WHITE WATER LILIES ARE BLOOMING

A QUIET POND...

...WITH WHITE WATER LILIES

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  65 degrees F, wind SW, light with occasional stronger gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy and hazy, the humidity 83% and the barometer trending down, now at 29.87".  We may get a shower this afternoon.
   Buddy is doing just fine, obviously feeling well,  running and playing and barking, hardly impeded at all by his "lampshade," which I take off when he eats or goes for a walk,  but if  he is not watched when it is off, he immediately licks his wound and nips at the stitches.
   In the last several days I have seen white water lilies, Nymphaea odorata, in the water lily family, blooming in several widely separated locations.  I think they are blooming a little late this year. The flowers are very fragrant,  opening in the morning, and last for several days.  The flowers float on the water, as do the leaves, which are round and have a conspicuous notch where the leaf is attached to the petiole.  The underside of the leaf is dark red or purple.
   Water lilies are emergent aquatic plants, growing in quiet, shallow water up to perhaps four or five feet in depth.  Another aquatic plant, spatter dock, Nelumbo lutea, is often called yellow water lily, but it is not in the same genus, which can be confusing.  More on that pond plant shortly, as soon it is in full bloom.