Water Gardens - Take 2

You may remember about my fledgling water garden last year. Well, it made it through the summer and fall. During the winter it froze and for some reason the fish did not go to the bottom or move behind one of the rocks, so they also froze solid – just under the surface of the ice. During a thaw all the ice melted, but the fish did not revive (so much for cryonics!)

So when the weather warmed and we foolishly thought winter was over, we drained the pond, cleaned out all the decaying leaves that had accumulated over the fall and winter. We re-filled it, installed the pump, and started the fountain. It was very pretty for about 15 minutes or so. I went inside but my 5-year old granddaughter came and told us the pond was pouring water over the sidewalk and was almost empty. My husband caught it just in time to keep from burning out the pump. I re-filled it, reset the fountain, and turned it on again. Fifteen minutes later it’s once again watering the sidewalk. So I gave up. For the time being.

A few days later, on a whim, I bought a water lily (also because the same 5-year old granddaughter thinks I should have one). I sat it in the water, just below the surface and the green leaves have been reaching for air ever since. It was looking good.

Yes, was. We received twelve inches of rain this weekend. You would think that with a water garden that wouldn’t matter. But it does. I think. My water lily is gone, I think it drowned. I’m sure the torrential amount of rain has knocked it off the shelf it was sitting on, but I can’t seem to find it in the bottom of the pond. I was skimming with the net, but I couldn’t find it. Now that rain has stopped I will drain the pond again – just turn on the fountain, because the rain also knocked it over too – and hopefully find a soggy, but semi-happy water lily just waiting to be rescued. And we will start once again.