Mr Rubin..... You don't say just how long you have had the pond etc? If it is just new, then wait until it settles down and the plants take hold before you do anything drastic. It may take a few weeks [or even less] for your new pond to stabilise. You could filter the water through polyester quilt batting, to remove the fine particulates. The pond will normally go through the "new pond phase" and have an algae bloom. Patience is the key word with a new pond. Since you have so much sun on the pond, shading it would not be a bad idea either. The best advice I could give you at this time is do a search on this site, for "algae bloom" or "green water", or "pond will not clear". There are lots of posts and advice on the subject of new ponds, that will keep you reading for days on end. LOL "Horton"

How I would like to have a stroll through your garden, lovely full beds full of interesting plants. Annette

The only new picture here is of the strawberry pots. The others are from other times during the past year, some of my favorites I am not yet ready to delete. So funny that Pat Austin and the plums happened to be just where they are on the photo page. Anne, My Pat is so nice! About four feet tall now, nestled in a south east facing corner and still putting out buds! Today's spray has red stems and bright pink inner petals backed with a pale peach. So pretty! Natalie, For the most part the garden is closed down for a few weeks, with lots of bare ground showing. I am counting down the six weeks to daffodil time! : ) Marilyn, Do try a citrus tree! My next door neighbor has a Meyer lemon in a pot, so cute with a dozen or so lemons hanging on a two foot tree! In a pot you could move it to shelter as needed. My rancher friends tell me there are a number of new oranges on the market. Maybe one of them would work well for you.

I have some pumpkins (and a volunteer type growing from a compost pile) as well as some luffa vines here and there, and some pumpkins and melons growing in a patch of corn. Seems like the only wilting problems I have is when the pumpkins (and even luffas) are in direct sun. Even the pumpkins growing out of the compost pile do wilt when it gets hot out, so who knows what's going on, lol! I always did hear that it's good to plant pumpkins and corn together. As for the drought, so far we haven't had a very bad one this year (had BAD ones for the past decade!), though we never get any long rains anymore. This is the first year where I've actually had a good garden and didn't have to water very much. Just spot watering some plants. We've been improving the soil for years, so that probably helps keep the moisture in the ground as well.