Marsh Marigold

[alison]

Have any of you got your marsh marigold flowering yet? Unfortunately mine didn't survive through to this year so I haven't any in the pond, but the other day I noticed that in someone else's pond nearby the marsh marigold was up and flowering. Usually it doesn't flower here for another month at the earliest.

[retropwr]

Mines got new small leaves, but no flowers.

Probably just as well the way the weather is this week (almost -6c last night)

[kaz]

Ahhh... I have something flowering... yellow!!! You know I can never remember the names . I'll take a pic tomorrow... I think it's a marsh marigold.

[alison]

I actually went and bought a new plant on Saturday with a few flowers on as I really always liked it in the pond and it had done really well in previous years. I don't know why it died off on me. Kaz it is the one that looks like the wild buttercups. in fact isn't it's other name Kingcup?

[kaz]

You just reminded me to go take a pic!!! It does look a bit buttercuppie

[alison]

Yep That is it. Marsh marigold. There is one that comes up slightly later with the same kind of flowers but with thinner tall spiky leaves. I think it is lesser spearwort but that also died off on me after quite a few years as well. I obviously wasn't doing too well in the pondplant stakes last year. Come to think of it I didn't do too well in the fish stakes either as I lost about 8. First year losing a lot of fish and the first year losing plants. Thank goodness everything is back on track this year.
What is your stone feature. Could it be a sundial or a birdbath maybe?

[Kristin F.]

Yes, that's Marsh Marigold (Caltha Palustris)
I have a few in my pond too, they are just about to form leaves so it will be a few weeks before they'll bloom.
-such wonderful plants don't you think? When only the Crocuses, Easter-lilies and maybe a few Tulips are about to crawl up from the soil and every thing else in the garden is still quite "dull", the Marsh Marigold plants lighten everything up
-I just love them .. to bad that they finish blooming so early, but then again everything else becomes lush and colourful ..

Kaz, your "Pond-Side-Settings" is very pretty, I ecco Alison's question about the Stone Ornament thingy, -is it maybe a plant stand/pidestall?

Alison, I'm sorry that you lost your Marsh Marigold. I honestly thought that they were some of the hardiest plants out there
-and I'm more sorry about your fishies .. hope that this ponding season will be a good one for you and your pond

I see on Kaz's photo that you Brits are at least a month ahead of me!
-Could you please Fed-Ex a few degrees overseas to the island up-north? LOL

[Tricia]

I lost my marsh marigold too - and the very prolific primrose willow that Alison sent me in 2005 so I no longer have any yellow flowering pond plants . I bought a yellow water lily today at B & Q, very reasonable at £4.98 (less 10% senior's discount ). Hope to see some flowers on that later on this year.

The pond is starting to cloud over a little due to all the bright sunshine of the past ten days or more. It has been crystal clear for months but I guess now is the time when most ponds 'green' up a bit.

[kaz]

The ornament... that would be the empty bird bath ladies

Looking foward to seeing your yellow lily in bloom Tricia . Both the Irish lads sent me lilies last year... one of those is yellow .

Your pond Tricia... did it fully recover from the flood?

Sending you some sunshine Kristin!!!

[alison]

Kristin it is a beautiful beautiful sunny day today. I am trying to telepathically send you it In fact for the first time ever I have been out for an early morning walk. Well I say the first time ever, I did used to do an early morning paper round when the boys were 14ish they had rounds and I had my own round. (We were on the dole then so all money was needed and you were only allowed to earn £5 week so the paper round was just right) I used to love the freshness of the early morning and today it was just the same. I went through Temple Newsam grounds and the Rhododendrens are just starting to flower, all the daffodils are still flowering so it was a lovely sight.
Trisha would you like me to send you another sprig of Primrose willow as there is still time before it will flower. I know it can become too invasive for your size pond but you could always cut it back. I just love it. If anyone else wants some let me know.
I guess it will be a long time before the new little marsh marigold will be like the one I previously had. That was just so beautiful. I am sure back on the website there will be pics of it or on the earlier posts here. It became a lovely big mound, but it kept falling over into the water from it's pot. I will try to pot these ones differently to limit the damage when I repot them later on.

[kaz]

The iris are out now (well I think that's what they are)... anyone else?

[alison]

I love them but mine are nowhere near to flowering yet. Your getting too good with these names now kaz It is the yellow flag Iris Give yourself a shiney (0h no that comes from watching too much 'cbeebies' with the grandchildren)

[Tricia]

Kaz - your pond and garden is looking lovely and my pond is looking good too. The fish are very prolific. I keep advertising small goldfish to give away on Freecycle as the numbers in my smallish pond increase too much year on year.

The yellow flag iris and a very pretty dark purple veined one are blooming - as is a lovely bog lily - you know the one that has the huge creamy white flowers. I'll take a couple of snaps tomorrow and post them, that is, if my temperamental camera to PC transfer is working again.

Thanks for the offer of the primrose willow Alison, but I left the pot on the shelf and I think it is starting to show new shoots, so I'll wait and see. To my surprise there is a pretty yellow flower at the beach end - no idea what it is called, but the small splash of colour is welcome. Then too, the creeping jenny will soon be flowering too, so I'll have more than enough yellow around the pond!

I have to remove watercress every few days or it will take over the pond and not leave room for the water lilies. Three of which have put up pads and one already has a bud showing below the water line. Don't know which one it is though. The new yellow one has already put up three small pads, so I know it is growing.

This warm, dry weather is costing me - I keep having to top up the water level in the pond. Five of my six water butts are empty so it won't be long before I have to resort to expensive tap water to water all my young veggie plants. Unless, of course, the forecast for a weather change at the week-end proves to be true. We had no measurable rainfall in April at all and only 5mm from a thunderstorm in the night to May 1st. Luckily the reservoirs here in the south-west are pretty full, so no worries there.

[kaz]

You cheeky what's-it Alison... I know the names of 3 pond plants now ... I'll get the hang of it one day

Tricia... (and everyone else), it would be wonderful to see some pictures of your pond / garden. I often wonder if I 'over-post'... how different it would be without a digital camera.

[alison]

Tricia the primrose willow does look like it dies in the winter and the stems all go like brown sticks but it comes back a treat round about now. My Iris still are not budding yet but there are a lot of leaves so hopefully in a couple of weeks they will be beautiful. I have finally taken out the watercress from the pond but have left enough in the waterfall to use for the winter months. It does go crazy. Then I realised that with taking the watercress out the fish could get to the tadpoles. hummmm not many taddies left that I can see, but they could just be hiding in other planting.