The water garden in April

 The pond and its surrounds on the 26th of April.  The marsh marigold is in bloom.
The pump had quit working at some point in April, so you will see no photos of the waterfall in April.  I have since found that the pump was shorting out on the connection to the old extension cord.  I gave it a new extension cord connection and it is now running very well.  Recently, with the water fall running the water was evaporating quite a lot.  This low water level was what I was waiting for so I could wade into the pond and rescue the cement mermaid.  Silly thing thought it could dive I guess.  I retrieved it, threw out a lot of the oxygenating under water plants, and moved the pot of the water hawthorn (they did not like the moving water,  being too close to the waterfall).  I ran some water into the pond being careful not to add too much as Saanich adds a heavy amount of chlorine to our water.  A couple of days later, I added more water.  I went over the time limit and added too much water.  Thank heavens the fish survived.  In fact, they now came to the surface and were zipping around quite quickly.  So, now I see the fish at the top, more often.  I have seen at least 6 different ones, so there has been a good survival rate; and they have grown to almost twice the size. 

 A close up of the marsh marigolds in bloom on April 26th.

 The marsh marigolds are  putting on their show in April.

 One of the willows.  This one has the blue green leaves.  In the spring it has big pussy willows  that show off the cinnamon colored bark.  It is looking lovely now. 

 This willow hangs over and touches the water and is in the corner next to the water fall.  The fish seem to find things of interest under this little willow.  It too is looking lovely right now.

 I was surprised to find the little black parachute in the close up of the pussy willows.

 The water hawthorn was doing very well without the waterfall running.  It seems to like a calmer water, it seems.  It is in bloom for most of the year.  Its a marvelous addition to the pond.

A couple of years ago I got this little solar powered fountain thing for about $20.  I was said to not last very long.  I had left it out all winter, and it is still running despite the rough treatment.  The humming birds like to fly through the spray for a quick shower.  
I have all of the front garden pretty will cleaned up with only regular maintenance to do.  Today I spent 3 hours watering all around the front.  In the back garden I still need to clean up the pond area, the cutting garden, and the little rockery.  I am making quite good progress, with getting things looking better than they have in the past 3 years.