My small garden pond, late summer. The Islamarado from TM has filled in nicely! Even in partial shade it blooms regularly. Oh, and it is very much viviparous, by the time i figured it out and started watching the spent pads I was pruning, I probably have half dozen or so babies stuck to one side. The lotus I got this spring at the Orlando Koi show grew very nicely, but never bloomed. It's starting to fade now that the days are getting shorter. I've got a network of fishing line over the pond, and so far the fencing along the perimeter and the teepee of fishing line over the top seem to keep most predators away.
There are way too many frogs in this pond, so of course we have regular hawk and snake visitors. Once it starts cooling off I need to get to work reducing the ranks of the cuban frogs. The goldfish for the most part are doing well. I have decided that I am not naming any more fish though. Seems the named ones are the ones that disappear. Lost one of the survivors a month or so ago, it was after a spawn and I just couldn't find it. No idea, and no haven't invested in a security camera yet.
Last year I kept a betta in the pond for population control. Given that I didn't have any goldfish fry, I'm guessing betta plus hungry fish worked. I tried to keep two bettas, but even with the size of the pond and the amount of plant cover, that didn't work. So, this year I kept one male and one female betta.
Well, guess what? My population control have added population. I have at least 4 baby bettas, and possibly more. Hard to count in total because they don't hang out near each other.
I had planned on adding the stream this summer and adding a savio skimmer this winter. Best laid plans and all that, I'll be having knee surgery this winter from an injury in May, so this summer/fall has been much less active than usual. Miss my garden :disappointed_anim: But now I am enjoying sitting around by the side and trying to spot baby bettas!
