Ok, you win doggiemom. I have something else going on here that I can't quite figure out....usually by this time every year I have most of my assorted boxes and nooks and crannies filled with nests of all shapes and sizes. THe ONLY boxes that have any activity so far are the two duck boxes, which are both crammed with new nests and eggs. The only thing to be found in any of the other boxes is the usual tree frog and that has me puzzled. The boxes are always cleaned out well ahead of the nesting season, so I wonder where everybody is. Like I said, maybe it is the surplus of natural cavities here. Still, the one bluebird box at the corner pole usually raises at least 3 broods a year without fail, and not a thing is going on out there yet, though there are blues everywhere in the yard.

Are there any other family members who can provide hand-me downs? I mean, those cute baby rooms in the magazines with the matching furniture sets look so pretty, but a baby only stays little for a few years. Can you imagine a ten year old tom-boy in a frilly pink room? What about thrift shops? I got lucky. Both hubby amd I have older siblings with children (our nieces and nephews). We waited until our thirties to have kids, that's fashinable now I hear. For us it was just chance. I was 26 when we met, he was 30. Kids didn't come around right away. When we finally did have kids, there was a sigh of relief from both sides of the family. Along with the congratulations, what took you so long, we thought you were having problems, etc., came offers of gently used baby furniture. One crib had been handed around four times before we got it, and it still looked okay. It's just that everything didn't match. The pieces were a hodge-podge of colors and finishes. Nothing like the pretty matching sets in the magazines and baby stores. So I painted all the wood white myself. A crib, and two dressers. And tied it all together with the textiles. I told everyone I liked Disney, so as shower gifts we got Mickey and Minnie sheets, a Donald Duck lamp, even a Disney wall electric light switch plate cover. You can have a nice baby's room without spending a fortune. And yes I do think $1200 is a lot of money even in these days!

That makes it a bit more interesting. The "Blue Lotus" is normally considered a waterlily rather than a lotus, that is Nymphaea caerulea. Lotus are in the genus Nelumbo. Of course to make it more interesting, there is a genus "Lotus" which isn't related to either of those. The lotuses, as in Nelumbo, have leaves which rise well above the water whether sparse or crowded. Only seedling Nelumbo have floating leaves. Nymphaea normally only have floating leaves. The flowers are also quite different. Nelumbo seed are around pea sized. Nymphaea are very small, sort of sesame seed size but rounded. I don't think any of the Nelumbo flowers are blue or anything approaching blue. In Nymphaea species blue is a very common colour. Lotus is a common name not a scientific one for these plants so correctness isn't an issue. It's more a matter of common usage. But problems can arise when you look for information on them using common names, you sometimes can't be sure which one the information refers to. The "Blue Lotus", Nymphaea caerulea, naturally ranges across the whole of Africa, including southern Africa which is well outside of the tropics. So it's tropical and non-tropical. I don't know which zones there are in South Africa, but I think zone 8 might be the very lowest. On that basis I don't think you'll have any problems if you're careful with it.

Top pic is early spring and second pic is now. I just misted the soil around them.