I like how these two popped up side by side in different shades of pink. They looked kind of neat against the red on the undersides of the pads and the flecks on the tops.
I thought this was kind of pretty this morning.
This is their little yellow friend.
This is the king/queen of the pond. It loves to hide in my plants both in the pond and outside of the pond and leap on my feet when I least expect it! What a comedian.
Gorgeous Badseed, absolutely gorgeous! Love your frog. I have some too, but none that large that actually comes out of the water. Our adventurous frogs are small.
Indeed Pixiedish, I must agree with you. My waterlilies never look that good. I took them all out and repotted this year, putting the fertlizer tablet in, but alas, they are still a bit puny. I just don't know why. I have plenty of sun and lord knows there are plenty of nutrients in that water!
My sweety saw the water lilly pics this morning over my shoulder, and has decided he wants some. Any advice for a pure novice? I checked online, and they're pretty pricey. I'd hate to kill them at that price!
We have some large, very vocal bull frogs, but when you get even remotely close to them they hop into the pond. We see them every now and then, but not long enough to get a pitcure.
I have to be honest with you guys. I dig up clay out of the yard, plop the lilies in and have never fed them at all. I have read about the fruit spikes and tree spikes and I have always worried about my fish kids. I have never fed anything in my water garden. My fish must make great poop or I have some wonderfully rich red clay. LOL I had three out of their pots thanks to monster koi and I threw them in a baby pool with my other extra plants until I could pot them. A month passed. I finally got them all back in and wouldn't you know that darn koi dumped them the same day!
That is a real bullfrog! LOL There are three of them in there . The little boy across the street found one. His father has some rule about keeping things for 2 days or something like that and letting them go. When the frog didn't looks so good, he brought it to me to put in the pond. Two more have come since then. This one is huge! It has to be between the size of an orange and grapefruit. I tried to grab it one day and that thing can get some distance! LOL I have one of those big muck tubs with the rope handles in my pond, with a big lotus in it. That must be where it lays eggs or watches the eggs-don't know much about frogs-but that is where the big one stays when it is in the pond.
If you have plants to trade, I am sure someone would divide their water lilies to share with you. :)
Great pictures Chele. The frog sure looks like he owns the place.
I have hostas galore, daylillies (stella, I think- they were here before me), sedum (just plain ol' autum joy), ribbon grass, pulmonarias (trevi fountains, mrs moon, and diana clare), japanese painted fern, sweet wooodruff, astibles peach blossom, and I'm sure more if I took a stroll around the yard. Forgot yellow siberain iris...I don't know what type, since it was here before me, too. I have a lot of bloodroot, but that doesn't take well to digging. We've only been here three years, so a lot of my beds are still fairly immature, or I haven't gotten to them yet.
We had a ton of tadpoles this spring. Thick as thieves all the way around the pond. I'm sure that the majority of them became fish food, though. The bass and bluegills love them, and what the fish don't eat the herons and other birds get. I'm hoping at least a few made it. I guess that's why mother nature gives them the ability to reproduce by the thousands.
My sweety got a great shot of a heron last week...
OMG! Is that really yours? That is absolutely beautiful!
My kids were talking about why we don't have MORE fish and frogs than we do. I told them the fish eat the frog eggs and the frogs eat the fish eggs and well, that pretty much keeps it under control. Of course they didn't like that 'nice' answer and I was not telling them anything else. LOL
A big heron got some of my fish last year. Looked like something off of Jeepers Creepers!
If I get brave enough to stick my hand in the pond, I'll try to label my water lilies and write you when I have duplicates. Of course that hinges on keeping that big koi out of the pots! LOL
Yep - it's a little over an acre. Having such a large pond is a blessing and a curse. Skip takes care of the water, fish, algae, lawn, etc, and my job is the plants. It sounded like a good division of labor, but I'm beginning to wonder. The grasses and weeds are a full time job, and there's five more acres to take care of, too. The house sits on one acre, and I've been working on the beds around it first before I tackle the pond. I just started working on clearing out a woodland path down the east side of the property that had gone jungle. The path eventually will go from the east side of the driveway down to the north east corner of the pond (if I ever get it done!)
It's beautiful but the maintenance is brutal. I'll post some shots.
The house from the pond
The pond from the house last fall
Back shade bed from the deck year 1
Back bed this year - a work in progress
Another shade bed shot....
Woodland path part I haven't cleared yet
and the part I have cleared (ok, I'm done now) - back to water lillies?
That is absolutely beautiful! If you weren't two zones cooler than me, I'd be begging to move in. Nice pool too!
He takes care of the pool, thankfully.
My folks used to live just south of you, in Georgetown. Your Cincinnati garden show is awesome. I went several years with my Mom. I got my first pulmonaria there about 10 years ago. That plant has been split and shared so many items now. It's sisters are now in Colorado (my sister), Kentucky (my parents old house), my last and current houses here in Illinois, and my best friend just over the state line in Wisconsin. I divided it again this spring, and I'm up to six nice size clumps.
My grandfather is still in Georgetown, but his house is on the market to move. My parents moved to North Carolina a couple of years ago, and my grandfather wants to move to be closer to them.
How long did your family live here? My elders are from Felicity to Georgetown (transplanted from some holler in KY LOL). I spent lots of nice summers and weekends in Felicity. I still get out there from time to time and have been looking for a new home out that way. :) I think Georgetown is a bit further than hubby wants to drive to work though. Bummer.
The only Pulmonaria I have is Ms. Moon. I love the spots on her! I would like to get some of the others. They are such pretty carefree plants. Someone posted a really cool looking silvery one not too long ago and I was in love!
I think it is so nice when family manages to stay kind of close together. Even on the days my kids drive me nuts, I know it won't be long until they spread their wings and move on. I hope they don't go tooooooo far.
Chele your pond is gorgeous!!!! :D I too would love to adopt your frog.
sstateham how deep is your pond?
My family is spread all over the country. I was born in Denver, but we only lived there until I was 10. They dropped me off in Rockford, and moved when I was 19 and in college - I've been here ever since. My parents were in Georgetown for about 6 years. I have a sister in Colorado, and California. My brother is also in California, and my parents are in North Carolina.
I can trade some Diana Clair and/or Trevi Fountains for water lilly, if you want. You'll probably want to wait a bit though, since they've just finished blooming. Diana Clair is very silvery, but doesn't bloom as heavily as Mrs Moon or Trevi Fountains. Trevi blooms more purple, and the flowers are held off the plants more than Mrs Moon.