Adriennemb, I hear ya. Personally I like a little bit of sound in a water feature. Just enough to provoke the senses in a calming way - not in a 'get me to a toilet way' . This water feature below uses bubblers and has had the dubious distinction of being called a bidet . I can see that. From Water fountains in the landscape Part bidet and part sprinkler - this bubbler offer subtle noise. From Sculpture For S.F. Project. My all time favorite water feature is not located out door but in the swanky bathrooms of Bardessoano Resort in Yountville CA. LINK - http://www.bardessono.com/photo_gallery.php#../images/photo_gallery/1.jpg By the photo of the control panel below can you tell that I was inspired when designing the oudoor bidet water sculpture ? You never know where inspiration will strike. Such an exciting array of options ! And the seat was heavenly warm. From Napa Valley Day Trip Neorest : Toilets for the rich and famous who like to pamper their butts.

There are many variations - but I suspect that yours may be starting slowly from too much heat. Can you arrange some shade/filtered sun using other plants nearby? If you started from seed, Allium can look like tiny grass the first year when it sprouts - so be careful not to pull grass-like seedlings in that area! Yes, for several years new seed and small bulbs will grow larger and be more rewarding each season. And if you cut (mince and eat like chives) the leaves about the point where they flop, you may find that your Allium begins to feed bulbs and multiply from the base. The flowers will throw seed - or you can collect the seed when it begins to dry - and perhaps begin seedlings indoors, or in shade before planting out, to minimize heat-struggle. Flowering Stalks should be firm - so provide mulch &/or Am water if possible. Once flowering begins, it is normal for leaves to flop and die back to feed bulbs. We have opposite problems. I recently moved massive droopy peonies that were not blooming enough, and some over-vigorous clumps of ornamental Allium (medium size purple-globes) to the sunny front garden, and took care - so that the ground does not parch in peak sun...as that is the only spot where that is a risk for me. I added compost and to help hold moisture, and bulbs are aided by a top moist mulch, and the variety of other plants all around for filtered shade at the base. I intend to eat most of the spicy leaves as I don't care for more Sword-play in my garden by late spring - after masses of tulips, narcissus, and hycinths have quit and the lillies and iris are taking over...and Crocosmia ileaves are waiting to join the dance. I'm adding a Dahlia border to the sword beds...and am excited that a Bachelor's button has already pushed thru the mass of swords to bloom cutely. All are worth growing - in their display seasons. Growth and dormant seasons is balanced with other Perennials and annuals. Adding sheer Dahlia foliage mass to existing Roses and monster Rhodies - and by gosh, there's not much dang subtlety about who rules each season in this section of the urban rain forest. Whoo-ah...now to get back to that rain-or-shine deadheading - or the jungle-look will rule. Having so much Spring rain in the PAC NW - we wind up with too much foliage & dense shade unless we deadhead, prune, pull, divide and hack back plants regularly. Wonder if I'll get the courage to prune that lush Magnolia this year - for more light?

Catkim, this will be our 6th water feature on our property, so I know about the wildlife attraction for sure. In fact, our very large fountain that sits in a small pool got toppled a couple of years ago. The only animal that could have done that was a very large racoon. Mind you, this fountain stands about 8' tall. The top 3 tiers were toppled over one morning. Nothing else would have had the dexterity to climb a slippery, wet, HUGE fountain. Not sure what attracted him to the top of the fountain, and why he didn't just stay in the large pool the fountain sits in. I did find a solar pump on Overstock.com. Unfortunately, the kit came with a different battery than described, plus, the battery is not holding a charge despite having the panel in full sun for many days. Overstock is sending me a new kit, and states that the correct battery is in that kit, so hoping it will work. The pump is just barely strong enough to make the water gurgle over the top of the pump. We have the pump sitting in the fountain basin below the pot, and we have it set to 1/2 rate, so we can boost the pump and that should increase the flow rate. But, we were trying to conserve energy, so I'm hoping with the new kit, the new battery will work better. We might also try to use the new solar panel, too. Not sure what isn't working - the panel or the battery - but we'll try swapping one one, then the other, and see if we can make it work. Patty S.

I've got a plastic line chewer too. I bet mine would love the bubbling effect of the airstone, if only I could figure out how to keep the tubing off limits. Electrical cords have proven somewhat controllable by just taping to the floor or the baseboard if necessary. Oregpsnow, I am not a huge fan of plastics, but the water fountain bowl has proven to be a boon where my CRF cat is concerned. It encourages her to drink a great deal of water that she would not drink otherwise, so the trade off is worth it. I'd occasionally do a light bleach soak on all the pieces as a means of disinfecting them, but the dishwasher also sterilizes as it washes so I no longer have to do that. Kittens, I'm told by an electrician that the pumps are designed to be safe if they run dry- I can't remember the exact terminology used with it though. Mine runs dry from time to time, though when the water level gets low, the pump gets noisy as it starts to pull air. That said, I don't think I would take a chance of it running dry if I were going away on vacation or travel for a few days. As far as the filters are concerned, I have found them to last several months each, IF they are rinsed with hot water each time and set outside in full sun to dry completely before replacing in the unit. I put the entire bowl on an old bathmat to catch any water that gets flipped out. I use to have an orange tabby who loved to play in water and I'm not sure the bowl would have worked well for him- I suspect he would have emptied it in no time flat and that would negate the intention of encouraging them to drink more water throughout the day.