Found large source of free plants

[Roy]

Went to buy some rocks today for half barrel. On the way I spotted a
huge swampy area. So on the way back I stopped and pulled over off the
road and went out to have a look. I no sooner pulled over and another
vehicle came up and stopped and a fellow got out. He asked me what
Iwas doing, and I said just looking at the swamp and bog, thats
all.....He said ok, no problem, as he was having problems with folks
dumping trash......which I assure him I was not. I remarked that there
sure was a heap of water lillies, and other various aquatic plants in
that swamp that was worth some money and that there was actually more
variety in just what I saw than any of the local water garden or
nurseries carry in Montgomery.....He said, well help yourself, take
what you want, just don't leave any trash........He wrote me out a
note giving permission and left.

So far I have found bog bean, pickerel rush, straight form of a rush,
water lillies (spread about 3 to 5 feet with leaves 5 to 7 inches in
diam, some white and some yellow, and I spotted what appears to be a
pink one......) mostly white though. Lots of parrots feather and frog
bit and hyacinth.taro type (probably common elephant ears). The cat
tails were nbot all that tall only about 36" max, so I may get some of
them as the ones I have get extremely tall. Appears to be water snow
flake, and what appears to be iris (dead dried blooms none actually
blooming), all around the edges and one side close by the railroad
tracks, as well and some others who I just can't remember, but IIRC I
seem them in various books. Just have to set down and look em up.

I collected up some odds and ends and one lilly, as the others were a
little to far out in the swamp for me to get the way I was dressed
today, and I did not have any bags to put them in, but I can see a
major planting of my pond now with some really nice matured lillys.
And just yesterday I bought and paid for a mailorder of parrots
feather.duh!

There was another plant there I am curious about. Its a floating
plant, and resembles frog bit, but not as tightly clumped together
with thr leaves. The leaves on this one are one or two to a stalk, and
thick like frog bit, but are a more pronoucned heart shape. Any one
have any ideas what it may be? Its not in any of my books that I have.

This is a ideal swamp, and nothing seems like its running rampant and
overtaking anything. Quite a few frogs as well......and turtles...

I got the 4 kiddies pools out when I got home, hosed off all the
plants I collected and seperated them into the various kiddie pools.
I'll leave them there for awhile and sterilize them all before I
utilize them. Saturday I'll probably go back with the wife and dig out
some lillys........and my books.

Not bad for all those free plants, but I had to pay for lousy flat
rocks!
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[~ Windsong ~]

"Roy" > wrote in message
...
> Went to buy some rocks today for half barrel. On the way I spotted a
> huge swampy area. So on the way back I stopped and pulled over off the
> road and went out to have a look. I no sooner pulled over and another
> vehicle came up and stopped and a fellow got out. .....
===================
What a deal! Lucky you. :-)))

I also got some free plants down by the river. Most there just look like
weeds though.

--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If two men agree on everything, you can
be sure only one of them is doing the thinking."
~~<~~<~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Dances With Ferrets]

You may wanna look up appropriate methods of cleaning the plants
before taking them home.... You may be transferring untold amounts of
parasites, bacteria, diseases and other pollutants into your
pond/aquarium... what good is $90 worth of free plants if it kills
$500 worth of fish? On top of that, it is illegal to uproot,
transplant, or transfer aquatic plants of any sort in some states.
Depending on the state laws, you can be heavily-fined, or in the worst
case, have your whole boat and/or vehicle taken away, even if you have
a land-owner's permission. I'm not trying to spew tirades from a
soapbox here, I've been known to do some of my own collecting as
well... but I'd encourage you to research what you might be getting
into.

[Jim and Phyllis Hurley]

Nice find.

I infer you live in Alabama. If it is like Mississippi, there will be no
rules about collecting plants. Our pond is stocked with 'local' lillies,
cattails, duckweed and hyacinth. No diseases that we have noticed.

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"Roy" > wrote in message
...
> Went to buy some rocks today for half barrel. On the way I spotted a
> huge swampy area. So on the way back I stopped and pulled over off the
> road and went out to have a look. I no sooner pulled over and another
> vehicle came up and stopped and a fellow got out. He asked me what
> Iwas doing, and I said just looking at the swamp and bog, thats
> all.....He said ok, no problem, as he was having problems with folks
> dumping trash......which I assure him I was not. I remarked that there
> sure was a heap of water lillies, and other various aquatic plants in
> that swamp that was worth some money and that there was actually more
> variety in just what I saw than any of the local water garden or
> nurseries carry in Montgomery.....He said, well help yourself, take
> what you want, just don't leave any trash........He wrote me out a
> note giving permission and left.
>
> So far I have found bog bean, pickerel rush, straight form of a rush,
> water lillies (spread about 3 to 5 feet with leaves 5 to 7 inches in
> diam, some white and some yellow, and I spotted what appears to be a
> pink one......) mostly white though. Lots of parrots feather and frog
> bit and hyacinth.taro type (probably common elephant ears). The cat
> tails were nbot all that tall only about 36" max, so I may get some of
> them as the ones I have get extremely tall. Appears to be water snow
> flake, and what appears to be iris (dead dried blooms none actually
> blooming), all around the edges and one side close by the railroad
> tracks, as well and some others who I just can't remember, but IIRC I
> seem them in various books. Just have to set down and look em up.
>
> I collected up some odds and ends and one lilly, as the others were a
> little to far out in the swamp for me to get the way I was dressed
> today, and I did not have any bags to put them in, but I can see a
> major planting of my pond now with some really nice matured lillys.
> And just yesterday I bought and paid for a mailorder of parrots
> feather.duh!
>
> There was another plant there I am curious about. Its a floating
> plant, and resembles frog bit, but not as tightly clumped together
> with thr leaves. The leaves on this one are one or two to a stalk, and
> thick like frog bit, but are a more pronoucned heart shape. Any one
> have any ideas what it may be? Its not in any of my books that I have.
>
> This is a ideal swamp, and nothing seems like its running rampant and
> overtaking anything. Quite a few frogs as well......and turtles...
>
> I got the 4 kiddies pools out when I got home, hosed off all the
> plants I collected and seperated them into the various kiddie pools.
> I'll leave them there for awhile and sterilize them all before I
> utilize them. Saturday I'll probably go back with the wife and dig out
> some lillys........and my books.
>
> Not bad for all those free plants, but I had to pay for lousy flat
> rocks!
> Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
> Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
> I had no input whatsoever.
> Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[Roy]

On Thu, 9 Sep 2004 05:37:10 -0500, "Jim and Phyllis Hurley"
> wrote:

>===<>Nice find.
>===<>
>===<>I infer you live in Alabama. If it is like Mississippi, there will be no
>===<>rules about collecting plants. Our pond is stocked with 'local' lillies,
>===<>cattails, duckweed and hyacinth. No diseases that we have noticed.
>===<>
>===<>Jim

Yep your right , Alabama, and while there is laws governing the
collection of fauna of any type, this is private land and is not under
control of the laws.

While I can't say with certainlty, I doubt there is any problems with
these plants, but I am going to quarrantine them for a while before I
do anything with them........stil looking for ways to sterilize them,
and about all I found so far is to use potassium permanganate, poured
into the water until it turns purple, which I would have to order if
thats the method to use. Right now they are still in various kiddie
pools, after being washed and trimed up, along with a couple of el
cheapo 12 cent feeder goldfish, which so far are doing just
fine.......although thats not a given.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[Roy]

On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 21:19:44 -0500, "~ Windsong ~" >
wrote:

>===<>
>===<>"Roy" > wrote in message
...
>===<>> Went to buy some rocks today for half barrel. On the way I spotted a
>===<>> huge swampy area. So on the way back I stopped and pulled over off the
>===<>> road and went out to have a look. I no sooner pulled over and another
>===<>> vehicle came up and stopped and a fellow got out. .....
>===<>===================
>===<>What a deal! Lucky you. :-)))
>===<>
>===<>I also got some free plants down by the river. Most there just look like
>===<>weeds though.


Nothing wrong with weeds. IMHO some weeds are actually pretty nice. We
have some in our front flower bed around the house, that the wife
absolutely refuses to let me pull. They just grow to a certain point,
get a small tiny purple flower on them, and have a nice form to them.

What the heck, parrots feather is classed as an aquatic weed by the
state of Alabama, and its sold around the country and on ebay all the
time, to folks that think its pretty.

I guess certain things are plants in some areas while they are
weeds in others, all due to the hardiness of the plant itself, and
the inability to erradicate it easily.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[Benign Vanilla]

"Roy" > wrote in message
...
> Went to buy some rocks today for half barrel. On the way I spotted a
> huge swampy area. So on the way back I stopped and pulled over off the
> road and went out to have a look.
<snip>

I suggest you learn about PP, before those plants hit your pond. You have no
idea what critters you may be bringing along.

Wow, I get to use this link twice in one day,
http://www.iheartmypond.com/Treatment/PotassiumPermanganate/default.asp.

BV.

[RichToyBox]

Definition of a weed. Any plant growing where you don't want it. Grass in
the flower bed is a weed, but in the lawn is great. Reseeding annuals in my
rose bed are weeds, but in the rest of the flower bed are desirable plants.
My taro grows both in the pond and in the soil around the pond. I consider
that outside the pond a weed, since it goes everywhere, my SO thinks it is a
desirable plant.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/index.html

"Roy" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 21:19:44 -0500, "~ Windsong ~" >
> wrote:
>
> >===<>
> >===<>"Roy" > wrote in message
> ...
> >===<>> Went to buy some rocks today for half barrel. On the way I spotted
a
> >===<>> huge swampy area. So on the way back I stopped and pulled over off
the
> >===<>> road and went out to have a look. I no sooner pulled over and
another
> >===<>> vehicle came up and stopped and a fellow got out. .....
> >===<>===================
> >===<>What a deal! Lucky you. :-)))
> >===<>
> >===<>I also got some free plants down by the river. Most there just look
like
> >===<>weeds though.
>
>
> Nothing wrong with weeds. IMHO some weeds are actually pretty nice. We
> have some in our front flower bed around the house, that the wife
> absolutely refuses to let me pull. They just grow to a certain point,
> get a small tiny purple flower on them, and have a nice form to them.
>
> What the heck, parrots feather is classed as an aquatic weed by the
> state of Alabama, and its sold around the country and on ebay all the
> time, to folks that think its pretty.
>
> I guess certain things are plants in some areas while they are
> weeds in others, all due to the hardiness of the plant itself, and
> the inability to erradicate it easily.
> Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
> Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
> I had no input whatsoever.
> Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[Roy]

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 23:59:18 GMT, "RichToyBox"
> wrote:

>===<>Definition of a weed. Any plant growing where you don't want it. Grass in
>===<>the flower bed is a weed, but in the lawn is great. Reseeding annuals in my
>===<>rose bed are weeds, but in the rest of the flower bed are desirable plants.
>===<>My taro grows both in the pond and in the soil around the pond. I consider
>===<>that outside the pond a weed, since it goes everywhere, my SO thinks it is a
>===<>desirable plant.

Ah yes, Taro, my place is full of it. The wife adores it, and plants
it everywhere she can....She loves those large leaves.........looks
nice to a certain point but I usually am the one having to cleanup all
the stalks and leaves when it quits growing for the season. The taro
around the pond would not be so bad, but the banks are pretty steep
and its pretty deep there, so it requires a boat to get all the debri
up.....
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[~ Windsong ~]

"RichToyBox" > wrote in message
news:q760d.158363$Fg5.114707@attbi_s53...
> Definition of a weed. Any plant growing where you don't want it. Grass
in
> the flower bed is a weed, but in the lawn is great. Reseeding annuals in
my
> rose bed are weeds, but in the rest of the flower bed are desirable
plants.
> My taro grows both in the pond and in the soil around the pond. I
consider
> that outside the pond a weed, since it goes everywhere, my SO thinks it is
a
> desirable plant.
=======================
I know the definition of what a weed is. :-) I mean the plants down by the
river are not attractive. Not all plants are pretty or have nice shapes or
pretty flowers. Some are just spindly, dangly, ratty looking things and
either don't flower or the flowers are small or also unattractive. I look
at the whole plant before I decide to buy or adopt it.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If two men agree on everything, you can
be sure only one of them is doing the thinking."
~~<~~<~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[~ Windsong ~]

"Roy" > wrote in message
...
> While I can't say with certainlty, I doubt there is any problems with
> these plants, but I am going to quarrantine them for a while before I
> do anything with them........stil looking for ways to sterilize them,
> and about all I found so far is to use potassium permanganate, poured
> into the water until it turns purple, which I would have to order if
> thats the method to use.
==========================
I soak all new plants in PP, whether from the river, a friend or the store.
I use double the strength, drain the pots for a few hours first to make
sure the PP soaks/saturates the soil. I leave them there for at least 24 to
48 hours. So far, so good....
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If two men agree on everything, you can
be sure only one of them is doing the thinking."
~~<~~<~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Happy'Cam'per]

IMO, PP is overkill, a simple 15 minute rinse under a cold water tap should
be more than enough to wipe out any 'nasties'. PP is for the paranoid
neurotics :)
If you still insist on using something stronger and can't get your hands on
PP then a household bleach mixed 10:1 with water will do the trick aswell.
Soak the plants for about 5 minutes. HTH
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Roy" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Went to buy some rocks today for half barrel. On the way I spotted a
> > huge swampy area. So on the way back I stopped and pulled over off the
> > road and went out to have a look.
> <snip>
>
> I suggest you learn about PP, before those plants hit your pond. You have
no
> idea what critters you may be bringing along.
>
> Wow, I get to use this link twice in one day,
> http://www.iheartmypond.com/Treatment/PotassiumPermanganate/default.asp.
>
> BV.
>
>

[Roy]

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 14:04:16 +0200, "Happy'Cam'per" > wrote:

>===<>
>===<>IMO, PP is overkill, a simple 15 minute rinse under a cold water tap should
>===<>be more than enough to wipe out any 'nasties'. PP is for the paranoid
>===<>neurotics :)
>===<>If you still insist on using something stronger and can't get your hands on
>===<>PP then a household bleach mixed 10:1 with water will do the trick aswell.
>===<>Soak the plants for about 5 minutes. HTH


I have been told by the local water garden supplier here all they use
is Bromine (hot tub disenfectant) and place plants in tubs with 1 to 3
ppm of Bromine in it, for 24 hours, remmove and rinse well, and then
place plants in the for sale area........Even if you do not rinse the
plants after they have been in bromine, it will dissapate within a
day or two and become inert.

I have bromine that I use in my hot tub, and since my hot tub is due
its (or at least close enough to change anyway) quartly drain and
refill I just may use that water to soak the plants in. I have been
using my hot tubs water for some time now to water plants etc with
when I drain it, and none have ever showed any signs of being
stressed or killed by it, and bromine is one powerfull disenfectant.
I would of course rise and soak plants in clean fresh water as bromine
would not be good for fish, but I have to think it wold work just
fine... Guess there is only one way to find out!
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[Derek Broughton]

Roy wrote:

> On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 14:04:16 +0200, "Happy'Cam'per" > wrote:
>
>>===<>
>>===<>IMO, PP is overkill, a simple 15 minute rinse under a cold water tap
>>should ===<>be more than enough to wipe out any 'nasties'. PP is for the
>>paranoid ===<>neurotics :)
>>===<>If you still insist on using something stronger and can't get your
>>hands on ===<>PP then a household bleach mixed 10:1 with water will do the
>>trick aswell. ===<>Soak the plants for about 5 minutes. HTH

PP might be overkill. But it's cheap, and cold water will only rinse off the
good sized bugs. It certainly isn't going to eliminate microscopic
organisms.

> I have been told by the local water garden supplier here all they use
> is Bromine (hot tub disenfectant) and place plants in tubs with 1 to 3

That sounds like a _very_ poor idea to me. Bromine is a really close
relative to chlorine. Chlorine added to water containing organics creates
trihalomethanes - carcinogens - and it doesn't even kill most of the more
insidious bugs in our drinking water like paramecium (paramecia?) and
giardia. I can't see Bromine being any more effective.
--
derek

[~ Windsong ~]

"Happy'Cam'per" > wrote in message
...
>
> IMO, PP is overkill, a simple 15 minute rinse under a cold water tap
should
> be more than enough to wipe out any 'nasties'. PP is for the paranoid
> neurotics :)

## You would be a paranoid neurotic if you went through some of the things
some of us have gone through with parasites and disease in your ponds. :-)
PP is cheap insurance.

> If you still insist on using something stronger and can't get your hands
on
> PP then a household bleach mixed 10:1 with water will do the trick aswell.
> Soak the plants for about 5 minutes. HTH
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If two men agree on everything, you can
be sure only one of them is doing the thinking."
~~<~~<~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Happy'Cam'per]

"Derek Broughton" > wrote in message news:6sn812->

> PP might be overkill. But it's cheap, and cold water will only rinse off
the
> good sized bugs. It certainly isn't going to eliminate microscopic
> organisms.

A quick soak in PP or Bleach and/or a mild disinfectant, coupled with a cold
water rinse will
DEFINITELY remove even microscopic organisms. I have recently been dabbling
in home tissue culture (cloning of plants), and this is the method of
sterilisation I have been using for the cultures. I have varying degrees of
success I'll admit, but its working nonetheless (A nice clean Lab would be
nice).

_
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

[Derek Broughton]

Happy'Cam'per wrote:

> "Derek Broughton" > wrote in message news:6sn812->
>
>> PP might be overkill. But it's cheap, and cold water will only rinse off
> the
>> good sized bugs. It certainly isn't going to eliminate microscopic
>> organisms.
>
> A quick soak in PP or Bleach and/or a mild disinfectant, coupled with a
> cold water rinse will
> DEFINITELY remove even microscopic organisms.

PP might (probably does- I just have no definite knowledge) . Chlorine in
any form will not. It kills some, but not all.

> (A nice clean
> Lab would be nice).

You can never get a Lab clean, you can only lessen the mess. They spend too
much time in ponds. But perhaps you didn't mean the dogs... :-)
--
derek

[Happy'Cam'per]

"Derek Broughton" > wrote in message news:efkg12-
> You can never get a Lab clean, you can only lessen the mess. They spend
too
> much time in ponds. But perhaps you didn't mean the dogs... :-)

LOL, Come up to the Lab and see whats on the slab...
--
**So long, and thanks for all the Sweet Transvestites!**