The pond dig has begun!

[sissy]

I was at lowes and notice they sell big fiberglass type rocks that are hand stamped it says and I thought they were real rocks and they were nice and light weight .They must be new because this is the first time I have seen them and a 20x20 fake rock was 10.98 and wish i had my camera with me to get a pick ,but of course it was at home instead .It was just heavy enough to not get blown around and had a grid of plastic on the underside .There was a 16x 20 also that was 8.98 and it said new product on the sign .Manager told me if they sell enough he will order more but not sure price will be that low again .I should have bought a couple but already had a lot of stuff so decided the next time I go this week .It side you could build patio.s with it and it was a recycled product made of foam and plastic .I wonder now if it would float . :question:

 

[fishin4cars]

Aww darn, as soon as I read your post I ran outside to measure my skimmer lid. I need a 35" x 24" to cover my skimmer. I was hoping the 20 x20 was going to be big enough. If so I was fixing to run straight to lowes to see if they had them in our store yet.

 

[sissy]

I saw them at only one of the lowes and that was at the NC store and guess it is up to the store what new products they carry or try out .I asked about them while I was there as I have never seen them before this or even heard of them .I even tried googling them and only found one place that makes them and it was a green company .I should have tagged it but my internet is so bad I can't stay on long .The phone company tells me it is all the out dated wiring around here .

 

[CountryEscape]

The rock I have is not too heavy, but sure would be at your size needed, Larkin. I could not use anything that was not real rock, as the winds here are too strong, it would blow away. Anything less than at least 10# would not stay put, but maybe those fake ones are heavier than that. The key is finding a rock that is heavy enough, but not so heavy that you can't move it easily. Guess I could always use that lightweight stone to cover up the area, then a heavier one on top to hold it in place! Sounds really interesting to say the least, but no Lowes close by, at least hour away. Menards is what we have in town where I work. Will watch to see if they have something new come out!

 

[sissy]

I tried to google it but can't for the life of me remember the name .senior moment :razz: I even tried fake rocks .

 

[j.w]

Sissy call the Lowes store where you found them and ask them if they sell those rocks online or what the actual name of them are. I looked online at our store but didn't find anything but then I had no idea what they call them.

 

[CometKeith]

CE, I can't believe you still have flowers. I know there was a warm spell about a week ago or so but since then it has been really cold here. I'm surprised my water hyacinths haven't all died yet and are green but everything else in our yard is pretty much done for the year.

 

[addy1]

We are sitting in the 30's at night 50's day. My apple tree is putting out new leaves, the plants are growing and blooming like it is spring. Even some tomato plants are still living. The taro's refuse to die, I might just sort of force that issue, dig them up, groom and dry.

 

[CountryEscape]

I put one of my large pots with hyacinths in the garage last weekend, going to leave them under a florescent light all winter. Last winter I did this, garage does not freeze, but moved them to the basement with the other tropical plants I wanted to keep, and the hyacinths promptly died. Not sure why, same light, but was warmer conditions. So, going to do a test, see if I can keep them alive in the garage all winter. Also have Azolla in another pot, also under that light. They are the only plants I will keep through the winter alive, and then only if they survive in there.
Keith, I still have that red lily blooming, on it's last days I'm sure, but it's open this morning! Had a couple of 32 degree mornings this week, frosted, but marigolds are still growing, although some of them got frost bit! Funny, cause immediately next to the frosted plants are plants that didn't get frosted!
Brought all elephant ears and taro in last weekend, but put in water. Going to let them dry out after cutting them back, store them for winter. And, need to get the lily pots up and trimmed off, just not sure how in the world I'm going to lift them now that it's too cold to get into the water. Need to run to town, see if I can come up with some waders, I guess!

 

[CountryEscape]

Yesterday I worked pruning the leaf stems off of the lilies in both ponds. Got the pots pulled on the shelf of each pond, but hand got soooo cold, had to come in and warm up. Got the shelves done, though.

Also found that at least the hardy lilies have enough leaf stems left on them that I think they will hold up for me to pull them up pot and all to trim in the deeper water where I cannot reach the pots. The only trick then will be to lower the pot in an upright position, back onto the milk crate or upside down shelf that they are on now. Hmm ... will have to figure out some way to guide them as they are lowered. Glad I got as many done as I have, though.
Off to an action this morning. Not going to buy anything in particular, but there is a pile of rocks that they are selling, hoping to maybe get them cheap, and also come glass blocks that look really cool. Not sure what I would do with them, but they have 8x8 squares, 8x5 or something like that rectangles, and even corner blocks. Very cool. Only will bid on them if they go really cheap, though.
And, does anyone know what a "pip pip water garden fountain" might be? I looked it up on the internet, never did find anything that showed that as a possible brand, maybe it's a style? Kept coming up with Italian marble fountains. Sure not interest in anything that fancy ... unless it goes CHEAP! LOL

 

[j.w]

Hope you get some good stuff CE at the auction!

 

[CountryEscape]

I got some fun stuff! I'm always looking for heavy things for around the ponds and flower gardens, and since Morel mushrooms are so common in this area in the spring, these concrete replicas were a "must have"! They came with 3 or 4 other concrete or stone or plastic things, all of which I did not take with me.

I was talking, missed bidding on this brass kaleidascope, but then talked the dealer out of it later, since he was buying so much stuff! The other two smaller ones are also kaleidescopes. One looks like a shotgun shell, the other similar.

Love marbles!!!

This was my 75 cent box of stuff. I wanted the moisture beads, you soak them with water, helps keep plants moist longer. Got the "fountain" kit, not even opened (fountain pic coming up yet) and I have cactus, so the liquid fertilizer was a good thing, the ladies gloves were probably left on the wagon, so they got tossed into my box LOL, and the other boxes are wood (500 in the box when new) and plastic (1,000 in the box when new) plant markers.

My son hunts deer, and always enjoys finding deer antler sheds. There were 4 that are small, have the skull "cap" attached to the antlers, and one larger shed.

I think I asked what a "Pip Pip" water garden fountain was. Well, it was a typo, or the person didn't know. It's a "Pipi" statue, and as you can tell, it does just that! Poor little boy, his "peepee"is broken off, but it was still too cute! The auctioneer tried to sell just the statue by itself, I bought it, then I said, "It does go with the base and bowl, right?" Nope, "You should have said it was a set, do you want it individually or do we have to rebid it?" Well, DUH!!!! That auctioneer is a real jerk. They are known for bidding things up themselves. Anyhow, I had others around me that agreed with me that it was a 3 piece set, so I said, "I want it rebid!" Had to pay another $8 for all three pieces, but it was worth it.

This was my favorite items with "freebies". I wanted the saw blades, got them for $10 I think. There was junk in the box, as usual, but the Delft Blue windmill vase was cool, since I have several pieces of that (love windmills), and the frog is carved out of soapstone (cool, since I love frogs) and the egg looks like it's made out of marble!

 

[CountryEscape]

Tried about 9 times to post this next pic, but it was a no-go, so will try again in the post, maybe I had too many photos ...
I didn't bid on these glass blocks. No one spoke up they only wanted a few, so they sold all 576 of them for the bid price, which happened to be 25 cents each times 576! I got the dealer that bought them to sell me 13 of them for 25 cents each. LOL Not sure what I'll do with them, but will find some interesting way to display them. Some are "corners" others are square/flat. FINALLY, the picture loaded.

 

[j.w]

Lots of cool stuff and love the mushrooms,the pipi boy statue and frog, vase, saw blades and glass blocks. I collect marbles whenever I find one on the ground..........not so much anymore tho as I don't think kids play w/ them anymore and I keep mine in a jar similar to yours.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I don't think I have been to an auction for 30 years or more, but I remember it was quite exciting, my brother was bidding on a car if I remember correct. Loots like you got lots of cOOL stuff to "play with"! That's what I do, get new stuff, suddenly everything has to move around to make room for newer and more exciting stuff.

CE, if you want to keep the floaters alive, you have to keep the water warm too, not just the lighting. when I used to keep them in a heated greenhouse that I worked at many years ago, I would put a heating pad under the pond box or in smaller containers, a good "heavy duty" FISH TANK heater, with the biggest wattage I could find, and them sometimes had to use two or three fish tank heaters, in a heated greenhouse, the sun just was not hot enough that time of year to heat the water, even in a green house. Water temperture should be above 65, and warmer would be better, like 75 degrees and good lighting. Good luck, I don't bother anymore with too many tropical floaters, I don't keep my little back yard greenhouse above 50 in winter, and I found it was too much trouble to keep them, so buy just one or two. I'm really not into too many floaters now that I have so many hardy pond plants. Plus here the season is short for hyacinths, they can't be put out till June or your risk killing them. Then they are "toast" by September! With my hardy pond plants, they start to grow very fast, some grow right after the ice is gone!