June 2010 Photo of the Month Contest - post entries here

[jack]

Nice buttonbush flower, Tineckbone. What are the growing conditions of the shrub?. I have a small plant still in the pot and I keep it in a container with about 3" of water. I've been thinking I might put it in a large container and place it in the pond. There, however, it would be in up to 8" of water.

The alternative would be to plant it in the ground and try to remember to water it frequently.

[tineckbone]

Mine is about 3' tall and about 4' around. I put it in the ground and built a "berm" around it that is about 4' in diameter and 8" tall. I filled the basin with shredded leaves and I watered it every day for several days but now I go about 3 days but water it quite well. As soon as the rain barrels get full, there will be a dedicated soaker hose from one of the barrels to the buttonbush. They can be submerged so being in 8" of water would be fine. But, they can dry out from time to time, just not for very long. I am not sure about keeping it in a container, they can grow to be quite large. I suppose if the container were large enough that it would be fine to place it in the pond.

[havalotta]

What can I say.....

I was standing hidden behind a tree watching a doe and two fawns graze.
The doe slowly makes her way down the hill and into the water for what I thought would be a drink.
Boy was I surprised..... She DELIBERATELY went into the water to pee! Nothing else....Just walked on out and resumed grazing.
You can even see her milk bag hanging between her legs!

[jack]

Originally Posted by havalotta

What can I say.....
Attachment 17650
I was standing hidden behind a tree watching a doe and two fawns graze.
The doe slowly makes her way down the hill and into the water for what I thought would be a drink.
Boy was I surprised..... She DELIBERATELY went into the water to pee! Nothing else....Just walked on out and resumed grazing.
You can even see her milk bag hanging between her legs!

that is gross! Wasn't she taught anything by her mother?

[jack]

Originally Posted by tineckbone

Mine is about 3' tall and about 4' around. I put it in the ground and built a "berm" around it that is about 4' in diameter and 8" tall. I filled the basin with shredded leaves and I watered it every day for several days but now I go about 3 days but water it quite well. As soon as the rain barrels get full, there will be a dedicated soaker hose from one of the barrels to the buttonbush. They can be submerged so being in 8" of water would be fine. But, they can dry out from time to time, just not for very long. I am not sure about keeping it in a container, they can grow to be quite large. I suppose if the container were large enough that it would be fine to place it in the pond.

I took my potted shrub which is only about ten inches tall, but multi-stemmed, and put it in a much larger pot and placed it on a shelf I built into the side of the pond. Turned out it is probably only in 5 or 6 inches of water due to the draught we're having here.

It's a happy solution since I'll be on the road for awhile and didn't want to take the risk of it drying out. If it's doing well after a spell in there, I'll keep it there, if not, I'll put it in the ground.

One question to all, will it be a problem leaving it potted in the pond through the winter? The pond freezes down more than six inches, so it would be frozen solid during the core of the winter months.

[tineckbone]

I don't think it would be a problem since they get frozen like that in the wild. Some of my pond plants were OUT of the water and completely frozen and then buried under what seemed like 10' of snow. They did die back a bit but came back bigger than before in the early spring.

[benj1]

And even this thing doesn't really hold still - it's taller than I am now.

[havalotta]

That has me smiling Benj1...

[Quietman]

Knowing the website is on the brink, thought I'd post these all the same.

Baltimore Oriole

Date Taken : 26 JUN 10
Lens : 100-400mm
F-Stop : 5.6
Exposure Time : 1/320 sec
ISO : 400
Focal length : 210mm
White Balance : Auto
Exp. Program : Program


Gray Catbird

Date Taken : 26 JUN 10
Lens : 100-400mm
F-Stop : 7.1
Exposure Time : 1/400 sec
ISO : 400
Focal length : 210mm
White Balance : Auto
Exp. Program : Program


Eastern Bluebird (with snack)

Date Taken : 26 JUN 10
Lens : 100-400mm
F-Stop : 6.3
Exposure Time : 1/400 sec
ISO : 400
Focal length : 210mm
White Balance : Auto
Exp. Program : Program

All photos: Tripod mounted (in blind) with remote operation, mildly cropped.

Thanks everyone! Hoping we can all pull together to keep this great site going!!

Quietman

[bridget1964]

Nice birdies, Quietman! I am partial to catbirds. So bold, so vocal, so beautiful!