My mini-lily pond, by Becky
I wanted to write about my mini-lily pond because it is a mini-miracle.
A few years ago I treated myself to a huge garden pot with some birthday money. I’d read about people creating little lily ponds and so I decided to put one in our garden because at our last house we’d had a real pond (which doubled up as a dip pool as it was being created ha ha!)
It seems to be that each time I create a water feature, it is one of those times where my parents have been staying. The first time, at our old house, dad bought me 18 little baby goldfish to go in the pond once it had been filled, planted and left to settle for a week or so. I didn’t really want fish, but he said the pond needed some. I was so glad I’d agreed because I’d sit out there for quite some time each night watching them after work (I was teaching at the time) to wind down and could even identify them individually. We did acquire a few more additions, people needing ‘homes for fish’ and took in any strays we were offered. The whole pond was happy, and we had many visitors like damsel flies and dragon flies to the yellow flag iris and other pretty pond plants.
Many goldfish (and some little rescued Koi) survived over the 10 years we lived at our old house. However numbers slowly dwindled as the years went by due to visiting animals, a heron (yes, we ended up covering the whole pond with a submerged net) many natural deaths and on the last day - as we were leaving the house to move here, I went out to say goodbye and the last fish was floating in the top of the pond - dead, in the cold of winter. It was quite sad and very final but I was glad we’d travelled part of our journey together.
When we moved here in 2010, I decided just to have lilies - because having animals or fish is a responsibility and I didn’t think they’d really have a lot of room in a pot. My dad was staying so once I’d bought the pot, he bunged up the hole in the bottom using silicone and a brick, which to this day remains in position. We visited a huge garden centre Almondsbury Garden Centre in north Bristol and Dad bought me a water lily, which came with a beautiful pink lily and looked beautiful in it’s new home.
Then each year I waited for another water lily, usually due to make an appearance in Summer, and we didn’t get one.
I remember wondering what we had done wrong? was it unhappy? was it too hot? too cold? too small? were the snails eating it? Oh yes - now I must mention the snails. We didn’t just have the responsibility of a new lily, we inherited a whole snail community.
At first we were really pleased that our pond was blessed with ‘a few’ water snails, because we guessed it may help the lilies. Then they multiplied and multiplied and grew bigger and more adventurous. I was giving them away! I was calling people up to see if they wanted some snails, planning how best to get them to the local stream or pond (I never got that far). They did work hard and keep the pot clean and the blanket weed at bay and didn’t eat the lily - only the decaying leaves - but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was me having to go out and rescue them, after heavy rain when the pond had overflowed, from in between the grooves on the wooden decking. I remember even getting cross with them and telling them to ‘stay in the pond’ and that one day they ‘may not be so lucky as to have me come and rescue you in time‘ before the sun came out.
Eventually, as nature does always finds harmony and balance, the little pond ecosystem settled down and the snail population evened out. I was blessed with another visit from dad, and his little dog Edie and that week a beautiful pink lily appeared from the depths of the pond. It opened in full glory to the sun, and we all made soothing admiring noises when it was open. It made us all feel good. It’s dreamy sweet scent filled my heart with joy.
One day, as me and dad were pottering about in the garden I noticed a leak!! Oh my goodness, the drama! What a performance!
We emptied the pot, which took a while, and to keep the lily safe, I gently lifted it out and placed it in the middle of the lawn, we made sure the snails were safely stored too.
Then I saw it! I was carrying a cup of tea down to my hero dad who was repairing the leak, and noticed the beautiful lily flower very detached from the plant lying abandoned on the grass, looking very dishevelled, out of sorts and unsalvageable.
‘Oh no!’ - silence as we all looked on in horror.
Dad said he had no idea how it had happened. It was a mystery. What had gone on? Dad looked a little downhearted, probably for me and it was a very sad moment.
But the pond was fixed and everyone (snails) returned to the water with the lily plant, minus the flower, and we all felt like we had saved the day, the lily pond would survive another year at least.
It was the next year and my friend was staying with her little girl who was 18 months old at the time. We were all out in the garden admiring the wonder of that year’s lily, only a few days old, remembering the sad and dramatic loss of the flower the year before, when her little girl, who was also paying attention to the new lily, walked over to the pond, grabbed it with both hands and pulled it out and off it’s plant and offered it to us looking really pleased with herself and - I must say it was done in a beautiful little innocent gesture.
I think me and my friend stopped breathing for a moment, but we weren’t moved. That’s life! And, of course, we didn’t want the little one to think she was in trouble, so we didn’t tell her off but instead her mum explained how it was really lovely of her and I think she explained something along the lines of how flowers live longer if they are left growing , but she was only 18 months old after all and looked really pleased ….
I decided to call dad later that day and give him an update, and as we were chuckling about it, out of the blue he made a confession. - ‘Do you remember last year when the lily was on the lawn? Well, what really happened… was Edie (his little dog) ran down the garden, grabbed it and shook it about and the flower came off, but I daren’t say anything at the time because I didn’t want to upset you.’ - Hmmmmmmm I thought, followed with roaring laughter from us both.
So, partly out of guilt I guess, and partly because I didn’t really let it go (tee hee), when dad visited us the next year, he bought me a beautiful yellow lily, from the same garden centre, which came with no stowaways this time. But to this day we haven’t had another single yellow flower, yet the pink lily seems to have become increasingly invincible, and this year we’ve had 4 flowers - a little miracle…..
