WOW

Paul - is that one a night bloomer?

Yes, this is a night bloomer. This particular flower stayed open after noon and had an interesting pattern of open and closed petals, so I took a picture of it.

I have one similar and it is a night bloomer too! Beautiful!

Closing out the season with a few last pictures. The water's getting cold and few buds are opening, so it looks like the show is over for me until next year. Even though I lost many of my lotus in the late cold weather this year, it's been a colorful one for water lilies. Hopefully a couple of my lotus will recover and bloom again next year.

Always such beautiful pictures, Paul.

One of my waterlily has a bud

My waterlilies, like everything else, were late this year, but finally blooming.

Beautiful!

Super Lotus Juwuba is on its second flush of flowers. It has had to deal with wildly fluctuating winds and rain. The flowers are breaking down rapidly, here's hoping for better weather soon.

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I love the flowers on Water Hyacinths.

Me, too! They are banned because they are invasive here in Florida.

Yes, every now and then I see some in a ditch and would love to bring a piece home but refrain because I live beside a retention pond and if a seed got away it would be a mess.

I never managed to get this pond cleaned out this spring, but the water lilies are blooming like crazy anyway. Feels like a shame to lower the water and work on it and disturb all these flowers now, but the pots need to be topped up and the rhizomes trimmed, even if I don't muck it out. I was holding off putting fish in until I did cleaning, and the hair algae (which the fish love to eat) is building up, too. Sigh. Note that none of these water lilies have ever been fertilized, and all of them are hardy and live in this pond year-round in zone 7.

Sounds like it is well balanced, I would not mess with success.

I am curious, why don't you keep fish in your pond year round?

ardesia said: I am curious, why don't you keep fish in your pond year round?

Unfortunately, the wildlife removes the fish from my pond over time. I only put a few large koi in last year, but they all disappeared by this summer. The big blue heron are the primary culprits, and even when they can't possibly pull the fish out, they still spear and kill the fish with their long, sharp beaks. This is a front yard display pond, so covering the pond rather spoils the effect, and in order to stop the heron nets need to be very strong, and well supported high above the water, because our herons will tear them up and poke through the holes trying to snag fish. I was going to put a motion detecting sprinkler over the pond this year, until I discovered I had nothing left to protect. At least they took them entirely this time. I always hate finding the fish gasping with bloody holes in their sides.