Lovely..only in appearance!

It is funny how sometimes something so pretty can be so ugly.  Outward appearances can often conceal a very disturbing inner self.  Take in point the Water Hyacinth.  Just this past June, I pulled nigh on a hundred of the plants from my little Frog Pond.  These plants all multiplied from a single floater that was pulled from the marsh by Mark.  He did the Bayou a huge favor by swiping that plant!  I was delighted to toss the plant into the Frog Pond since Water Hyacinths make a lovely bloom.  They also make a very lovely mess!  Michael and I have spent the last few rain-less days cleaning the yard.  The month or so of every day moisture turned the yard into something that was fast resembling a tangled jungle!  Every plant that was not consumed by grasshoppers or rabbits was growing with wild abandon.  Today, I ventured to the pond..Ugh!  I just wanted to check on the baby American Tree Frogs that I knew were morphing from tadpoles to their little froggy selves.  I found them alright but also found that my neglect of the pond during the rainy season was a mistake!  Water Hyacinths had taken over the entire pond!  The Water Lilies and Elephant Ears were struggling to hold onto their small space!  It was not a pretty sight.

I am sure the tiny frogs appreciated the extra coverage while they climbed from the water but some of these things are just going to have to become part of the compost pile!  It fully amazed me that back in the shaded corner the hyacinths had reached a height of nearly three feet with their bulbous stalks being about the size of a goose egg!  Wow!  These things were huge!  This started me thinking about how I could benefit from the rapid reproduction of the plants.  I could sell them!  Maybe...  Anyway, pricing the plants was easy.  A few searches of pond stores turned up prices ranging from three dollars to five dollars each!  Now considering I could probably produce about three thousand of these things each warm month of the year..(April through October here on the Bayou) that is a nice chunk of change!  My brain started churning the idea around a bit.  How can I get in the market of selling Water Hyacinths???

It astounds me that something so readily reproduced can sell for so much.  Not to mention that these things are virtually impossible to eradicate!  The more you pull from a pond, the more spring up to clog the water.  This is the same thing that happens when careless folks dump their extras in creeks, streams, rivers and yes, even salt water marshes.  It is not a pretty thing.  Once the waterway is clogged with the ever-growing and multiplying hyacinths, the natural vegetation dies.   If the natural flora of an area dies, the natural fauna is not far behind thus the death of a creek, river or salt marsh.  This thing of beauty can be quite ugly..and deadly.  Now...back to the idea..perhaps I shall only sell them to responsible people!  And make them sign a contract saying they will not dump their extra plants into the Bay!