Our Ponds 1st Cattails

[Carol Dee]

@Nyboy they are not volunteers. They have not taken over. Planted in a pot in corner of Koi pond. Sorry yours are invasive.

 

[Smart Red]

Nyboy, you think your cattails are a problem? One teacher -- just before Easter break -- brought a cattail into her classroom for the students to use in science class. By the time school started a week later the whole classroom was a mass of puffy white, exploded cattail seeds everywhere including inside the venting system. That was a problem!

Carol has only three 'seed heads' on her potted cattails. Three are easy to remove and clean up before they explode and cover the world around them. You have many and volunteers at that. Much harder to keep under control.

You know cattails are edible? The stems are a bit like onion and the tubers can be harvested for food as well. The puffy stuff was long used as insulation in moccasins. That's an all purpose Native crop you have growing there.

 

[Nyboy]

My moccasins are Gucci, anyone want native crop let me know.

 

[thistlebloom]

Nearly 40 years ago we lived by a pond with cattails at the shallow end.
Some friends harvested the tails and dried them, then used them in stuffing for a comforter. It had to be used with a duvet cover since it couldn't be washed.
We camped in eastern Washington with them in November. They used their all natural comforter (being the ultra hip hippies that they were ) and nearly froze in the 17 degree lows at night. We slept snug and warm in our (also natural ) goose down sleeping bags.

 

[baymule]

Yes I thoroughly enjoyed the picture! The best part was my friend who described it so perfectly!

@baymule, I am so happy that you enjoyed Carol's new cattails picture.

See the maple leaves drooping over the top of the photo? Light and lacy and lovely, right?
Then I'll bet you enjoyed the corner, dog-earred fencing in natural weathered shades in the background with grape leaves smothering the top of the fence.

I'm sure your eyes spotted the purple cone flowers centered in the lower third of the photo right away. Such a bright burst of color in the otherwise green and brown shot. Not more than a dozen flowers, but they sure do stand out in front of the fence yet in the background of plants, don't they, Bay?

There, closer to the front and on either side of the cone flowers, are two spring flowering plants no longer in bloom. The one on the left -- doesn't that look a bit like Lady's Mantle? While the one on the right is harder to identify. What would you call that plant? I am not sure. Perhaps Carol can tell us.

Finally, in the foreground of the shot -- running from the bottom to the top of the picture are the many thin, long leaves of the cattail plant with three perfect "blooms" sitting like corndogs-on-a-stick, so evenly spaced in the center they looked almost staged. A perfect example of Carol's excellent eye with a camera. You know we wouldn't have expected anything less.

Her bit of playfulness shows in the line of four mushroom chimes hanging behind the three cattails. These muted-colored chimes were certainly a touch of the unexpected to me. See how perfectly they seem be spaced so well behind the cattail blooms? Great design factor isn't it?

Yup, Bay, it is always a treat to study one of Carol's great camera shots. Tell us now that you have a better view of the photo, what was your favorite part of the scenario?