Copper, it could easily be the same artist given our close vicinty. I just figured it to be someone local given there are 2 flanking this driveway and some kind of turtle? thing down the road at another farm... yep I'd say it was blow torch - gives it that rough cut look.

I'm not a turtle expert, I'll leave that to someone else. I had never seen a tree frog in my area until I put in my pond and last summer I had 12 at a time walking on the siding of the house near it. You may want to try dwarf varieties of water lilies. Dwarf "Sioux" is one of my favorites, its 6" pads nearly cover my 5'x5' pond if I don't trim it back once or twice, and its a prolific bloomer (even when I forget to fertilize it). Water canna lilies are vigorous growers and good for your back wall. My dwarf gets 3-4' high, and one with nice varigated leaves would be 6-8' if it wasn't root-bound :) Pickeral rush comes in purple and white, dwarf and regular. My dwarfs get to be 1 1/2 - 2' high and bloom all summer. And you can't beat water iris for nice foliage to cover the wall too. I got a nice big handful of plants here on the exchange last spring and they were bursting from the 5 pots I planted by fall (about 3' tall). My dwarf papyrus tends to be slow starting, but maybe I'm not treating it right. Don't forget oxygenators for the fish, and I think Parrot Feather would be great in the top. Floaters like WH, water cress and water lettuce are wonderful filters. Bigger plants won't go over the falls, but azolla probably would. You might try a water forget-me-not tucked in the rocks, they love flowing water. If they spread too much you just rip out a bunch and compost it. Good to keep the fish load down - my 6 feeder goldfish equalled 28 in one short summer, so plan on sharing. Your pond is lovely, I can see why you stuck to your guns to have your vision come out just right! Good luck and happy spring!

That's a scary thought. I'd probably get rid of it. I know turtles lay eggs in the sand for the most part, and most of them have oval shaped eggs (same with some snakes), that looks completely round. It could also be a lizard egg. Remember that not all eggs are fertilized though. It could be a dud. If you pick it up, and cup it in your hand in a dark room and shine a flasklight under it (don't touch or heat up the egg), you might see what is growing inside of it, or at least a dark or red spot where the embryo is.

My impression was and still is that it is a red maple. It's just that the shapes of the leaves are so inconsistent. The shallow and concave sinuses on many leaves made me confused. Thanks. Ted