Hey there, Brenda. Lots of research does make things easier and total immersion in the topic, just like learning a new language, helps you catch on to the things that are important. This forum has a lot of info being talked about by lots of people, some of whom get pretty technical. There are plenty of others who keep it simple. Now I am going to be mean. Sometimes the limitations we cannot change make us give up some things we really want. A list of each can help see the realities. After I looked at the pond you like and read what you wanted, I realized you can't have all of it. I don't want to discourage you. You can still have a lovely and totally satisfying pond/water garden. The pond you like is a rigid preform. It is probably 72"x48" and 18" deep. It holds 125 gallons and will take 3-4 3" fish. Those dimensions are for Maccourt ponds which seems to be the most common preform. There are some new ones that are foldable made of virgin vinyl but that doesn't seem to be what you are looking at. There are also some pond kits that include plastic liners and EPDM rubber liners are very versatile. The volume of water in any of these ponds would prevent you from having koi. Koi grow to very large proportions and soon your fishies wouldn't have room to turn around, literally. I have a 1000 gallon pond and some of my 6" koi are now 12-14" after only one season. One that is 3 years old is now even larger than that. In addition I have a population of comets, sarrasa and other related fishies and they started breeding last year. Many of them started as 1" feeder fish. All of them need room to move! Fast! I'm getting nervous. There are many colorful fish other than koi that you would enjoy but you would need to control the numbers and figure out a way to keep them over winter. I put my gourami and guppies in the pond for the summer and put them back in aquariums in the winter. The cold would kill them. In your zone, it is possible for an 18 inch pond to freeze solid but more likely it would only have ice to 4-6 inches. I would wait through a full winter to see just how deep the ice goes before investing in fish other than goldfish. Gases that accumulate in the water could kill larger fish with only that much free water. An EPDM or plastic lined pond could give you the depth you need but the volume still would limit the number and type of fish. Don't despair! No one ever got it right the first time they were designing a home and you are designing a home for fish... and plants. Now that I have managed to scotch some of your dreams, (sorry, sorry, sorry) the necessary hardware can be put up for discussion. Sandy Here is a link that might be useful: preform ponds

Generally, in CT peony foliage stays pretty much in good shape till October and only then start decline. The only two reasons I could think of why yours foliage is not good, either you forgot to water them from time to time and they are going into early dormancy or they have a Botrytis. There are plenty of info on a net about this fungus, but i include the link to the article that explain this particular and many other peony problems in a simple terms. Here is a link that might be useful: Peony problems

There is nothing wrong with taking care of an animal that couldn't reasoably be expected to thrive if returned to his/her native environment. Knowledge and preparation are the key. I have 5 Burmese Pythons living in their own large upstairs bedroom. They all came to me as rescues. Three have been with me since 1984. They have their own heating system, plywood sheathed walls, expanded metal gratings on the outside of their windows. Cleaning their room and watering trough are onerous duties that have to be performed weekly. Feeding and electricity to keep them warm are expensive. All things considered, it is an expensive hobby that I love. They have individual personalities, much like cats. Let me add this: we have a responsibility to assure a good life to our pets if we suddenly leave the picture. I have it in my Will; my executrix and my kids all know that I have 2 different individuals lined up to come in and whisk these "special" animals away in the case of my sudden demise.

Not a sign of distress......that's just how it grows :-) Hydrangeas are caning shrubs, not trees, and are carefully trained into a tree-like form by removing lower branches. Those are just the starts of new branching and you do want to remove if you wish to maintain the plant as a 'tree'. Don't "chop" off - rub them off with your fingers while still very new and young. This leaves no stubs or scarring and tends to limit any regrowth in that area.