I know I said intermittent posts, but...

I know I said intermittent posts, but...
I have been really behind, so a quick post to say I will get more pictures sized and up soon. I have been working in the garden, I have moved 1 10'x4'x16" raised bed from the vegetable garden area and split it into 2 (they were stacked) 8" tall 10'x about 3' beds in the front. They are narrower because the corners are hinged, and I set them down into paralleogram shapes. The soil from them (Hillcountry garden soil mix originally) had to be shoveled into my wheelbarrow and transported and shoveled out again, so it has not been a trivial task for me. I added some manure and fertilizer and evened it all out, then went to go rest. Again.
However, they are now planted, with caladiums along the back, daylilies in the corners, other bulbs which I needed to put somewhere around, and a center section in each of mesclun seed. This area is part shade, more as the trees leaf out. Another good learning experience for me, I am sure. I am gradually trying to delineate the border between my front yard and my neighbors - it all just runs together now - and incorporate paths that wind back towards the gate to the pond. There is a long way to go, but when done, about 2/3 of the skimpy grass will become paths and garden areas.
ciao for now, Mary

Well, since it is not a very pretty time of year, I will share some pictures I have taken in the past, starting with the pond. If you went on the 2008 Austin Pond Society Pond Tour, you may have visited my pond - over 600 people did, counting some friends and relatives that weren't on the tally sheet. (That was 600 people between 9am and 5pm - I have never stood and talked so long in my life!)

I just wish I had had a chance to speak to everyone, and longer to many! My pond used to be a swimming pool. It was a modest swimming pool, but quite a large pond. This conversion is why so many people were interested. So here is a picture when construction is almost done, but it is still empty:

Not so pretty at this stage, but so much potential. I had had it as a still pond for a few years, but it was quite green and I couldn't see the fish, and I knew I needed to add circulation and filtration for the health of the fish, as well as appearance. Here it is filled, and moving plants into position in the bog.

And here, all filled up, a month or so after planting the bog. The bog is the primary filtration - rocks over a grating, and bare root plants in the rocks, with water coming up from beneath and flowing over the roots. This was taken about 10 months before the pond tour. If you look back to that picture, the first one I put in the blog, you can see how much the plants like it.

Some of the denizens of my deep:

The big pale yellow one is Buttermilk; and the white (platinum) butterfly at the front was Ariel (aka Fu Manchu). He was a favorite of mine, but I lost him to dropsy in November. Very distressing. He rests in the flowerbed near my dear little dog, Sadie.

Most of the smaller orange fish are descendants of the original feeder goldfish I threw in to eat the mosquitoes when it stopped being a pool and became a pond. (When the pool pump died for the last time and I got fed up!) The tiny fish are mosquito fish (gambusia).

This time of year they are sort of hibernating, they don't get fed, and mostly hang out near the bottom. If they do feel peckish, there is plenty of algae for them to graze on - here is a shot of them last summer, taken underwater near the steps, cruising around and grazing. That's Ariel in the front.

That is plenty for now, a glimpse into the water-gardening part of my garden - really a very large part of my garden. Ciao for now.

OK, let's experiment - adding a picture - a slightly larger version of my pond. Bear in mind that this was taken in July 2008, the day of the Austin Pond Society Pond Tour. It is at the peak of pretty, and certainly does not look like that now! Most of the plants are showing the effects of winter (brown and/or gone).

I must say the mint in the stock tank filter is bigger and more vigorous than ever - I have not had a really hard freeze yet this winter, just enough to get some ice in the birdbaths, but not entirely kill off the sorta-tender plants. There is certainly work to be done, mostly in the cleanup category, and I am behind, as usual. Maybe I will wait to post again until I can report that I have gotten "something done!". Maybe not. Ciao for now.

Mary

New blog, new activity - my first attempt at blogging. I expect this to be an intermittent activity, especially since it is mostly about my garden, and not much is going on there right now. But at least I have begun.