Winter seems to have settled in here with a vengeance. Frozen ponds and snow on the ground just doesn’t seem right in the last week of November. I know that many of you see winter earlier then I do and are not about to offer me any sympathy. The wood that I was going to move from the backyard is still sitting there frozen to the ground and covered with snow. I’ll just have to put on my parka and boots and get on with the job. The ponds have been losing water, somewhere in the river or waterfall and it’s too cold to investigate so I’ve just shut down the pump about a month earlier than usual. Now I have to chop a hole in the ice and install the air bubblers. We need that fresh air going into the water to help keep the fish alive over the winter. It compensates for the gases being given off by the decomposing vegetation at the bottom and it provides a source of fresh oxygen for the fish. They also tend to keep a small hole open in the ice that allows the gases to escape.




Inside things are a bit more pleasant. The large Hibiscus that came indoors a few weeks ago, continues to bloom. In the corner of the solarium the early bright yellow Cymbidium Orchid is in full bloom. This year there are 26 blooms and each of those is 10cm (4") across. That’s this gardener’s reward for watering and fertilizing a container filled with less then lovely green leaves all summer. It should retain those blooms for about three months. When they are thinking about fading the later varieties should be in full bloom. It will be interesting to see how they bloom this winter as they were all transplanted and divided this summer.