Well... I moved some into the waterfall area and it seems to be doing ok. I just realized that my duck weed disapeared entirely too. I haven't used any fertilizer, salt or chemicals in the pond at all. It's been doing so well with minimum interference from me that I don't want to change anything! I may try to pull some parrot's feather and pot it up. I was going to try to overwinter some anyway. I'm sort of a "bird nut" so a plant called parrot's feather has some appeal! But if i doesn't want to grow for me I'll jsut try something else

Hey there, John. Sometimes I think raccoons and I have some sort of really wacky relationship going on. I absolutely love the critters and have a hard time not deliberately attracting them. They are smart, sneaky, curious and about a dozen other adjectives that are unprintable in this forum. They often travel through our backyard at night, sometimes stopping and sometimes not. It depends on a lot of things. The first "pond" I had was a dinky 14 inch deep hard-side in which there were way too many fish. I hadn't noticed the raccoons previously but one morning I was greeted with the mutilated carcasses of 11 koi. Not one had been eaten. I sat out that night and sure enough the killers were back. I made my presence known with a blast from the hose and they scattered only to be back the next night. I got one of those Scarecrow water cannons and that worked fairly well but the little vandals are still persistent and I spend frequent nights guarding the pond and my fishies. Two weeks ago they decided to have a riot and proceeded to toss pot after pot of plants into the water. They came 5 times in 9 nights. My pond was a mud hole. The pump gave out and I have had to order a new one. The pre-filter was clogged up with more than 2 quarts of clay and those little rocks they use to keep the mud in the pots. They have been visiting other lucky residents for the last few nights but I expect their visits as much as I expect the sun to rise in the east. I am never going to get rid of them. Once a neighbor, up in Wisconsin, bragged to us that he "got" the raccoon that had been robbing his bird feeders at night. We didn't bother to tell him that the one raccoon that he wounded with bird shot was only one of at least 53 we saw regularly at night. We did tell him it was probably illegal to use a gun within 300 feet of a dwelling or road in Wisconsin. Sigh... We are in the city limits with no open land except for the high-school campus. Most of the neighbors have no idea what kind of animals visit at night. The cats get blamed for everything. Sandy

Happy Sunday.. The weather is perfect..high 90's, 95% humidity, breezy, and the sun is shining.. Plants are in heaven..:) So, am I... Consentida..You're welcome.. I too need to repot my tree Gardenia. The problem is, I want to use a bigger, plastic growing pot..nothing fancy. Got to look for one..never toss pots..whenever we buy a perrenial that comes in large container, I save them. Large, growing pots are expensive. Especially 12" and up. My gardenias are potted in a combo of soil and soil-less mediums..since gardenias prefer acidic soil, Peat or Spaghnum Peat is added..Black, rich house plant soil, too. When HD sold decent sand like Mike's talking about, it too was added..the finish is Perlite and small stones. I think that's it..After repotting, soil gets a hearty drink with a few drops of Superthrive. Con, regarding hoyas, do you know its type and what size pot it's in? Hoyas start flowering when roots fill container..light is important. Some people grow hoyas under artificial light, but lights must be on 14+ hours per day.. People on the Hoya forum have beautiful specimens..Wow. They fertilize quite often..Years ago, when I got 'hooked' on plants, I read, slow-growing plants should get little fertilizer. 2-3 times per year. Hoyas are slow-growing, so, they'd get little fertilizer..after talking to ppl on the hoya forum, I learned they fertilize every other week, etc, and their hoyas are just gorgeous. If you feel your hoya is overpotted, perhaps you should downsize its container??? Mike, it's tempting, but an 800? mile drive is a bit far..lol...Although, I always wanted to visit the east, especially New England states..it's impossible going anywhere, no vacations, not with the pets..2 dogs, 4 birds and an iguana..lol.. The last time we left IL was for a funeral. I had a friend come over to feed the birds, (we didnt have the iguana) and at the time we had one dog..we put the dog in a kennel which ended up turning into a disaster. Umm, chocolate-scented-flowers..I had a chocolate scented Geranuium..it smelled delicious..lol. I've never seen pics of your hoya..What type do you have? I got to get outside and snap pics..plus repot fand fert a few more plants..I'll get to it soon..gotta eat something first, my last meal was yesterday..lol Cereal and a banana..ummm..lol. Ponderosas are the prettiest. A local conservatory has a huge, tree-shaped Ponderosa..The first time seeing it, I thought the fruits were grapefruits..the lemons are huge. It's different growing citrus in a green house year round, opposed to a house. I think, not sure, theirs is planted in dirt, not a container..We used to visit the conservatory several times a year..Despite the season, their Ponderosa was in bloom and fruiting. After seeing their tree for the first time, the following day, I contacted Briteleaf Nursery and ordered a ponderosa..lol. Mike do you bring all plants outside? Does your house look empty? lol..it's so easy buying plants when a room is barren..then come fall, one thinks, where did this and that plant go??? lol. Happy Sunday..hope you're weather is beautiful..Toni

My DS was 6-7 and home from school sick in bed. We had a snow and everything was covered and freezing cold outside. DS called me into the bedroom and told me to look out at the bird on the telephone wire. The poor thing looked like he was frozen to the wire, but apparently not because after a while as we watched, he appeared to fall to the ground. DS asked me to go see what was wrong with the bird. So of course I bundled up, put on boots and gloves and went out on rescue. I brought the bird in and we could see that he had a grain of corn stuck in his throat. I managed to dislodge it and he was then ready to go. I let him out the door and he flew away. I've forgotten many of the things DS did to aggravate me, but I still remember that day when he had to know that one bird was helped. He is still like that, very caring. Sue