My New Ferns

Today I went to my favourite store, Canadale, and bought 4 small ferns of different varieties. I got a Christmas fern, a Japanese Painted fern, an Autumn fern and a Lady fern. After finally finishing the new pond I needed to redo the garden surrounding it.

Since we made the pond much bigger I ended up taking plants out of the existing garden not knowing how much room we’d need. I also didn’t want stuff getting trampled during construction. Now that the stones are all in place around the pond, I can see where there’s room to add a few plants back in.

There was a narrow strip along the back of the pond that is in full shade all day. I thought that a few small ferns would be ideal.

Christmas Fern Photo by Isaac Coolen

Japanese Fern Photo by Isaac Coolen

Autumn Fern Photo by Isaac Coolen

Lady Fern Photo by Isaac Coolen

A Flying Visitor

After planting the ferns I jumped in the pool to cool off. Today is not too hot but very humid. We were having a hard time breathing in our masks at Canadale.

As I was floating around in the pool, admiring the gardens on either side, I spotted the approach of a winged visitor. I have a pink Butterfly bush planted beside the pool and a White Admiral butterfly decided to come check it out.

There is no colour difference between the sexes so I don’t know if it was a male or female. It stayed on the flowers for quite a long time.

White Admiral Photo by Isaac Coolen

Close Encounters

One of the things I love most about our pool is that it is surrounded by gardens on 3 sides with only a couple feet of cement pool deck in between. This means that if you are quiet and move slowly you can sneak up on any wildlife in the gardens and they usually don’t see you as a threat.

We have a bird feeder in one of the gardens and the birds and chipmunks will keep eating even when you are within a couple of feet of them.

I was able to get very close to the butterfly and watch her feeding. I am always awed and humbled by watching God’s creatures do what he designed them to do. Sharing space with them is always a special gift and one that I take great delight in.