Frog Bog as an extention of our Pond

Since our pond was cleaned out, I have become increasingly interested in water plants and bog plants. There are quite a number of water lilies still sitting in an old bath under the Pepper tree waiting for me to tidy up and re-pot.
Next to that bath was another sitting there doing nothing and when our friend came to work in our garden on Friday I wondered aloud if that could not make a frog bog.....Bless him," of course," he said," that can be done" and set to to make it so...
After a while it became a bit hot so he put up the sun shade and went to it with gusto.

He had to cut through some pretty tough Holm Oak roots but in the end the hole was there and he could fit the bath into it.
Some one at some stage had cemented the drain hole shut but he was able to get it loose enough for it to give a little drainage as we didn't want the water to rush out.
We had to get some coarse gravel and on top of that he put some shade cloth we had lying around
(wonderful to be recycling all this stuff) and on top of that came the soil dug out of the hole.

We are on clay soil which is ideal for a bog garden and also to pot-on the waterlilies as they like to be solidly anchored.
I did get some plants for the pond as it has been suggested I don't use the pump and water feature anymore because that only spreads the algae and disturbs the water lilies which like a quiet life evidently....
I don't want a filter either as I would be cleaning that every other day.

We also found a hollow log and some more rocks
and as you can see now that it is filled with soil, I can start planting things in there.  Someone has given me a Lobelia sort of plant and I wonder if that would go in there as it is a bog plant but it looks very delicate with dainty blue flowers.
We have two frogs at present, my bedroom is near the pond so I hear them plonking away during the night and hope they will breed up too, as the murderous white faced Heron has played havoc with both the gold fish and the frogs....
Do click on thephotos to get a better view....

More Tragedies in the Garden

We have had Murray Magpies making their beautiful mud nest in the Holm oak this spring and they seemed to have hatched two chicks. Every time I had to go out the front door the parents would shriek and carry on warning the youngsters we were predators so to be very aware. This gets a bit tiresome after a while as the Willy wagtails take absolutely no notice of us at all. They have raise two separate sets of chicks. Only two survived out of the first batch as I found one chick drowned in the pond because the nest was right over the water.

Getting back to the Murray magpies, it was quite a shock yesterday morning as I was looking out of the window waiting for the kettle to boil for my early morning cup of tea, to see one of the birds dead under the Holm oak. When I went out to see what had happened there was a little chick sitting there quietly as well. This one slowly went and hid itself while I got the shovel to pick up what looked like it's older sibling.This one was added into the little bird cemetery I seem to be creating....I may need to put little plaques up......BIFCUS, Black bird, Willy wagtail.....Later in the day I found the little one dead also.It is a mystery why they should have died really as they are mainly insect eaters I thought.

Meanwhile the Willy wagtails have built another nest in the Wisteria tree next to the Holm oak. this will be their third brood. there must be plenty of insects around for them to feel so full of beans and start another family. They recycled their old nest from the patio would you believe....

On a brighter note, the first figs of the season which are always quite large have made their presence known and wonder of wonders, the birds have not found them as yet. We haven't netted the trees yet but will do so within the next day or so.

 The other fruit which comes early are the cherry plums. Usually the birds get them before we do but I did hang a bright Twenty-first birthday balloon which had blown in from somewhere Sunday morning and hung that in the tree.... it glitters and sparkles and perhaps deters them a bit.
I have saved up all the quandongs from August/September and will now make quandong and plum sauce with them. It is quite a tart sauce but goes well with sausages or BBQ meats.

Last week these cacti were in flower and they always amaze me with their stunning beauty.
The plants sit there all year and you need hardly water them and then they bring forth these lovely blooms...
The diversity of plant life  is a constant source of  awe to me, from huge trees to tiny little plants and even tinier flowers.....
Also all the edible plants we have never heard of before. I didn't know that Nardoo leaves are edible ...but beware its spores, they are toxic I have heard...
Do remember to click on the photos to get a better view won't you......