Tag: water lettuce

Photograph – What’s the Rest of the Story?

On By TimelessladyIn Photo Challenge at Wordpress10 Comments

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Half and Half.”This week, let’s split our photos in two.

I enjoyed taking part in this photo challenge. Here’s a bit of a game, guess what the other half of my photographs might be, and then scroll down and see how close you were to the correct answer.

What is missing in the photo of a frog?

froggie on lily pad

Why his frog buddy of course!

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trestle bridge

What will you find if you follow this railroad trestle bridge across a Southern New Jersey salt marsh?

trestle bridge crabber

A terrific waterway for crabbing.

snip snip in half

What are these two ladies creating that requires so much concentration?

snip snip

They are creating a floral masterpiece in the Longwood Gardens Conservatory.

Plants – Water Lettuce/Pistia

On By TimelessladyIn Plants3 Comments

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I have a pond filled with a late summer carpet of Water Lettuce. Water Lettuce, or Pistia, is an aquatic plant that can be grown in aquariums or in outdoor ponds through the summer. Water Lettuce was first discovered in Africa. The rosette-like leaves float on the surface of the water with the roots growing from the center of the plant.

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Water Lettuce outcompetes algae for nutrients and thus helps control excessive algae bloom.

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The mother plant is connected to her offspring by a stolon. The plants reproduce so quickly I have had to weed out half a dozen or more several times this summer. My plant came from the productive water lettuce plants in my sister’s pond.

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As I was surveying the water lettuce yesterday, wondering if it was time to weed out a half dozen again, I noticed a small frog. Grown from a tadpole we captured in a local lake this year, he quietly watched me, deciding if he needed to jump for safety. He stayed quite still as I took a few photographs, but when I brought the camera a bit too close, he jumped beneath the cover of the water lettuce leaves.