The goldfish are spawning - it must be spring!

This past weekend was the Great Backyard Bird Count. (I do hope you counted the birds in your yard.) Yesterday was the last day of the count and I was out in my backyard late in the afternoon, trying to add that last bird to my count. I was sitting by my little pond and I was having a hard time concentrating on the birds because the goldfish in the pond were really rambunctious! They were feeling very amorous and were chasing each other around the pond, the males pressing the females against the ponds edges, trying to get them to expel their eggs. Since I wasn't having much luck photographing birds, I turned my camera on the fish to record their antics.

I'm not in the business of breeding goldfish and, frankly, it is unlikely that any fry would survive in the pond for very long. They would likely be eaten by their parents or by other predators, as some of my adult goldfish have been in the past. There are presently five goldfish in the pond, each eight to ten inches long, and the population has been stable for about a year. They've been in the pond since we first set it up about four years ago.

So, even though I don't expect to have a new generation of goldfish in the pond, I'm glad to see that these fish appear to be happy and healthy enough to at least be interested in producing that next generation.

Oh, yes, I did finally manage to count 33 species of birds in the yard. You can read about them here.

For some things, it's easy being green

In the vegetable garden these days, it's all about the greens.


There are collards, of course. They took a while to get growing, but once they got started, wow!


The broccoli is beginning to sprout some heads.


The white turnips are growing like there's no tomorrow.


The carrots are eager to keep up. (Pay no attention to those weeds among the carrot tops. My crack gardening crew - AKA Me, Myself and I - will get them pulled out. Any day now.)


Some of the red cabbages' leaves got bitten by the frost, but it has hardly slowed them down.


The mesclun mix has gotten almost knee-high in spots.


And the delicate, ferny leaves of the mizuna mustard are almost too pretty to pick.


Bronze fennel is holding up well, untouched by the frost.

Well, you get the idea. I won't even bother to show you my spinach, Swiss chard and beets. All in all, even though my saved potatoes never germinated, except for one plant, and only a few of my sugar snap peas came up, we should have quite a lot of good eating ahead of us this winter.

Having finished my documentation of the greens, I stopped by my new pond on the way back to the house to visit with my fish. All six of my tiny goldfish, as well as my giant plecostamus, are doing well and seem happy - as best I can judge the happiness of a fish - in their new home.


Here are three of the goldfish. There are three of the orange variety, two white ones and one calico, and no, I haven't named them. They'll have to reveal their personalities to me before I can give them names.

Farther along the path back to the house, I encountered this guest sunning herself.


This is an American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) butterfly. She is smaller and the dots on her wings are slightly different from the plain old Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).


This is a Painted Lady that I snapped on my new almond verbena a couple of days ago. She was most uncooperative and I couldn't get a dorsal view, so you can't really tell much about her from this shot, but perhaps you can get a sense that she is quite a bit bigger than the little American Painted Lady.


And speaking of that almond verbena, it is an absolute magnet for butterflies, including the few Monarchs that are gracing my yard these days. I'm so glad I got it! There's not a lot to attract the butterflies in my yard just now but this at least gives them something to sip.

Pondering the garden - post-frost

We had our first light frost of the season last Friday night, or early Saturday morning. It put an end to a lot of the blooms in the garden. Tonight, we are expecting a second, perhaps heavier, frost with temperatures down to the high 20s. This afternoon, I took the camera out to document what was still blooming as of today, realizing that the roll-call of bloomers might be further reduced by tomorrow morning.

But first, before we "ponder" my bloomers, let me show you my pond!


When I last showed it to you, it was just a hole in the ground. It still needs a bit of tweaking and there will eventually be a planting bed partially surrounding it and some sort of waterfall or fountain to move the water, but it is essentially complete. The plants were all in place prior to last week's frost and they survived intact. We'll see whether they survive tonight's lower temperatures. The pond also now has seven fishy residents - six tiny goldfish and one foot-long plecostamus that had outgrown my small 30 gallon aquarium. I think the pleco is much happier now.


Nearby, in my iron washpot fountain, the small alocasia did not fare as well as the pond plants in the frost. Its top leaves were nipped back, although the leaves that were closer to the water are still green. Will they still be green tomorrow?


Around the yard, most of the sages shrugged off the frost and are still blooming. We'll let this one autumn sage stand in for all of them.

Unsurprisingly, the roses, those tough old gals, are still blooming. It takes more than one light frost to discourage them.


'Radazz' Knockout leads the way.


'Radsunny' yellow still has plenty of color left, too.


As have the pretty pink Knockouts.


Not to be outdone by the upstart Knockouts, the old roses, like this 'Red Cascade', continue to show their colors.


For the 'Ducher' rose, white qualifies as a color.


My sentimental favorite, the 'Caldwell Pink', is still in full bloom.


'Monkey Business' is a new floribunda, introduced this year, but it has held its own with the Knockouts and the antique roses in my garden. It is a definite keeper.


The bleeding heart clerodendrum had its upper parts nipped by last week's frost, but the lower parts of the vine are still in bloom.


Likewise, 'Big Momma' Turk's cap was bitten by the frost, but the parts that were closer to the brick wall were protected and still continue in bloom.


My hibiscus plants that were in the ground were burned by the frost, but the three that were in pots are still blooming this week. The 'Sunset Yellow' is the only one of the three that had open blossoms today.


The cigar plant cuphea is still in full bloom, although most of the customers for its nectar have now moved on.


All of the lantanas were blackened by frost except for this purple trailer which seems totally unfazed by it.


Surprizingly, the summer phlox still had a few blossoms to offer as well.


The gerberas survived the first frost. We'll see whether they make it through a second.


A few of the blooms of the Cape honeysuckle, which had just reached full bloom, escaped the frost. Will they still burn as brightly tomorrow?

The garden in settling down, withdrawing into itself and getting ready for winter. There's a lot of cleanup waiting to be done. It'll wait a few more days until the full extent of the frost damage can be seen. Then, finally, I can put much of the garden to bed and let it sleep out the next three months. It has earned its rest.