Late July might seem a strange time to hold a pond tour, but the balmy evenings are another story.
For some time, I've been adding lights to the Leather Oaks Garden experience, and it seemed a good time to actually share them with others!
On this page, I'll try to highlight some of the daylight features as they appear under less than natural light.
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The shade is so deep even during the day that the lawn quickly became a marsh, with just a bit of intervention. With just enough light, the ferns and other native "selected plantings," don't look threatening at all, and have embraced the area heartily!
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See, I told you there was a path through here >> With the garden lights, it's almost easier to follow in the evening!
Look sharp now, because I think I can make out an important personality. . . .
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Ah, Hello Neptune!! These guys are just passing through!
How are the fish biting tonight, eh? You sure have a great vantage point up here.
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Strolling West from Neptune's Knoll. You think the shade is deep here, wait until we get to the Leather Oaks Pond!
The handsome Sago Palm ahead on our left is a pup (fist-sized when transplanted) from a huge parent in the southwest corner of the lot. Beyond the Sago, the lights mark the path we'll follow to Rubber Creek.
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Even though we've been following Rubber Creek for a goodly distance, it's been so embraced by vegetation that catching a glimpse can be a challenge.
It appears that they may be doing some night diving at Diver's Deep, though. That's a small deepwater lakelet along the Creek. Imagine that miniature rubbermen are diving for sponges or pearls. Or buried treasure??
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Finally, we glimpse the Leather Oaks pond!
Situated just feet from the NorthWest corner of the lot, the pond is mostly in deep shade. Several bales of Chinese bamboo were harvested to open the view up for the Pond Tour!
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Ah, I think we're approaching our destination! That must be the Bridge Over Lake Orin up ahead!
{Orin, wasn't he the straw boss on the Season's Nursery team?} Did they ever work this late at night?? |
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Lake Orin is famous for the exotic range of its flora and fauna.
Look!! It seems that we've caught the Pewter Spitting Frog in one of its rare rest periods. Maybe we can get by dryshod this evening!
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We're above Lake Orin now, and I think I see Fazzio Falls.
And, can't you just make out Season's Springs, the headwaters of our Rubber Creek?
The musical gurgle of two pump-fed outlets is unmistakable!
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No it's not an oil rig, but The Leather Oaks Memorial Bell Tower.
Until September 28, 1998, there was a two-foot diameter pine tree right there.
When Hurricane Georges broke the tree at about waist height, I was rudely awakened by the upper trunk falling 4 ft into the attic of my house.
Well, the tree was removed and the house repaired, but then came the question, what to put in its place? My landscaping friend Mark was adamant that "something" had to replace it, or his artfully designed stream had lost its point. This tower was my "Engineering Solution".
The "Bell" was salvaged from an abandoned washer in the woods behind my house. Three hundred thirty-five Christmas lights provide the evening's illuminmation. Some folks have questioned whether I have FAA permisssion for such a magnificent erection, but I'm sure you're not amongst them!
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This is really the best vantage point for the Leather Oaks Pond, and of course it's one I get to enjoy from my deck both day and night!
If you look real closely, you can just make out my Piping Boy, at work as always! And now, on to the last feature of this evening's show. . . . |
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While originally a joke and a dare, my Skeletal Stream has really turned out pretty well.
It all started innocently enough: What would happen if you strung together six or eight of those little pre-fab pondlets that all the garden centers are selling these days?
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And suppose you deliberately left them above ground, and used frames constructed from PVC piping to keep them in place? Here's what they look like with artificial light!
Around the next corner, we reach my front porch again, and the end of tonight's tour. If you'd like to see the Leather Oaks Garden in the daylight, please visit any of the other YEARS of photos. There's a link to the main Garden Section menu below!
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Before there was a night tour, the day tour has been going on since last century -- quite literally < G>!
Click on the link at right to see select from more than a dozen Leather Oaks Garden pages.
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