I was going to build my own river tank but I do not have enough free time. So I cheated and bought one already made. I bought river tank inserts from abundantearth.com There are other sites out there that also sell the river tank but they are all a rip off. When I finally received them I was not satisfied with the color or texture of them. To make them look like real rock I bought all purpose epoxy resin for $10 and play sand for $2. I mixed the sand with the epoxy resin to a peanutbutter like texture and spread it all over the inserts unevenly with my hands (I wore gloves) after that I dusted a little bit of sand over them. All of this took about 2 hours. The next day I soaked the inserts in the tub to wash off the excess sand. To my surprise there was almost no sand in the tub. When the inserts dried I set them up on my floor and I was very happy with the outcome. From fake, ugly, peach, and plastic molds my inserts now look like real rock. I then purchassed a 120 gal extra high tank (60x18x26) to fit the extra large river kit. I needed a ex large kit because I wanted to create a land area in my tank. I made the land area just by putting extra gravel on the far side of the tank. I then coverd the gravel with fresh sheet moss and that was it. I put a bunch of different plants in the tank some in the dry plant pockets and some are hydroponicly planted. I acctually have 2 basilisks male & female they are about 20" w/ tail there about 8 months old now. I bought them at a reptile show when they were babies only about 4" long. When their that young there not sexed. I guess I was lucky. My tank also houses: 2. giant day gekos 2. White's tree frogs, 1. red eye tree frog 6. fire belly toads 1. southern painted turtle 2. yellow sppoted salamanders 3. newts rough skin paddle tail lota of fish dianos, clown loach, pleco, cory cats, bala sharks, tetra and some more that I dont know what they are called. I also have a bullfrog but he is going back to the pet store. I bought him as a tadpole They told me that he would morph into a tree frog they lied to me He is huge Im scared that he will eat every thing in my tank.

Usually around October or November, when it starts getting cold, I dig them up (or pull if the tuber seems small enough), cut the stems so there's maybe 6inches or so left, dunk them in some 10 % bleach solution, then I lay them on newspaper to dry for a day or so. Then I just pack them up in shoeboxes. I've also used paper lunch bags for Uwins dwarf Dahlia tubers, and it's worked out well. They have to be able to breath and not collect moisture. So just store them away somewhere that is dry and coolish (I put them in a back room of our house that doesn't get the most heat). I'm not a very experienced gardener, but I've done that for the past three years that I've grown Dahilas, and I only lost some when I stored them in plastic bins (which I will never do again!) Linda

Ilene, I don't know if you visit the NWS website like I do. Here's their latest warning for the Caney creek. Actually, there are three back to back warnings . I included all three in case there is info in there that is helpful. I am positive something good will come of all of this, even if we lack the wisdom right now to understand what the good may be. Keeping a positive thought in my head, and a prayer in my heart for all affected by this weather. :) Dawn WGUS84 KTSA 011913 FLSTSA FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 212 PM CDT SUN JUL 01 2007 ...MAJOR FLOODING CONTINUES TO BE FORECAST ALONG THE CANEY RIVER AT BARTLESVILLE AND NEAR COLLINSVILLE... OKC147-020312- 212 PM CDT SUN JUL 01 2007 THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE CANEY RIVER AT BARTLESVILLE * UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. * AT 1 PM SUNDAY THE STAGE WAS 16.3 FEET. * MODERATE FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND MAJOR FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FLOOD STAGE IS 13.0 FEET. * FORECAST...THE CANEY RIVER AT BARTLESVILLE WILL CONTINUE RISING... CREST NEAR 21.7 FEET TUESDAY MORNING AND THEN BEGIN FALLING. * WHEN THE CANEY RIVER REACHES 21 FEET AT BARTLESVILLE...VERY SEVERE FLOODING WILL OCCUR FROM DEWEY TO OCHELATA. SOME HOMES AND BUSINESSES IN BARTLESVILLE AND SUBURBAN AREAS WILL BE FLOODED. OLD HIGHWAY 75 WILL BE CLOSED. THIS WILL COMPARE WITH THE FLOOD WHICH OCCURRED ON MARCH 3 1975 WHEN THE CANEY RIVER CRESTED AT 20.90 FEET. $$ OKC147-020312- 212 PM CDT SUN JUL 01 2007 THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE CANEY RIVER NEAR RAMONA * UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. * AT 12 PM SUNDAY THE STAGE WAS 27.8 FEET. * MINOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND MODERATE FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FLOOD STAGE IS 26.0 FEET. * FORECAST...THE CANEY RIVER NEAR RAMONA WILL CONTINUE RISING...CREST NEAR 28.9 FEET THURSDAY EVENING AND THEN BEGIN FALLING. * WHEN THE CANEY RIVER REACHES 28 FEET NEAR RAMONA...MODERATE AGRICULTURAL FLOODING WILL OCCUR FROM OCHELATA TO THE NORTHEASTERN TIP OF TULSA COUNTY. SOME RURAL ROADS WILL BE IMPASSABLE INCLUDING THE ROAD BETWEEN RAMONA AND TALALA. $$ OKC131-143-020312- 212 PM CDT SUN JUL 01 2007 THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE CANEY RIVER NEAR COLLINSVILLE * UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. * AT 1 PM SUNDAY THE STAGE WAS 28.0 FEET. * MINOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND MAJOR FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FLOOD STAGE IS 26.0 FEET. * FORECAST...THE CANEY RIVER NEAR COLLINSVILLE ROSE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE YESTERDAY EARLY AFTERNOON AND WILL CONTINUE RISING TO NEAR 35.4 FEET FRIDAY BEFORE DAWN. * WHEN THE CANEY RIVER REACHES 35 FEET NEAR COLLINSVILLE...VERY SEVERE FLOODING WILL OCCUR FROM COLLINSVILLE TO POINTS DOWNSTREAM. CONSIDERABLE FARMLAND WILL BE FLOODED. RURAL ROADS NEAR THE RIVER WILL BECOME IMPASSABLE. THIS WILL EXCEED A FLOOD WHICH OCCURRED ON MAY 11 1993 WHEN THE CANEY RIVER CESTED AT 34.40 FEET. $$

I used to love them, thought they would look so pretty until the wild ones reared their climbing vines! Turned out that the previous owner had trouble with them and hid it from us by covering with landscaping cloth and mulch. They made their way up through the seams and into the arbor vitae by the end of summer. They choked the arbor vitae to death. This is the area I am waiting for Ed to dig up with the excavator. I have weeded, and weeded, and weeded for 3 years and still have not gotten rid of them. I shake my head in disgust when I look at the front of my house. I just can't stand to look anymore. The roots are hard to keep from breaking and then more appear. Yours is beautiful, it gives me hope! I have been pollinating my clematis to see what seeds I get. My understanding is that this will be a long process for germination and development but I do love the clems. Should be fun to see. I have some with seed heads on them (type 3's) and am waiting for the type 2's to brown out. The 2 is a proteus and I have no idea what we will get from this as I have let the bee's do the work for me. I can't wait to see.