Sad news

Pumpkin, the mottled orange shubunkin that I rescued from a previous jump and nursed back to health, used her newfound vigor to leap out of the pond again today.

This time, she landed on hot bricks on a 90 degree day, and when I found her in a vortex of flies, she had expired. There was no breathing, and she remained stiff when I put her in water. R. i. p.

She had completely recovered from her first exit two months ago. Her color was back, the scales repaired, the fins strong. Only the common-like tail reminded me of her earlier escapade.

She measured 5 1/4 inches from nose to peduncle and weighed in at an impressive 83 grams.

Plant update

The fish just get fatter and fatter, but the plants have undergone some changes.

The cardinal flowers got so tall – over four feet – that the floating planter capsized in strong winds. I moved them to the shelf of the back pond, but giving them a firm base just meant the wind nearly blew them over in place. One of them bent over sideways; I call it the crazy lobelia because it is still trying to grow upwards, so it sort of turns in mid-air:

You might have noticed not one or two, but three lily blooms. This marks the first time I have ever had more than one at a time. I call it the back pond trifecta:

Here’s a closer look at the blooms:

In the front pond, I got my very first bloom ever on the yellow lily:

Midsummer plant frenzy

The plants in the big pond have suddenly taken off, that is the ones that were thriving anyway. That would include the plantain, the sneezewort, the “fiber optic” plant, parrot’s feather, and especially the cardinal flower, which is over three feet tall.

A handful of plants from humble beginnings have taken over the pond!

A view of my yard with both ponds at dusk.

The cardinal is starting to put out tiny flowers. It will be spectacular when it fully erupts.

Now, if only I could get those lilies blooming!

Looks like she made it

Three weeks after Pumpkin leaped out of the pond, she has recovered to the point where her behavior matches where it was before the jump.

Her color has not reached the richness it had before the jump, and the scales on one side are still healing, but the only big difference in her appearance is the caudal (tail) fin, most of which fell off. She had magnificent fins before the the escapade, so the stubby tail takes some getting used to. The shortened tail looks healthy, with no signs of infection, ragged edges, or rot. In fact, it looks like the normal tail of a hiibuna (common) goldfish.

She eats, swims with the other fish, and never isolates herself, so I think her systems have recovered.

Does anyone with experience know whether the tail will grow back?