~~~Water Garden 2006, Part Deux....although my plants still aren't too impressive, they have caught the attention of this mink frog. I've found him happily floating around daily for the past week or so-and I'm kind of amazed he found this spot, since these old wash tubs are about four feet off the ground! Guess where there's a will, there's a way!

*****Of course, along with gardening, fishing is a vital component of my happy life...here we have my friend, Bogart, reeling in a very nice sturgeon. It was under legal keeper size, so of course we released it-but frankly I would have wanted it released no matter what. These fish are too cool to kill as far as I'm concerned...very pre-historic-looking, and probably not that tasty, anyway. (I tend to prefer panfish, perch, and walleye-bass and everything else gets set free.) I even caught a dogfish later that evening, and although Bogart said it was a "trash fish" and should be murdered, I insisted on releasing it....it can't help being ugly! I must admit, the older I get, the more I respect the lives of other creatures. Not to say that I'm against hunting though...to me, it's a necessity of proper stewardship of the environment. After all, we have crowded out so many natural predators, as well as replacing existing flora with fattening, tasty crops (for deer, especially) that population control is vital. Heck, I have been in a deer vs. auto accident 5 times in 8 years living up here...they are so plentiful I've come to regard them as "long-legged rats"! Pretty to watch, but rats just the same. Anyhow, the fishing is a great time, and this river is pretty darn clean where I'm at...so yeehah!

I just LOVE this daylily-"Chamonix"...I ordered it from Oakes Daylilies, and they gave me 3 fans which were huge...awesome! I shared with my mom and sister, and the plants all bloom profusely! These people really know their daylilies!

This "Cream Gentain" is one of my favorite wildflowers! The "Fringed Gentain" and "Closed Gentain" are both purpleish and native here...this white form I purchased from a native wildflower nursery. It seems to grow better for me than the other two, although I really like the look of the fringed variety

Water Garden 2006-it beagan optimistically enough; a couple plants that actually wintered over (outside!) from last year, a couple new purchases, and my hopeful heart. As you can see from the second photo, the tub to the left had to be drained of it's rapidly decaying goo...and the tub to the right looks pretty green, too. But, out of desparate optimism (and a mean lazy streak), I let the thing go to see what might take place. Well, lo and behold, about a week ago-signs of LIFE! Now even I'm not naieve enough to actually dare to believe my puny water lily may actually flower...but I am definately lazy enough to wait and see! ; )