.

Nearing the end of the summer now (in September...okay, basically fall), the pond is a perfect place to take photographs. Here are my two cats, Veronica and Figaro, enjoying the pond. They go outside daily wearing their harnesses and hang out in the vicinity of the pond area. They both like to sit at the edge and view the fish. They have never attempted to "hunt" any of them.

Note how large my hyancyth has gotten. The water lettuce has spread nicely also. However, the lilies have almost no leaves and have not produced flowers since July. I think this may partially be due to the fact that they are too big now for their pots and I haven't bothered to re-pot or add fertilizer. That will happen next year.

In the first photo Figaro is stepping over a bunch of Alyssium, which I think is perfect surrounding a pond. First, miniature flowers like Alyssium do not overpower a small pond and make it appear larger. I can also plant alyssium all around the "front" of the pond, yet still be able to see into the pond out my back window. Even more importantly, because my pond is an oasis for all type of wildlife (birds, frogs, bunnies), I have to make sure that the plants are compatible. Alyssium is one of the few plants I have found that rabbits do not eat. It also comes in a variety of colors - the local wal mart had white, purple, dark purple this spring.