The Tahitian melon squash vines Race through the garden, in this photo you can see squash hanging from a tree where Vines had climbed. The next photo is of a Lotus, one of the prettiest flowers in water gardening. Both photos were taken over 20 years ago.
Beautiful pics. I may have mentioned our small cement pond where we had outdoor goldfish when I was a kid. We also had two submerged wood planters that contained water lilies. They are gorgeous. We bought our stuff from a guy in town whose acreage was almost a rice paddy, just full of water lilies, outdoor goldfish swimming around and frogs. It was awesome. It's been long gone. I don't have pics of any gardens I had. Wish I had. I used to grow a lot of peppers...such vibrant colors.
I installed a pond about 25 years ago, with Lily, Lotus, swamp marigold, hyacinth, Egyptian papyrus just a load of plants. Overtime I had the koi, goldfish, catfish, shubunkin, my favorite though was golden orfe. It's very relaxing sitting by the pond listening to the water watching The Birds drink and bathe.
For the Frogs were they something that were naturally there or did you put them in? I didn't put frogs in just tadpoles, which eventually turned to frogs.
I just looked at pics of the golden orfe. Are those a common fish that laymen like me would call "pond goldfish," or are they more exotic than that? I would worry about critters in my area looking at those fish and seeing a buffet. We had a black lab that liked to do the college frat boy thing (swallow live fish.) He would stand in the pond, look down at the water with his ears up, and wait for his quarry to swim between his front legs. Then he would bob. After that it became a fishless water garden.
I don't recall if we bought frogs or if they just showed up. I do recall them sitting on the lily pads. Maybe a little of both, perhaps.
They are not goldfish. What makes them interesting is that the tend to swim in schools, and like to jump out of the water. They loved my waterfall and they would jump through it. Our local pond supplier had them, but I've only seen them there once.Here on Long Island they were hard to find.
I remember wanting to get a variety of different frogs but every tadpole I put in the pond was a bullfrog.
There are all kinds of fish predators, I've had cats try to catch them but they weren't successful. Raccoons and egrets would have been successful if my dog didn't alert me that they were near the pond.
Yeh, our cat could only watch and dream. I'm surprised that I never saw any raccoons around that pond. As a kid in the pre-internet/pre-cable days, I was outside a lot at all hours of the day & night.
I've got plenty of room here. I might just put one in and set up my game cameras. The only critters I know are here that I've not got pics of are coyotes and bobcats. Maybe I can lure them in.
Try a turkey caller, my cousin has a large property upstate, while trying to lure turkeys with the caller a coyote was tracking him.
That's not a bad idea. I got tons of turkey here. I've watched those coyote hunting shows using the wounded rabbit calls. Those critters are smart! And they are skittish. Based on your cousin's experience, I better watch my back. I've seen one coyote waaaayyyyyy at the back of my lot at the tree line. I was standing inside about 6 feet behind a closed glass patio door...I was not at the glass. It was still daylight (so it did not see me because the room was lighted.) That thing saw me all that way and took off like a shot. That was perhaps 5-6 years ago. Other folks in the county say they are bolder than that. I've not seen one since. So...this is your thread. You need to get us back on topic. I got no segue from coyote to garden. You da man!
Are you kidding I'm enjoying this. Zig zag Stitch works for me. By the way my cousin is a hunter, I'm not, that coyote is stuffed and on a Shelf. He was afraid to for his young children.
I'll tag along right behind you. One of my brothers was a hunter...mostly deer, and some dove. I can understand taking out that critter with kids around. Funny, I came across a venomous snake last year as I was out on my tractor. It was at the far end of my lot, so I let it be. If it had been nearer the house, or if I had kids, (or if it were a food item), it would be dead. I was on my tractor. I coulda squished it or fired up the belly mower and run over it.