Waterlilies and a Goldfish, Galeazza Garden
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy… well, not so easy at the moment, but it might be for this fish. We’re STILL having earthquakes - yesterday and the day before, after a week or more of relative silence, we got more rumbles - 3-point-somethings - just enough to wake or shake you, and remind you the living still isn’t easy around here…
For Nancy J. Ondra, one of my favourite garden writers.
Saggitaria sagittifolia
It would be morally wrong for a plant-loving Saggitarian to not adore these leaves! They are some of the best of the Galeazza Garden.
Saggitaria sagittifolia
The little pond at Galeazza is slowly growing green with slime, but the plants (and a few fish) are thriving. I add just enough water to keep things alive.
I really hope our next place already has water or the possibilities of adding water features!
Pond Plants of the Galeazza Garden
This area is so lush and green now - and so full of fantastic shapes and lines!
Typha latifolia (Great Reedmace) held by my lovely little Chinese neighbours…
It somehow arrived in our little pond, and is going to take over if I don’t keep pulling it out!
Another Myrice Photo…
Galeazza Garden - Pond, Bridge and Aquatic Plants; Acorus calamus (Sweet flag) in front of Typha latifolia (Greater reedmace, or Cattails).
Now and Then - 14 July 2011
It takes a few years for things to get settled around here as I have no master plan or budget to speak of, and early spring (now) is the worst time to see the water pots and pond of the Galeazza Garden - but doesn’t it look great in mid July!
Now and Then: Bulldozer Time! 5 November 2007
Locals saw useless old wine vats, I saw amazing water pots!
More Dead Fish
Between yesterday and today, 25 more fish died in the pond. I’m aerating the water with a pump, adding fresh water, and removing the dead fish as I find them. What more can I do?
Sagittaria Sagittifolia Blooming in the Galeazza Aquatic Plants Area
I’m afraid I don’t have Sagittaria japonica after all. Oh well, this will do for now…
Sagittaria japonica, Japanese arrowhead
I wonder where it gets that name from…
OK, this might be Sagittaria sagittifolia, but until it flowers and I do a minimum amount of research, I won’t know… and I’m going with “japonica” just because I love the sound of it.
Impatiens glandulifera - Himalayan Balsam
I remember first seeing this flower in pots in a small French town near Albi. I wanted it immediately! This plant has spread from the Himalayan mountains through gardens and into streams and woodlands of Europe. It’s considered a terribly invasive weed in the UK and Germany and I don’t know where else, but here in Italy it would quickly die if I didn’t love and nurture it in the shade garden. It just can’t stand the summer sun and drought of this area .
It’s interesting how what is a nightmare weed in one country is a dream flower in another - it all depends on climate and growing conditions. Here I could rip them all up in a day if I were afraid of them taking over, but it has taken me a few years of babying and watering to establish them, so I’m not about to!
Same story for our floating water hyacinths - what totally clog the rivers and choke out native plants in frost-free areas are sold as novelty aquatic plants here in this part of Italy - brought inside for the winter and pampered until spring, when they can go back outside into the pond.
I’ll have to Google this and get back to you. The round-leaved aquatic plant is a souvenir I brought back from Japan in November 2010, but I have no idea what it is…
What’s important is It survived the winter under a bit of ice! and it’s spreading beautifully!
found: Hydrocotyle verticillata
Nymphaea ‘Escarboucle’
Our pink water lily… and tomorrow yet another… a yellow-flowered waterlily called Nymphaea ‘Chromatella’
