May 1997

May has been rather cold and nature took its time to wake up from winter. I divided the Lilies (and forgot to take pictures of that...) and raised them close below the water surface. Eventually I also moved the dwarf umbrella palm back out, I hope it won't freeze anymore.

The only plants happy with the weather are the algae, which are multiplying rapidly. I eventually got around to visit the local nurseries and bought two hyacinths and four tiny water lettuces. Hopefully these will be hungry enough to clear-up the water again. I'm not paranoid about algae, but right now it's getting a bit too green for my taste. Oh well, time (and the plants) will take care if this.

Marginals and floating plants

Cattail	Dwarf Umbrella Palm After a second rather unhappy winter behind a basement window, it's finally out again. I pruned all the yellow leaves (about 50%!) and placed it into the pond. Looking at last year's May photo, I can see it has grown a lot! [photo coming...]
White Siberian Iris Last year's didn't make it through the winter. You can see the dead brown remains in the right container in the photo on the right. Either these are not hardy enough or they were just not in deep enough water. They certainly were in the thickest ice this winter. Will be more careful next winter and we'll see! [photo coming...]	Yellow Iris ... is the right plant in the left container. You can also see goldfish seeking the shallow warmer water.
Aquatic Mint The weed is coming back! The root system this guy develops is just amazing. Keeping it in check requires root pruning every few months! But, on the other hand, the yough leaves already flavored one dinner... [photo coming...]	Pickerel Rush [photo coming...]
Water Hyacinth Hey, this is lucky: two days after purchase, this one starts blooming. This photo is taken early morning.	Water Hyacinth Later in the day the flower is wide open.
Water Hyacinth Yet another photo before it becomes ugly the next day.	Variegated Sweetflag ... is the somewhat yellowish plant on the left. It grew a lot last year and the rhizome went over the planter's edge... [better photo coming...]