Ah the pond. The one place all the plants and animals are doing very well in the sizzling heat. Water and sunlight make the magical combination for happy pond life.

And of course the tropical waterlilies love the heat.

This new addition is a hardy water lily, that has a very unique color. Couldn’t resist adding it to my collection. It’s the only peachy pink hardy water lily I’ve seen. The leaves are a mottled red and green too. It’s a nice change from the plain green.

The garden at the back of the pond is looking very healthy, despite the dry weather. It might be even too hot for kokopelli, who seems to be trying to find some shade in the perennials. You can just see his head peeking over the plants.  We see you… 🙂

A banded sphinx moth came to visit our patio this year. These beautiful moths lay eggs on the underside of leaves. After feeding on the leaves for 5 in-stars (stage of an insect between molts), the mature caterpillars leave their food-plant and bury in an underground cavity in the fall. Then the caterpillars pupate during winter, and crawl out of their burrows as moths in Spring. We usually will see them from May through August. The Moths feed on nectar during times of twilight and night.

Here’s what the pond looks like in summer…. Brown grass from lack of rain, but trees seem happy and the pond lilies are taking over almost 90 percent of the water surface. No chance for algae to get any sun here, and the water is nice and clear. Yay!

The grasses around and in the pond look good too, considering the minimal watering I do.

Ah but the bog, now that is in need of a serious trim.. I hate to do it though since it disturbs so many of the frogs who like to hide out in the thick vegetation. I always hear a lot of splishes and splashes as they jump back into the pond. I hate to bother them.

And in closing, lets celebrate the end of summer with these beauties.