No Pond in Our Garden, but the Frogs Keep Coming Back

An enquiry about the water lily on Photographe à Dublin
set me thinking about why we removed our pond last year.
It was a home to a family of frogs who seemed very angry when
they were deprived of a watery hiding place, but this Summer
found them returning, no hard feelings, it seems.

The recent changes in the garden were due to the fact
that a large pond can be a security issue and we needed
the space it took up. I think that the white water lily
I planted about fifteen years ago flowered once and then
kept up a moribund presence for a few years, finally dying
off in the middle of a frosty Winter. It’s possible that
the water was too shallow. I had studied the various choices
for weeks before buying, and for quite some time after its demise
the red planter remained half afloat, a sad reminder of failure.

The people who made the water garden in Emo Court this Summer
made none of my mistakes and the photos of their pink water
lilies are a treasure. I’ve taken to zapping up the saturation
levels, which makes them look like images from an exotic Bollywood Movie,
but it seems to work. The originals were a gentle blush and were surprisingly
numerous considering the wet Summer we have had. The photos were taken
at the end of August.

Our two trips to Emo were incredibly successful.
The wind during the August visit caused many of
the photos to have a dizzying effect.
I’m still working on them.

Photographe à Dublin,

Gardens

Dublin, Ireland