A pure drop of rain may fall on a beautiful lily or on a dirty mud pond – Mehmet Murat Ildan, Turkish playwright (1965- )
Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles – Luther Burbank, American botanist and horticulturist (1849-1926)
About a month ago when the temperatures were rising, I started pruning shrubs, flowers, and small hanging tree limbs. The plants that were kept in the greenhouse over winter were ready to come out and be dispersed around the yard and porches. Inside the greenhouse I added new soil and planted seeds from a cantaloupe, an orange bell pepper, and a few pots of tomatoes. The tomatoes turned out to be indeterminate tomatoes; they are definitely vining all over the raised beds. The cantaloupe vines are doing likewise. The bell pepper seeds also sprouted and produced a bell pepper. I was a bit disappointed as the pepper was green. After sitting it on the counter for a few days my green pepper turned orange. Who knew?
A few feet beyond the greenhouse lies the lily pond. I gave up on my beautiful goldfish as they were taken by critters time after time. The lily pad does well with lily pads and no flowers. This I learned is a good thing if you wish not to attract butterflies or hummingbirds. Both can be snatched by frogs and toads that have overtaken the lily pond.
I like frogs, especially my little green tree frogs. Sam built a green tree frog hotel. It has worked really well in the last few years. Then the swarm of June bugs arrived going toward the nightlight just like the tree frogs, so my tree frogs evacuated, and I was sad. I stayed sad until the day I spotted at least one frog in the lily pond. I can’t imagine how he got there. The next surprise was seeing something like small bubbles with a dark spot in the middle floating in the lily pond among the lily pads. There were lots of them.
Here’s what our friend AI had to say, “Tree frogs, like many other frog species, lay their eggs in aquatic environments. The eggs are usually encased in a clear jelly-like substance, with a dark spot (the developing embryo) in the center. Frog eggs are often laid in clusters or masses, maybe even 400 eggs, sometimes attached to submerged plants or floating the surface. The eggs hatch into tadpoles after a period of time, usually within a few weeks, depending on the water temperature.
Just a week ago I stood at the lily pond and watched the oddest little critters actively playing in the pond, diving deep and back out again. They were having a big time. I guessed these were the tadpoles. They had an enlarged head and a long tail. Oh goodness if they all make it to the frog stage it will be amazing. Tadpoles will eventually undergo metamorphosis, transforming into froglets with legs and lungs, and then leave the water. What they do and where they go will be an adventure.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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