Lots of stuff (long)

I'm short on time right now, hope you don't mind me stringing all these
different posts together.

There are two different plants commonly known as moonflower.
 One is the vine, similar to ornamental morning glories (as opposed to
bindweed). It will quickly climb by twining around a wire-type support,
like chain link fencing or a simple piece of string running top to bottom.
 It's a tropical heat lover. If you have an abundance of hot humid days,
this is a must have. It blooms in the early evening, very fragrant. You can
literally watch the blooms slowly spin open in the late afternoon/early
evening. I get our seed every year from the seasonal seed rack at FoodLion.
 The second is the bush type. I've found it growing up to 2 feet tall. The
flowers are upright or facing outward, not hanging like some of the Angels
Trumpets. Not as familiar with this one. I think it's part of the
Datura/Brugmansia family that I'm still confused about.
 I only know these as "pass-along-plants" (and still can't find my seed for
the bush type :-/ ). Sorry, I don't have a scientific name for either of them.

 For the bog garden with plastic bags. It certainly sounds like it would
work fine. just lay the plastic bags end to end, with maybe no more than an
inch overlap. That's about the same seepage rate you would get with a kids
wading pool with a few holes stabbed in it.
 For the kiddies wading pool, skip the bog garden! :-)  Dig it into the
ground, Toss a bag of sand on the bottom and line the sides with slabs of
rock (experiment for 20+ hours until it looks reasonably natural).
 You'll have room for three 3gal pots of marginals on one side and a low
1-2gal pot for a small lily. Add in 4-5 *small* feeder goldfish, or rosie
red minnows (for mosquito control) and a few small bunches of underwater
pondweed, and you're done.
 I can crank these out in 5-6 hours now, if I already have the rock onhand.
Mostly I'm just using divisions from my own small pond to plant it out.
Total cost is around $30 for the pool, a bag of sand, and granite
chunk(riprap) rock.

 For the Ornamental cane, it could be something else, but it sounds like a
dead ringer for Var. Arundo Donax (aka Mediteranean reed, Giant Reed,
Phragmites) You'll need to divide it with a hacksaw, the roots are pretty
tough! We grow ours yearround in a 7 gal pot in the pond, with the *soil*
line (not nesseccarily the top of the pot) raised 1 inch above the
waterline. The beautiful bright white variegation turns pale offwhite to
pale green later in the summer.
 I saw this at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens at the end of the Statuary
Garden, about 4 years ago, then nothing since. Never had a chance to ask
anyone why they removed it, just assumed it was because it was so gaudy in
that particular garden.
 Now I think I know why. I saw it in one of the long borders at NCSU
Arboretum 2-3 years ago, then again in the same spot last year. The center
of the plant was missing, and it was spreading by radiating in all
directions into the plantings around it. Never got a chance to ask anyone
there about it either...
 Based on that little amount of information, I would plan on planting it in
a large container with the bottom removed. But the roots are *so* tough, it
might be similar to trying to contain bamboo.
 FWIW, ours has been in the same pots in the pond for 3 years now. We get
3-4 stalks (6-7 feet) a year per pot. so far I haven't noticed it trying to
split the pot yet, it's just spiraling around the outside edge.
 For propigation, I had a bird land on a new thin 4 foot section and bend
it down/break it. I clipped off the section and floated it on the water
surface. It produced 5 new plants at the joints, in about a month.

Diana, you would want to put your small trees(tiny or none would be better
for the septic system) centered between the drainlines and at the very far
end of them. This will at least help reduce the damage they will do.
 Your property sounds wonderful. Have you considered a pergola, or large
archways and 'tame' vines instead of trees?
Matt Trahan  <matttrahan@ecsu.campus.mci.net>
USDA zone 8, AHS heat zone 7, Sunset zone 31, northeastern N.C.

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