Since getting a pond in the garden, there have been so many pretty sightings on an almost daily basis. Here’s a small sampling of some of the delights happening around here:

A shy waterlily bloom peeking out through the Lemon Bakopa (Bacopa caroliniana).  This is one awesome bog plant! Not only does this aquatic herb have succulent leaves that, when crushed, have a lemony scent, but the plant is edible, filled with healthy minerals and antioxidants to refresh the heat weary body.  And it provides a safe haven for fish and frogs to lay their eggs, protecting them from hungry predators.

This beautiful tropical water lily is just magnificent. And the lovely scent it exudes is one of the most fragrant in the garden.

Never mind this lovely hardy peachy orange water lily!

Water droplets on the Canna leaf after a surprise thundershower:

Beneficial damsel flies hanging out over the water – looking for small flying insects to eat and spryly avoiding hungry frogs:

Waterlilies peeking out of the rocks:

And of course the inevitable dragonfly bonanza! We had a dearth of dragonflies until mid July, leaving me wondering if something was wrong with the water quality. Dragonflies will usually only appear around unpolluted water. But thankfully one day they suddenly appeared in droves, zooming around in amazing aeronautical maneuvers and laying eggs in the pond with quick dips of their tails into the water.

There are also some strange sightings one runs into when a garden acquires a pond. Take a slightly closer look and alien-like things appear….

A dragon fly larvae. Freaky little things. I have another posting of how these guys transform into dragonflies here. Before I had a pond, creatures like this would have freaked me out! If they had crawled up my leg (which they occasionally will do when I am standing in the pond cleaning out faded water lily blooms) I would have screeched in crazy panic, frantically splashing and and making a complete fool of myself. But although I still sometimes will squeal at some things – like fire ants charging my foot, or an unseen slimy object brushing by my legs in the pond (Nessy!!) – these little fellas do not scare me any more. When I see them, I just smile and know that beneficial insects are diligently controlling the pesky mosquito and insect population inside and around the pond.

Here’s another strange sighting. A black pearly necklace draped around some water plants. These are the egg strings of this little fella right here – a Gulf Coast toad in full singing mode. In a few days little black tadpoles with hatch.I hear these fellas singing away most nights between March and September with a loud trill. They are also voracious insect eaters, mostly favoring black beetles. If you leave your porch light on at night though you probably have one of these guys hanging out below, cleverly plotting to nab an unsuspecting moth mesmerized by the light.

And here’s another picture of the pond when the rain is falling: I never get tired of this.  Ah, the lovely sound of raindrops falling on water.Makes me just want to smile.

Two frogs on the rocky section of the bog falls?Here’s a closeup of the same pic, ones under the rock and the other is on the ledge  – excuse the grainy quality.

Smart fellas are moving into the shade to get out of the 100 degree weather.

The bee inside this incredible tropical water lily:Here’s a closeup. This almost looks like a different flower.

After a lovely, surprising and unusual three day rain event, all of Central Texas has greened up beautifully. We received 3 inches of life giving sky juice, and the grassy fields have turned green again. The summer wildflowers are blooming,……

providing plenty of nectar for the local bee and butterfly population. This gives the critters feeding on such insects much to grin about. When it rains it seems everyone wins out in one way or another.

Here’s a spiny lizard waiting for a tasty treat to buzz by. He was so intent on sunning himself he didn’t really care that I was puttering in the garden right beside him or even rushing back with a camera to take a few closeups.

The birds are enjoying the increase in insect populations too! Especially grateful is the newly fledged cardinal family that seems to find my back porch a welcome reprieve from the blazing sun and a handy trap for tasty, traveling beetles.

Isn’t this young cardinal fledgling just adorable!?Papa cardinal staying watchfully close to his brood.

The rivers are even flowing with a slight bit more gusto. Mind you we are still in severe drought and our lakes are only 36% full, but its always nice to see some of that wet stuff fall from the sky. And mercifully the daytime temperature only reached into the upper 80’s as opposed to the normal high 90’s we usually get in July. A short but wonderful reprieve.

Not to miss out on this good opportunity, the Texas Sage plants have bloomed again. They were covered in bees and my hive is doing great thanks to them.

Once the blooms fade they drop from the bush and shower the ground with soft pink petals. It looked like it had rained pink blooms overnight.There were even puddles of blooms in the rocks.

Texas sure keeps things interesting around here!