Ponderings, Pumpkins and Pears

Hyacinths

I have been pondering about ponding for about 6 years now and I am beginning to think that I'm getting the hang of it all, except for one thing...the mysterious, mystical marvel of the water hyacinth. To me these plants are far more complicated than lilies or lotus. They are unpredictable, unrelenting teasers that offer promises of their beautiful blooms and then staunchly refuse to produce. Almost overnight they multiply and take over the pond, or they turn yellow, begin to rot and die without warning. I learned of hyacinths early in my ponding career. I should have known that they were trouble from the beginning because I couldn't remember how to spell their name. Hiacynths? Hyacynths? Hyacinths? I'm still not sure without looking it up. This year I started with 2 of the wretched things. They multiplied and multiplied. They covered 2 ponds and a biofilter with a bucket full to spare. They crowded out my lilies. I gave bags full away. But not a bloom in sight. I bunched them in rings and gave them Miracle Grow baths. I talked to them and pleaded. Then in utter disgust, I began to throw them away. They must have realized that I meant business because suddenly the remaining ones started to bloom. Needless to say I was delighted, but their ultimate revenge was yet to come. One morning I went out and what should I find but one of those evil, plotting hyacinths blooming in the wheel barrow of castaways that was on it's way to the compost pile. Now I can't help but wonder how many potential blooms I threw away. I am resigned...they won and I will never know.

The Pond Pumpkin
1998

I don't think anyone thinks of a pumpkin as a pond plant, but in the summer of ' 98 we had a pond pumpkin. It just appeared in a magical sort of way and started growing at the side of the pond. Of course, when frost came it died, but left one small pumpkin as a reminder of our Unique Pond Plant.

And a Pear Tree in a Small Pond...
2001

The summer of 2001 was fairly rainy in our area. Close to the pond was a very old pear tree that was bearing an unusually large number of fruit. One morning, after a heavy rainfall, I started out to the pond and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that the pear tree was no longer standing beside the pond, but was now IN the pond. Evidently, the tree had been over burdened by the weight of the fruit and had crashed into the pond.

What a mess! Hundreds of little pears were now floating among my lilies. There were leaves, branches and debris everywhere. The iron park bench that once provided a nice place to sit and enjoy the lilies lost an arm and gave the appearance of a bizarre fainting couch. There really wasn't anything to do but to start cleaning it up. In the end, the pond had to be drained, but with a chain saw and a weekend of hard work dredging up the pears and the muck the only signs of the disaster were a few tattered lilypads and some rather battered marginal plants.

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