the pot-in-pot technique offers the added benefit of helping to keep the soil cooler - especially if the larger pot is gas-permeable (terra cotta or mesh, like a pond basket). Let me know if you decide to do what it takes to rejuvenate the plant. I'll ask the right questions, and guide you so there is little risk that you'll lose the plant - unless it's already infected with one of the damping off fungal infections. Al

It's your fault for leaving it out in the cold ;-) I'll have to check mine as we just went through the same thing here. I don't have flowers at the moment but I saw several buds about a week ago. tj

1. Not really until spring of 2014. Take that time to develop good lawn practices (see below). 2. I used to live in Dayton and had a full sun lawn. The lawn was a mix of coarse fescues and Kentucky bluegrass. It looked like hell, but I was a student and only barely had time enough to mow it. If you have full sun, I would tend to go with 100% KBG. If you have full shade, then you are stuck with fescue. If you have sunny/shady areas, then use a mix of fine fescues and KBG. The fescues will thrive in the shade and the KBG will dominate as much as it can everywhere it gets enough sun. If you want to do this right, use cheap seed in the spring and save for expensive seed in the fall. Kill everything before seeding in the fall. In the spring it doesn't matter because you will have weeds anyway. 3. Soil diverts water when you build up a pile higher than the the soil where the water is coming from. In the picture I posted there are two swales. One is on the upper property and one is on the lower property. By mounding the soil between the swales, the water is diverted off the property toward the sidewalk. Note the grass is greener in the swales. 5. Works like magic. There is another forum where most of the gurus have tried it. It really does work. 6. Fix it now and then start. Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in Las Vegas your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. One last exception is Kentucky bluegrass. The experts mow it at 3.5 inches (one notch below the highest setting). Fertilizing Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it. If you are using chemical fertilizers, too little is better than too much. If you are using organic fertilizers, it is the other way around. At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide. Usually the only flak I get on this plan is with mowing height. There are people who insist that KBG should be mowed at 2.85 to 3.15 inches. Frankly, I don't have time to tune my mower like that. Just keep it simple and don't let it get up to 9 inches before mowing it down to 3. There are hybrid varieties of grass that the developers want you to mow at custom heights. Bull. There's low, medium, and high. I have a yard of St Augustine that ranges from 6 inches to 35 inches high. Here is a picture of my chow chow sitting in it. I believe St Aug is an exception to many grass rules, so this is my experiment. Don't try it at home without understanding what you might be getting into. My experiment is about watering. That spot where she was sitting had not been irrigated for about 8 months through a pretty serious drought on the edge of the Texas desert. Note that the grass is weed free and does not need water...yet. Again, there is more to this experiment, but the point is the rules have been written this way for a reason. Watering too frequently is always a problem. Waiting until the grass needs water always works and keeps the weeds out.

Thanks everyone! I had no idea water lilies were so easy - 5 for $5. They've been blooming for quite a while already. The pond is a third acre in size, and was put in when they built the house 15 years ago. Natural clay bottom and water from the water table. OK, Nell, for equal time, here's my son.