WEEKEND PROJECT

I'm always coming up with a lot of gardening project ideas. How many get done? Not many. I am much better at dreaming of them than acting upon them. Last week at our local water garden nursery, I saw these floating islands. The one I saw was $30 to buy unplanted and $60 planted with 5 small water plants. It was attractive I have to admit but after discovering that price tag I began to think of how I might do one for myself.

What could I substitute for that thick piece of black foam? I still have some of the blue foam board I used to frame the hypertufa troughs and some black silt fabric from when we built the house. But, like I said, I thought it out but didn't do it. Then when David came back from his fishing trip I told him about it. Guess who got the project started? Today he cut the foam into a circle and made a hole to fit the pot, in the center. I sewed a pocket all around the edge of the circular piece of black silt fabric and threaded some cord though. Placing the fabric over the top of the foam I pulled tight and tied the cord. Then it was a simple matter to cut out some of the fabric from the center hole and add the pot. The plant is Golden Variegated Japanese Sweet Flag, Acorus gramineus 'Ogon' It is floating happily on the new stock-tank pond in the side entry garden and its waiting for some more floating islands to come by. I hope this works because it is so much nicer than piling up bricks on which to stand plants.