This year the plant life around our backyard pond has gone a bit feral. It seems like every plant that could possibly grow is giving it a shot. Weeds, trees, flowers, fungus ... all kinds of plants, springing up everywhere.

A number of years ago I had the bright idea of re-planting something I'd seen in nearby ditches and ponds. It's tubular, segmented without any leaves and looks prehistoric. According to this site it's called horsetail and "Dutch rush" among others and is, apparently, one of the most indispensable tools for adjusting clarinet reeds. It has been years since I removed all of it from the garden and yet we are still pulling up stray occurrences. This year our lone chive cluster has either cross-pollinated with the horsetail or decided on its very own to do the same kind of migratory spreading.

The pond is about thirteen feet long and eight feet wide, with a maximum depth of 3-4 feet in the center. There's a waterfall off the left side of the photo, fed by a pump hidden in a skimmer on the other side of the rock. The fence is, of course, for keeping curious four year olds from accidentally tumbling in while still leaving some shallow water, rocks, and frogs to play with outside the fence.

A few Winters back a mink, or some type of weasel, discovered the pond's air hole and harvested all of fish. That was a big haul, since the pond had grown to over a hundred fish. That Summer I put in a few small comets (i.e. goldfish) and since then, slowly but surely, they've been multiplying. Today there's probably forty or more fish, it's hard to tell because the young fish are dark brown and blend in to the shadows. Add to this a dozen or more bullfrogs, a few shy aquatic lizards, transient toads, and other surprises and our pond is a constant source for entertainment and exploration. Not bad for a Summer's back-breaking work!