Thanks all for your compliments. I am really patting myself on the back for this. Sugarcreek: I just love my bridge. Got it at Big Lots. I got the baskets at Big Lots too. They were $10 apiece. They come with a cocoa fiber liner. I placed spagnum moss in the baskets and just plopped the plants in. I am trying to hide my liner, but as you can see a lot of it still shows. Under the bridge there are two 4X4's on each side. The bridge hides my gate valve and clean out valve. When I bought the baskets I browsed though Big Lots to see what I could use to hang them. I found these huge utility hooks (see link). Fortunately they fit over the 4X4s. After removing the cocoa fiber liner, I placed 2 hooks per basket over one of the 4X4s and slid the other 4X4 over so the hook is sandwiched between them. I then used little blocks of wood (approximately 2 in. X 1 in.) that I drilled a hole through the middle of. After placing the threaded end of the utility hook through the side of the basket I screwed one of the blocks of wood onto it. This is what secures it. My brother-in-law brought me several rolls of colored fabric netting which I placed in the basket before placing the cocoa fiber lining back. If I didn't do this my koi would eat the cocoa fiber and my plants would be on the bottom of the pond. I can't tell you where to get the netting. My b-i-l brought it to me when Topps closed. (He was safety manager at the time and dug it out of the dumpster.) He thought it would make great filter media and he was right. I use that stuff for everything. I am going to miss it when it's gone. I will try to take some pics tonight and post them. Cliff & Joann: No I never tried to put vinca vine in the ground. Will have to give it a try. I know it's an annual, but do you think it will make it though an Ohio winter? The first year of my floating baskets I grew spikes. When the summer was over I threw the baskets onto the flower bed and covered them with piles of leaves. The spikes made it though the winter. I was so happy. Jenny Here is a link that might be useful: utility hook

I'm growing it and have had great success. It is not because of me...I found the poor thing had half of it's soil washed away and the roots were exposed to our awful ice storms and everything this winter. It has flowered and is full of unripe berries and is only about 1.5 feet tall! I was very impressed. I'll try to find the tag and see what variety it is.

Yes, flowers first , then new leaves. What type of hellebore is it? Some hellebores produce flower buds that need to overwinter, these ae probally difficult to impossible to get blooms on in Quebec. The ones that are more commonly grown hellebores x hybids..orientalis hybrids lenten rose etc. Produce their flowers from new stems from the roots/crown. Saying that I have some heelbores that had lots of blooms last year...but less on one plant and none on another, though they both looked like they increased in size. Good Luck Michael PS There was actually a fantastic, informative thread on hellbores in colder climates earlier this year in this forum. Origiannly started by David from Vermont. You should take a look at that.

Oh, that's a great pic, Laura! I haven't been able to get that good a pic. They're so tiny, if you aren't looking for them, you'd never see them. At least not with my old eyes! Glad to see it's doing so nicely for you. I think you're the one that sent me Hoya mitrata. It's such an different Hoya! I wasn't sure if it was ever going to actually grow for me - it didn't falter, mind you, it just didn't do anything for the longest time. Well, this year it's taken off like a rocket and is looking fantastic! I'm so anxious to get flowers from it - they can't be too far off the way it's looking... Do you grow it? And for anyone who would like some of the Dischidia ruscifolia for postage, I can send probably 2 or three box-fulls - seriously! My "mother" plant got so huge that I restarted a smaller pot (in fact, two, one of which I'm selling at our C&S club auction Sunday...), and there's still a ton left. It's not coming back in the house this fall, so I'd be happy to send cuttings galore out to a few who would like them. Denise in Omaha