Water Garden!

   I love a good night garden as well as I do a lovely day garden.  Plants that bloom only during the dark hours have a certain mystique about them.  Lately, I find myself trying to find and plant more of these beauties even though not much time is spent outdoors late in the evening.  Still, with the windows open, the aromas waft through on the soft bay breezes making me fully aware of their presence.  Plants such as the night-blooming cereus, four o'clock and evening primrose are all highly scented and can make your senses tingle with excitement just knowing the plants are in bloom.

  While this is all fine and dandy, those plants that only bloom during the daylight hours seem to lose a lot of that allure except when they are spontaneous blooms that catch you off-guard.  Only occasionally, am I sure just when I will find the lovely water lilies in bloom.  These pop up, bloom and then close at dusk.  The lovely blooms will reopen up to four days then will slowly sink to the bottom of the pond.  These lilies seem as magical as the night-bloomers simply because of the unexpected showing.  It is also a fun idea to have something bright and pretty in the middle of a Frog Pond!

  Now I find myself on the search for a night-blooming variety of water lily for the small Frog Pond or Puddle Pond.  Both have day-blooming lilies and water hyacinths but the addition of a few night-blooming lilies would be nice.  Son has been trying to get me to thin my collection of tropical plants that need to be moved into the greenhouse each winter so maybe I can fill the ponds with the tropical lilies and appease him.  He is not a fan of hauling in the hundred or so huge potted plants each year.  Water lilies just sit tight until the next spring so that should make both of us happy.

Just A Froggy In A Lily

    Just a few months ago, I threatened to do away with the Frog Pond.  I had already had enough of the cleaning and upkeep of the small pond, then along came a cottonmouth that decided to make the pond its own.  Nope, not happening snaky.  There are too many little ones that play around that pond for you to be there.  After catching the snake, I figured the easiest way to rid the place of future snakes was to fill in the pond.  After all, it WAS a lot of work and I AM getting old.  The filling in didn't happen and about a bazillion frogs started laying eggs and the rest is history.  The pond is still there....along with the frogs, tadpoles and more eggs.  Along with more snakes, I am sure.

  This morning, I was out and about when I spied another lovely water lily in bloom.  Nestled down between the petals was the tiniest frog!  A baby green tree frog had decided that the bloom was the perfect hiding place.  How sweet was that??  Yep, I had to get a photograph...or a dozen.  Then I noticed another, much larger tree frog on a piece of driftwood on the other side of the pond.  Oh, my goodness!  Frogs were posing for me today!

  Needless to say, the frog pond is good for a while.  It is safe at least until I have to clean it again or another cottonmouth has to be caught.  For now, the frogs can frolic all they want.  I like them!

Just too good to skip!

  I admit that I probably take far too many photographs.  I am never without my camera handy and the poor old thing gets a good workout every day.  Picture after picture is taken.  Some I keep.  Many (most) I toss.  However, every now and again, I come across something here on the Bayou that is just far too perfect to skip.  The photograph can only be described as "Picture Perfect".

  

  A lot of folks "stage" photographs.  They will place certain items in among the area to make the picture more appealing.  When photographing wildlife, flora or fauna, it is hard to maneuver things to give that result.  You take things as they come.  Then, there are times like yesterday which proved to be the picture perfect moment...the perfect setting...perfect lighting...all things appealing.  The morning sun was casting a beautiful glow on my little friend!

  I was out painting the north side of the house when I noticed that a water lily was blooming in the Frog Pond.  While a picture of the lily would have been beautiful enough, add a bit fauna in there and it suddenly becomes an ideal opportunity.  My little froggy friend decided to hop right up on the lily pad to have his image recorded along with that of the flower.  How neat was that?

  Later, I went back to capture the lily fully opened but Froggy was missing.  Thank goodness for wonderful timing!  Oh, and I did not play in the Frog Pond all day!  I did finish my painting job!

 

The Tale Of Pond Writings!

  It is that time of year again when the little Frog Pond needs its annual cleaning.  About a billion water hyacinths will be dragged out of the water and hauled to the compost pile.  Only three will remain in the pond to add a bit of beauty during the summer months.  It always amazes me just how quickly those things multiply!  It is no wonder that waterways can become clogged with the invasive plants if ever any manage to "escape" the confines of controlled ponds.  I am careful to dispose of the excess plants so none will infiltrate my Bayou!  The same goes for the waterlilies.  Even though the lilies are not quite as troublesome as the hyacinths, they, too can create massive problems when left unchecked.  Again, with these, I am careful.

  While out checking the pending chore the other day, something struck me as a bit curious.  On some of the waterlily pads, a strange "writing" had appeared.  There were some rather visible "hieroglyphs" scrawled around the outer edge of the round leaves.  This made the pad almost resemble a sundial! Well, now!  That is most intriguing and well worth a ponder.  Did some critter take a liking to the lily pad and munch its way around the edge or is this some sort of mysterious augury?  

  Not sure of the source of my hieroglyphs, I pondered!  I could "feel" a fanciful tale evolving in my brain of how to account for the arcane writing!  This could become another of the Bayou's Wondrous Tales! Ponder, ponder......the wheels are turning!

A Healthy Pond is a Happy Pond!

The Frog Pond is alive and well.  This morning after cutting the grass, I ventured back to the pond to view the Water Hyacinths that are blooming profusely.  Yes, these are the same Water Hyacinths that are invasive if allowed to expand beyond the confines of this little pond.  I am careful not to let any escape!  I watch for seeds and never...never allow any to be moved to the Bayou.  There the plant could possibly multiply in mass quantities and clog the waterways.  That would mean an end to the Bayou as I know it.  Actually, the plants that I have growing in the Frog Pond were lifted from the marsh.  Mark saw one lone plant that some not so eco-careful person dumped into the Bay.  He scooped up the plant..like any good steward of the waters should..and brought it home.  While he had intentions of just bringing me an interesting plant, he did a fine service to the welfare of the Bay and Bayou.  In a matter of three years, that one plant has multiplied into probably seven hundred!  My Frog Pond is far too small to house seven hundred of anything other than tadpoles so each spring, I pull all but five plants from the water.  The dislocated plants are composted as fertilizer for the vegetable garden.  There they can do no harm!

As I admired the beautiful blooms of the Water Hyacinths, I noticed that the Water Lilies are also doing quite well. The lily pads are dark green and quite lush.  A lone yellow bloom sat beneath the tall-stemmed leaves.  A number of tiny American Green Tree Frogs were perched here and there on the stalks and leaves of both the lilies and hyacinths.  This is the whole purpose of the Frog Pond..to give these tiny amphibians a place to lay their eggs and then for the little ones to mature enough to keep the cycle going.  The frogs eat so many bugs!

Other bug-eaters were out in full force, too.  Dragonflies were hovering above the pond.  They, too, will lay their eggs in the cool water under the lily pads.  There is enough underwater cover to give them shelter from any predators.  Although, the nymphs, themselves, are probably the most voracious predators in the pond!  These small critters will eat their way through a billion or so mosquito nymphs during their stay in the pond.  Once they mature enough to crawl out and become full-fledged dragonflies, they will continue to dine upon flying insects.

Speaking of underwater coverage, Michael pulled another pond plant from the Bay last summer. He observed a strange non-Bay plant floating about near the pier and scooped it out for me.  This plant was none other than a Coontail.  It is a great plant to have in the pond as it provides a feeding spot for most critters.  Good snag, Michael!  What started as a single sprig of maybe ten inches has grown to fill the bottom of the pond!  This plant oxygenates the pond as well as providing protection for tiny critters.

I am quite happy that the pond is doing so well with both flora and fauna.  A healthy pond is a sign of a healthy environment.  The Frog Pond with its plants, turtles, frogs, toads, dragonflies and water beetles is quite the ecosystem in itself!  It is great to know that it has developed into such a happy place!

The Lotus Eaters

In literature, Homer's epic tale "The Odyssey" relates a tale of the Lotus Eaters. This was a race of people that survived by eating the Lotus plant. According to Odysseus those who eat the Lotus are so enamored by the delicious taste that they lose all desire of home. The taste was almost addicting. Odysseus had to force his men back on the ship so he could continue his journey. That must be some tasty plant!

After a bit of research, I find that this "Lotus" could be any number of water plants. This started me thinking about the water lilies that grow in my little pond..could they be edible? Are they what Odysseus was referring to as the Lotus? I dug a little further and find that these water lilies are edible! Who knew?? The lilies and parts can be eaten in a variety of ways. They can be eaten raw, the leaves can be cooked like any vegetable, the seeds can be ground into a flour and even the roots or tubers can be used in the same way as potatoes. Ahh, the multi-purpose plant!

Now comes another surprising fact..the water lily has medicinal value, too! I am always on the lookout for herbal remedies and this seems to fit the bill for several maladies. The thickened root or tuber can be boiled in water to be used to combat diarrhea. Some say it tastes a lot like sweet potatoes so that should be helpful in administering this as a medicine! Another use for the water lily is as a remedy for sore throats. It seems that the water from boiling the roots can be used as a gargle! Now..when you think of it, these two bits of information might come in right handy if you are out camping and get either diarrhea or a sore throat! Just grab a few of the very common water lilies, yank them from the water, cut off the roots and boil them. Your problems should come to an end..unless you are careless and encounter a cottonmouth moccasin in the pond where the lilies grow..or if it is some highly polluted area and the lilies contain toxic chemicals..or if you happen to mis-identify the lily and get some poisonous plant instead. Well..it was a good thought anyway! As with this and all plants..a positive identification is a must!

For now, I think my lilies will stay in the pond and just bring me a bit of joy when they bloom. I love to see the yellow and pink blossoms afloat on the water with dragonflies flitting about them.