All of my plants hang out in the pond with my fish over the winter. They've done well for 4 winters now and come back every spring. Sometimes they start trying to sprout through the thin layer of ice in the early spring (March/April).

I got my liner from Burnco in the South East.

Not really that strange, it will sometimes bloom in April but spring arrived late. You don't need pollinating bugs to get flowers, but there's plenty out my way, both bees and butterflies.

Ya I know it's possible and happens all the time. I have daffodils and crocus flowers everywhere which I always thought was strange too. I guess I'm looking at it from a genetic point of view. Over years of evolution, I would have thought that plants would "learn" bloom at the optimum time for pollination. As it is I think my blooms are wasting their energy :-). Maybe these plants aren't indigenous? I dunno, I'm no botanist !

Lots of bugs been out and about for a while! I was seeing mosquitoes over a month ago even with all the snow. Hardy little buggers.

Mosquitoes don't pollinate. They just suck blood! :-)

Well, the females anyhow :p

There have been, you know, other insects out and about. They're out there... pollinators and non pollinators alike.. I just meant I was dismayed to see mosquitoes in particular over a month ago already. Nothing slows them down, apparently!

And as long as you're enjoying the flowers I don't think your plants are wasting their energy. :)

Ya I don't have anything against blooms. My indoor plants bloom year round with no bugs at all LOL.

In terms of rock, my pond in the front yard is a 5 x 10 pond 2 and a 1/2 shelf high with a 19' stream bed and I didn't pay for a single piece of rock. My wife and I drove around a couple of nights a week to new neighborhoods and looked for freshly excavated sites for houses to look for rocks. It took a little while, but free is better than spending $$$$. I'm not sure how much rock costs, but I'm sure it ain't cheap.

Thanks Dez. Now I know what I will be doing during my free nights then :mrgreen:

Just like mine too. Countryside ditches, trips out west to the mountains and best of all co-workers with huge rock piles on their land. I would be interested to see how many pounds of rock I hauled to build mine--probably a couple of tonnes at least. I have nothing against Burnco but do yourself a favour and save yourself a pile of cash. Rock from these places cost a fortune.