My first Waterlily of 2016

Happy about having a pond.

I can not even begin to express the joy I get from my new pond. It creates a pleasing landscape that relaxes any one who sits in my back yard. The water fall sound blocks out a lot of the street sounds and gently helps me fall asleep.The fish and aquatic wildlife add to the whole wildlife habitat experience and its become the center of attention to my garden. Right now it is well stocked with plants. I have Variegated Cat Tails, Louisiana Iris, Blue Flag,  Creeping Jenny, Yellow Flag, Purple Japanese Iris, Pickerel Weed, Water Hyacinth, Water Lilies, Purple Loosestrife, Hydrilla, Water Lettuce, Java Moss, Phragmites, and Chameleon Plant. The Yellow Flag, Purple Loosestrife, Phragmites, and Purple Japanese Iris are not native plants so in the future as the other plants fill in I might remove them. The Java Moss came from my fish tank and will die over winter. The Water Hyacinth and the Water Lettuce are annuals in Pennsylvania so they will also die off over the winter.I am hoping that next year I can add a few pitcher plants and one native North American Lotus.

 This is Pickerel Weed. It is a native species of aquatic plant.

Here you can see Cat tail, Iris', Water Hyacinth, Water Lettuce,Purple Loosestrife, and Water Lilies. 

 These little pieces of grass like plants are the Blue Flag I started from seed.

 A water Lily.

 The Left is Phragmites an invasive grass that will be kept in a pot to help keep it under control, and the right is Purple Japanese Iris.

 A small pot of Chameleon Plant 

 Two different kinds of Water lily.

 Yellow flag.

 Purple Loosestrife.

 Variegated Cat tail.

 Louisiana Iris.

 Water Hyacinth.

Water lettuce.

Next year I hope to add some pitcher plants and a North American Lotus.

This is Nelumbo lutea, a North American Lotus.

Sarracenia purpurea, Northern Pitcher Plant.

 

Northern Pitcher Plant in flower.

Close up of Northern Pitcher Plant flower.

Hemerocallis fulva flore pleno

Kwanzo Daylily

this is like the Fulva Daylily except is is a double flower. I have one in my yard but I am not sure where it came from.

 Hemerocallis fulva flore pleno, Kwanzo Daylily.

Hemerocallis Fulva. Tiger Daylily.

My First Chance to Entertain.

Tomorrow is going to be my first time that I will entertain in my wildlife habitat.I can not wait to show off all the work I have done. It looks really nice and the back yard will be great for entertaining next to the pond.

My Pond and Back Yard are Coming Together.

I almost have my pond finished and the back yard is starting to look nice again. I have to fill in around the upper layer of the pond with dirt and plants, and I want to add a rock garden area filled with wildflowers. I already have plans for next year. I want to add a cement slab to put a picnic table on and add a small bog with a stream to the upper pond. I am hoping that next spring I can find some pitcher plants and some more cattail to fill in the bog. I am also looking to get some native fish so I can get rid of the goldfish. I am thinking of adding some darters and sunfish.

 My pond in progress.

 Building up around pond with dirt and plants.

 Green Sunfish

 Banded Darter

 Green Darter

Green Darter

Blue Breasted Darter

GOT THE SECOND LAYER OF MY POND FILLED

Today I finished filling the upper level of my pond. It took forever and I can just imagine what my water bill is going to be this month. I have not even finished my Amphibian Wildlife Habitat yet and the wildlife is already starting to hang out. I have several dragonflies of different sizes and colors. I also have a water skipper that must have been attached to the plants I got at Best Feeds Nursery.The birds are coming to my pond now instead of using the birdbaths. I have cardinals nesting in my grape vines and the goldfinches are hanging out in my yard more.

I moved my sidewalk along the back of the house and will re plant the strawberries. I am turning the space that was being wasted into a small wildflower meadow. I am on the search now for flat rocks to finish off the edges of my pond. For now I will just concentrate on the two ponds and water fall and wait to start the bog area and second waterfall. I can not wait to get the pond finished so I can concentrate on the rest of the yard.

Upper and lower pond

Lower Pond

Upper pond

Ferns and native plants

New walkway along the back of the house.

Florentine Silk Iris

This was a new Iris I planted last year. I ordered it from brecks.com. I do like this plant but was disappointed with Breck's. I ordered this Iris along with three others and it was the only one that lived. I have had bad experiences with Breck's merchandise in the past so I can not totally recomend them. If you see something you like on their web page you would be better off looking for it from another provider.