Sitting on a lotus leaf drying and straightening his wings before he flies off.

And the sundew catching breakfast.

Perry's Double White lily bloom

Lots of rain has produced mushrooms growing everywhere in the yard, including against the side of the preformed pond.

I love the lilies, and the lotus, but my favorite pond plants have to be the carnivores.

Beautiful pictures! Dragonflies are my favorite flying insect :-)

What fabulous pictures!!! thanks for sharing

I am amazed at what you are able to do with only a pre-form. Please give us details. A longer range photo to give perspective would help. The photos are gorgeous!

pkponder, thanks! I love the dragonflies myself.

pashata, thank you for the compliment. My daughter (17) has a natural eye with a camera. She sees pictures I would give my eye teeth to imagine!

sleeplessinftwayne, I'll be happy to take a perspective picture in the morning when it's light out. Suffice it to say I've shoved every kind of plant in every available spot I can find, LOL. I do, however, plant marginals in black "dishpans" from the Dollar Store as groupings. Always hated that 'lined up like little soldiers' look of the pots on the marginal shelf, so I plant arrangements of plants together in dishpans.

The only plants by themselves are the carnivores, but the pitcher plants and the sundews are together in one pot in peat moss, placed with feet wet, ankles dry inside the pond on one of the shelves.

Wow Glitterati! Fantastic pics! I especially like the one of the dragonfly straightening out its wings! But they all are incredible! May I ask what camera/lens you used?

Glitterati--I am also in Ga 7b and have finished dividing the pitcher plants in my bog garden and have a tub full of left overs. Please let me share some with you. I just couldn't throw them on the compost pile as husband requested. I have 2 kinds--White topped and yellow trumpet. They are hardy in our area. I have had them for 10 years.

Oh, please, please, please frankielynn, don't compost them. My email is available. Please send me an email and I will come get them today!!!!

catherinet, my daughter's at work, but I will ask her for more specifics when she gets home, but the camera is a Pentax DSLR with a macro lens for the dragonfly pictures. The other are the regular lens, except the mushroom, which is also with the macro.

I only know which ones used the macro because I'm just the lens holder and give her the one she requests as she shoots. LOL!

When we discovered our daughter's interest in photography, and her skills with a point and shoot, we wanted to encourage her skills and bought her the camera she wanted. We frequently take short weekend trips so that she can photograph different subjects and develop her skills to places like the Smoky Mountains, Jekyll Island, Callaway Gardens, etc.

This post was edited by Glitterati-GA7b on Sun, Jun 16, 13 at 9:15

Your daughter's photography skills amaze me. What a fabulous way to spend family time :-) It's hard to get 17 year old's interested in spending time with the family!

Wow.......only 17? What talent she has!
Did she use a tripod? My pics aren't ever really good, 'cause I don't use a tripod. I really need to start using one.

yeah, pkponder, only 17. She just graduated HS a full year early, as valedectorian on May 24th. We're pretty proud of her.

And, yes, the trips are always great fun since we're lucky enough to live close enough to such great places. Jekyll Island is my favorite place in the world! A natural preserve without all the tourists, an ocean, and enough photography subjects to keep my daughter wearing out batteries. And, the Great Smokys!!!! What beauty. Her favorite subjects are flowers and waterfalls, so we hike to some great places together.

catherinet, none of these pictures were with a tripod, though she will use one occasionally. She prefers to hold the camera, though. I forgot to take your picture today before it started raining. If I can get some tomorrow, I will.

She loves art - painting, drawing, photography - and she's very good at it. I'm encouraging her to follow her love of the subject into college, but some of the family has her concerned she can't make a living with art. She's going to go to college without deciding a major right now, which I think is smart. Hopefully, it will give me time to convince her she's that good.

Wow.......without a tripod........she must have a really steady hand!
My children are in their mid 20's. I'm discovering that so many kids these days end up not staying in the field they got their degree in. Sure seems like a big waste of money. But I don't think we can expect 19-21 year olds to know what they want to do the rest of their lives.

Both of my kids are in the "arts". My son is actually doing extremely well as a local film maker, but my daughter is struggling to earn enough as a musician. Fortunately, she has a non-music job too that pays most of the bills.
I sort of feel that if someone is artistic, its hard to tell them not to try to make a living with it. Its important to love what you do. I hope your daughter can find the balance that she needs..........work that lets her feed her soul, and work that will also pay the bills!
I also think its important to be flexible and let a person be who they need to be, even if some family members don't agree.
She definitely has a talent though!

Can I assume that your pond gets full sun? Does anyone know of any aquatic plants that will tolerate shade. My pond gets less than an hour of sun.

Wonderful pics. Rose, only an our is kind of dark but I would guess that elephant ear (taro), impatiens and hosta will all work. I have all growing with wet feet. The hosta will work directly in my stream and I suppose it would work directly in the pond too.

Thanks Chas, I'm surprised about the hosta, we have had a wet spring and my smaller hostas did not seem to tolerate all the wetness. This area is also suffering with a blight on impatiens but I will try the taro. I read where sweetpotato vine will grow on to the waters surface. Has anyone done this?

Hi Rose. I have two hostas in the pond. One in the lower pond which gets 6+ hrs of sun daily and one in the upper pond which gets almost no direct sunlight. Both are thriving. My peace lily does well in the shade also along with a taro which chas mentioned.

Never had much luck with impatiens in either setting though many others here have (and gloriously I might add!) Mine survive but do not thrive *sigh*. My sweet potato vine, on the other hand, thrives in both sun & shade. I swear if I sat & watched for a few minutes I could see it creep!

That said, every pond environment is unique and it pays to experiment and see what works for you. By all accounts, hyacinth *should* overtake my puddle in short order but at best, it triples in size and I'm lucky to see a couple of blooms each year. I literally cringe when I see others report frequent culling/additions to the compost pile.

Quite a few terrestrial plants do well in a pond environment despite what the 'experts' say. It pays to experiment with free cuttings from your yard. And don't let the failures derail you...the successes are so worth it.

Just have fun.
~digger

Glitterati, I had never thought about setting some carnivores in a pond even though I live near a native plant nursery that carries many. What conditions are necessary to maintain them? Might they work in a stream too? What do you use for soil etc?

Rose, Oops, I forgot to mention potato vine. Perhaps that was because it failed to grow this year. Perhaps I set it out too soon when it was too cool. I do expect it to grow when roots are placed directly in my stream or pond edge under a rock for example. Yes it does spread across the water. However, I have found that it grows far more if grown in soil and sun.

Hi chas,

Sorry for my delay in responding. Life's been pretty busy with the lack of rain and keeping everything watered. Finally, some rain today.

Anyway, a carnivore planting should consist of nothing but peat moss. Put it in a pot, basket, portion of the stream, etc. and plant the carnivores directly into the peat. You want the peat placed so that it stays wet at all times, but wetter near then bottom than the top, and certainly no standing water OVER the top.

The rule with carnivores is "feet wet, ankles dry" for success.

If planting in a stream, you want to create a bog, where water enters and exits very slowing, and certainly not in running water. You want water to seep in, keeping the peat wet. Never let the peat moss dry out.

Wow! gorgeous photography. Your daughter is very talented.
Joann.