One of the nice things about using hydrogen peroxide is that it is a rather "forgiving" chemical when applied to your pond. Dosages that have been used successfully by myself and others are in the one to two pints per 1000 gallons applied about 5 - 7 days apart as needed. Others have used dosages up to 10 pints per 1000 gallons claiming no ill effect on their plants or fish. The use of hydrogen peroxide is also used by folks in the aquarium industry to supply a slightly supersaturated oxygen level in the water or as a way to quickly and safely elevate the oxygen levels within a water that is not adequately aerated. Having said all of that I believe, as stated above, you have to use a bit of common sense when using it. Dumping a whole pint in one spot in a pond instead of spreading it around to help disperse it doesnt seem to be a very good idea. If you have loads of algae and you kill it what will happen as other bacteria breakdown all that dead organic matter? Obviously the oxygen levels would drop. This is not usually too much of a problem at this time of year since the dissolved oxygen levels at the current water temperatures (32° F in my area at the moment!) can easily exceed 10-12 mg/L as well as the rate at which your fish and the pond bacteria are consuming oxygen in cool water regions is significantly lowered. But again, common sense would seem to suggest to try to remove most of it physically before dumping hydrogen peroxide into the pond. As to the "proven" benefits of barley straw: 1.) I am not aware of any peer-reviewed, scientific publications showing the specific benefits of barley straw demonstrated in a controlled, scientific study that says that it works. In fact, one non-peer reviewed discussion from someone with the appropriate credentials seems to suggest that the results from barely straw are a bit problematic (see the URL listed below). Furthermore you will find that many, if not most companies that were previously listing barley straw as an "algicide" on their websites and product brochures have been forced to remove such statements due to the lack of specific scientific studies to support the efficacy of barley straw. We can still use it and buy it for that purpose, theyÂre apparently just not allowed to advertise it for that. I use barley straw during the summer and consider it to fall in the "no harm" category... you probably canÂt harm you pond in using it and who knows, it might just help. I have yet to see barley straw provide any benefits anecdotal or otherwise once the water temperature drops below the mid-forties. The bacterial kinetics are just a bit too slow at that point. On the other hand, as Horton has mentioned above, string algae is very, very happy to be growing even at these cool temperatures. IÂve got a nice crop growing as we speak and canÂt run the pumps or filters during this time of year .... something about the temperatures going down to -15° F or so, freezing pipes, etc.! :-)) 2.) Of the reports listed implying the slow release of hydrogen peroxide in small amounts I have never seen any data where they have specifically measured peroxide levels either with or without barley straw. Many of the so-called studies discuss it, yack about it but I have yet to see a study telling me what the analytical method was that they were using to detect it or the levels they observed as the result of using barley straw. Yes hydrogen peroxide solutions can explode. Yes it is used for rocket fuel.....but not at 3% concentrations. Commercial/Industrial strengths can have up to 40% concentrations or higher with typical levels in the 10-12% range used in some swimming pool applications --- these are not the levels that the average pond owner is going to encounter. Long term storage of hydrogen peroxide solutions in chemistry labs is a problem due to potential hazards which I wonÂt bother to explain but this is not the issue for the average ponder or homeowner using 3% hydrogen peroxide and isnÂt trying to store it for more than a few months. ÂDavid

Xuan, Walnut Creek had a high of 52 yesterday and a low of 27. That's for Jan. 15th. Today, the 16th high is 52 and low will be 32. Good luck for your plants. You can check your weather easily at weather.com and some other places. I hit 21 again last night but I tried something different with the plants I couldn't cover, I water the bases of all the plants really heavy and they all look good this morning, no further damage. The spiderwort actually perked up a little and it had died back pretty much to the ground as crispy. I noticed on the north side of the house as I recovered bushes for the night that the grass never has thawed out there, it has so much frost in it that it almost looks like snow. I'm really glad that I went ahead and put frost blankets over the mini rose bed there then. Apparently it's not warming in that area at all.

Yourit, You've just confirmed for us all that thumbnails do load faster. Thanks. I was kinda wondering whether it made any difference perhaps, because I figured there might be some conversion process involved. I'm happy to see that they do in fact work fast as claimed. And in fact, I like them as they allow me to lay out my articles better, using HTML tables to format the thumbnails into groupings. Arvind, I did note a sign on the grounds at the Rosicrucian that they had a Native Plants project underway. It was posted in a small grassy yard next to what I'm guessing was employee parking. Your link to the contest article helps much to clarify what that sign eluded to. I can't wait to see what they do with that project and I hope they don't cut down any of those Yuccas or those beautiful towering pines that are just to the of the main museum front entrance, between the museum and the planetarium. Those are very beautiful trees and I regret, too large for me to have photographed. You have to go there to appreciate them.

I'm not sure what sunset zone Bakersfield is in, but Succulents look great around ponds and there are many to choose from. Some of the clumping/spreading types of Cotyledon (C. orbiculata) or Aloes or small Agaves (A. geminiflora), maybe Echeveria imbricata or some of the Echeverias or Semperviviums or Sedums. Those are just a few suggestions, but there are many interesting and colorful succulents out there with great texture and interesting flowers. Maybe a couple of colorful Phormiums (New Zealand Flax) for height. BUT....do get rid of the Bermuda grass before you plant anything. Otherwise that stuff will come back to haunt you. wanda