My Pond Plants and Other Random Stuff

My pond is humming with activity and tomatoes are popping out on their vines in the vegetable garden. I’m patiently waiting for the brussels sprouts to do something and hoping the 10-foot tall sunflower stalks produce some flowers soon. Other than that, the ornamental onions and zinnias are faithfully doing their thing.

 

Let’s start with a few pictures of the pond, because that always gets me most excited this time of year. My neighbor, who also has a pond, was over the other day and we talked about how happy we get whenever the waterlilies bloom. This one is Madame Wilfron Gonnere. Quite often, new waterlily hybrids are named after people.

 

This beautiful purple lily is called Violicious. It’s the first purple hardy waterlily. There are several tropical waterlilies in shades of purple, but this is the first one that comes back every year.

 

Did you know that lilypads play a very important role in the pond? They help shade the water, keeping it cool, while at the same time giving the fish a place to hide from predators.

 

This red waterlily is called James Brydon. It’s the newest waterlily in my pond. I asked a friend from Alabama if he had one available. He was coming to Illinois for a water gardening event and lucky for me, he had a James Brydon in the depths of one of his ponds. He grows lots of aquatic plants. I wanted a James Brydon because it’s supposed to be a prolific bloomer.

 

I decided to give canna lilies another shot in my pond. I grew one last year that didn’t do that great. So this year I fertilized this red beauty with Once-a-Year-Fertilizer and it’s blooming its little heart out. The best part of aquatic plants (other than their beauty) is that you never need to water them.

 

In typical fashion, the water hyacinth is healthy and thriving in the pond. I swear these flowers reproduce one plant per day. They spread similar to Hens and Chicks if you’re familiar with those. They send out a shoot and a new plant grows. I started with five plants at the end of May. Just this week I gave 5 to my neighbor, 15 to a co-worker, and I took 30 into work for the outdoor pond. I still need to remove some from the pond! It reminds me of the story of the seven loaves that Jesus used to feed the crowd. The bread kept giving and so do my hyacinths!

 

Did you know I run my waterfall all year long? I hate to shut down the pond for the winter months. I can’t bare to do it.

 

Outside of the pond, we found several mushrooms growing in the yard. Hubby took a few for a pasta recipe. I was afraid to eat it for fear the mushrooms could be poisonous. He’s still alive so I guess they were the edible type.

 

The other random stuff in today’s post is this cute little cherub. Baby Cove is the youngest member of our family and this kid smiles at everything. Just walk into the room and he gives you a big smile without being prompted.

 

I try to see my grands as often as possible. They grow up far too fast!

 

Back to my pond. Almost every day we find a visitor to the pond. There’s always something new to see! Watch the video to see our newest visitor.