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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Afternoon at the garden pond 2008



It amazes me how every summer the garden pond looks totally different from the summer before.... even though I don't plan it that way. Some summers, entirely serendipitously, purple and pink will be the theme colors (I plant a lot of mixes and never know what to expect). Other years orange or red will prevail. This season summery yellow, brown, and orange seems to have taken pride of place. The giant brown-eyed Susan sort of things grew from a wildflower mix I planted last year. They just sort of took over, but I like them.
Still I am going to dig some up and put them out in the wilder part of the lawn so they don't take over.
A friend gave me the tiger lilies a couple years ago and they really came into their own this year.


In the pond, besides gold fish, guppies and pseudo koi (which seem to be oddly marked goldfish) and the sunfish, there is an odd assortment of wild minnows that we caught at various locations. One of them is a sucker mouth minnow Alan got in the Schoharie two years ago. At the time it was a tiny thread, perhaps 1/4 inch long and barely even visible. Now it is the size of a cigar and the water fairly boils when it surges up after fish pellets.



A guppy, surviving outdoors despite the big sun fish

that we can't catch to get him out of the pond...



Gold fish begging and slurping up fish pellets.


A very welcome visitor.


View from the south.




19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, how pretty, your yard loooks lush. The oranges and yellows look so vibrant and summery, after the long winter. Great pics as usual.

Now summer is seeming too short - so much to do and so little time or correct weather. We did receive a welcome rain last night after more than three weeks of dry.
Hope you are getting some sun for your hay crops.

Anonymous said...

Fred, Wow you talk about mine. yours sure shines!!! That is wonderfull!!! Sunny Florida, working nights so the heat is bearable. Showers every day.
Love ya
Mappy

Jan said...

What a lovely and exotic place to go and unwind from stress. I do hope you have time to unwind from stress.

Anonymous said...

WOW your pictures are just amazing. My favorite-the frog.

Linda said...

Beautiful. I wish I could get something other than algae to grow in my pond:( I finally got it sealed and filled. Maybe I'll get the fish moved now.

Anonymous said...

The pond is amazing! Do the fish winter over in it?

threecollie said...

Nita, thanks, all the rain I guess. I was noticing that things are unusally green for so late in the summer...and you are right. It is going by too fast. At least this fall one kid won't be going back to school so September won't seem as bad as usual.

Matt, I MISS you. Mom does too. We were talking about it yesterday. Can't wait until you get back home. Where are you in Florida?
Love you too!

Jan, thanks, sometimes.....I love to go out here, move the hornwort aside and feed the fish. Very relaxing.

Tipper, thanks, we love them too. Didn't get any until really late this year.

Linda, can't wait to see yours when you get it going....and algae is a constant battle for me too. I have to put some stuff in to kill some today....first I have to wash all my filters though

Teri, I have been wintering them, but this year I am thinking of getting a large tank and bringing them in. I lost all but a couple this spring due to disease from winter stress.

Deb said...

Your garden pond is beautiful. So many lovely colors and so many different plants. Your hard work has paid off for sure -
That frog looks very much at home :)

threecollie said...

Thanks, Deb, it brings me great joy and I dread winter when we can't enjoy it.

Trapper Creek Daughter said...

I love the photos of your pond!

threecollie said...

Thanks, Aussie O, we get a lot of enjoyment from it even though we never have time to do more than walk past it. lol

The MacBean Gene said...

What a wonderful water garden. It inspires me to create the one I've been putting off for several years now.

threecollie said...

Dave, I hope you do build one. We found that it is so much easier both to establish and maintain than it seemed when we read about making one. If you go on my Garden Records blog we have a list under cheap water garden of what we put into this one.
The serenity that surrounds a garden pond and the birds that come to the sound of splashing water is more than worth the work involved.

threecollie said...

Thank you Jenn, we enjoy working on it and feeding the fish and watching frogs.

Anonymous said...

Fred I am 61 miles south of Valdusta Ga. about 60 miles west of Jacksonville Fl. Job site is 6miles north of the intersection of I10 and I75.
Love ya
Mappy

threecollie said...

Thanks Matt! I hope you are taking some pictures. I would love to see the job site and anything else in Florida that you see.
Miss you and love you!

Islagringo said...

What a beautiful water feature you have created!

Stacy said...

How pretty! I am sure I would spend hours and hours by the pond. Tim has plans to dig the hole for mine next Sunday...so maybe one of these days I'll have my own oasis.

threecollie said...

IG, thanks so much. We enjoy it a lot this time of year and miss it in the winter...or at least I do. lol

Stacy, good luck with yours and thanks for the kind words. It takes a while to get one established with good water quality, but it is worth the wait and time invested. The best thing I have found about a garden pond is that the older they get the better they get. Take care and enjoy your concert!