Wisconsin Pond Build

[sissy]

The only thing about warm weather all year round is that you have yard work year round

 

[addy1]

The only thing about warm weather all year round is that you have yard work year round

lol sissy no kidding, I like the break winter gives you.

 

[sissy]

Yep tim to rest the the old bones and think of new things you can do .Really fun though to find the end of season sales on stuff you never knew you wanted until you see them.It is really windy today here and yesterday it rained really hard so nothing to do but decide on a few plants I may want to put in my landscaping .My banana did not make it through last winter and I am looking for a new one and in looking found there is a new canna going to be on the market ,it is a blue black flower with black burgandy leaves .I have not found any places that are selling it yet .But the search goes on .

 

[j.w]

Sissy did you have the hardy banana Musa Bajoo cuz it dies down to the ground here in winter but always comes back like gangbusters in the Spring/Summer. I don't think you are much colder than we are here or maybe you are even warmer, not sure. Our lowest temps have been -6F but only lasts a couple days if it ever gets that low. Last 2 winters or so have been more cold than normal w/ the low -6F temps for a few days. Usually 30's - 50's here in winter.

 

[HARO]

Sissy; If you know the cultivar name of that canna, I would appreciate it if you could pass it on!!! :wave: John

 

[sissy]

yep had the cold hardy banana and even though I protected it ,it didn't come back and found out from florida hill nursery that some sell them with only the root and no bulb like an elephant ear bulb and they need taken in until they produce a bulb or potato as they call them .They told me to dig down slowly with my hands and if there was no bulb it was not a good plant to be left out the first winter and should have been kept inside until then and that after 5 or so years you can dig the plant up when it dies back you can dig it up and have more plants if you want be seems they like to be left alone to spread .Seems they should add that info to the pot that you have to watch when you get a root banana .I am going to buy another from florida hill nurseries this early spring and a few other plants I like there .They are a lot cheaper than lowes .Remember last winter here was the worst I hve seen since being down here .I thought doing everything to protect it would help but guess not ,darn lowes

 

[j.w]

Never ever heard of canna's having blue/black flowers before. I too would be interested in hearing about this one. Where did you hear about it sissy?

 

[sissy]

I saw it on a garden show on tv and did not catch the whole thing and hoping they repeat the show .It was out of North Carolina and thats why i have been looking online .It was on my tv that I just use the digital box on and not direct tv .I think the show was something like garden ladies or something like that as the phone rang and I only caught parts of the show .

 

[taherrmann4]

yep had the cold hardy banana and even though I protected it ,it didn't come back and found out from florida hill nursery that some sell them with only the root and no bulb like an elephant ear bulb and they need taken in until they produce a bulb or potato as they call them .They told me to dig down slowly with my hands and if there was no bulb it was not a good plant to be left out the first winter and should have been kept inside until then and that after 5 or so years you can dig the plant up when it dies back you can dig it up and have more plants if you want be seems they like to be left alone to spread .Seems they should add that info to the pot that you have to watch when you get a root banana .I am going to buy another from florida hill nurseries this early spring and a few other plants I like there .They are a lot cheaper than lowes .Remember last winter here was the worst I hve seen since being down here .I thought doing everything to protect it would help but guess not ,darn lowes

Sissy same thing happened to me my banana plant didn't come back either and it was supposed to be hardy.

 

[sissy]

What I found was they told me there was probably no viable bulb and thats the place that sells the tea cup elephant ears and are really cheap 5.99 and shipping is 6.99 and free shipping on the next 3 plants you purchase at the same time .My neighbor got a cold hardy banana and it was so hot she even got small bananas which they say will happen sometimes when it gets hot enough and they are fertilized well .florida hill nurseries .I already have my list and going to order in Feb.

 

[Jay S]

WOW. Found a long Wisconsin thread!

 

[herzausstahl]

Sissy,
Did you see the show on a pbs channel (public broadcasting)? Sounds like the kind of station that would have that kind of a show on locally down there and they should have a website you could go to find the show listing and then the show you caught part of. Sounds like Lowes sells it as an annual but if you have a cold winter it won't survive and I would guess it was a cheaper for them to buy them if they were juveniles without the bulb. Just shows where sometimes its worth it to go with the nursury, but I still like checking homedepot and the big stores for deals and general plants/trees.

Jay S,
Welcome! Which part of Wisconsin are you from? This a thread I started when I began building my pond last summer and have kept updating it since. Hope you like it.


The highs we've had around here have felt like april/may lately, in the mid 40s. Tommorrow's high is 44 and the record for the day is 46, so we will have to wait to see if we beat it or not. I'll be honest I like all the seasons here, but the last few years have had a ton of snow so I don't mind this winter being more mild, it has kept my cabin fever down, which this time last year was at an all time high! So here are some pics I took the last couple weeks, but haven't gotten up on here yet.



This was taken on Dec 29, 2011. It was kind of cool seeing the white slush on the top of the pond.

The rest of these were taken after we got a couple inches of snow on New Years Day. It was the first time I had to shovel this year and wasn't too much. It melted shortly after with all the warm weather we've been having here.

 

[addy1]

snow plows and shovels should be real cheap pretty soon, we have not had any snow fall that needed to be moved around. The cities are saving some bucks on snow removal.

 

[sissy]

true addy .I am going to get some plants from florida hill nursery .I have my list made up and just wanted to wait awhile .I saw the show on pbs and they had some interesting plants and I want to try a couple even if I have to bring them indoors .

 

[j.w]

Neat seeing the snow and especially since it looks like we might not see any here this year. Looks so pretty and calming to look at. Thanks for posting. Looks like you are getting new neighbors next to ya.