Frogs Add Personality to Serendipity Gardens
A friend was visiting Serendipity Gardens last week, and he took several photos of the frogs. The photos are, in my opinion, fabulous, as are their subjects. This first photo is my favorite. It seems to depict the essence of frog: still, yet alert, with a Yoda-like smile.
Frogs play an important role in Serendipity Gardens. They came on their own when we built our pond several years ago. I think female frogs had likely laid eggs on some of the water plants we brought in. In any case, it was a delight to see them then, and it is a delight to see them now, in their various poses and moods, as these pictures show.
Predators Aplenty — and Other Enemies, Too
The frogs have not had it particularly easy. They have several predators. A surprising one is the blue heron (or possibly the sandhill crane) that stops by our pond from time to time for a snack. No frog can defeat that bird’s mighty beak unless he has a good hiding place.
The first time the heron or crane came, I got the surprise of my life when I went outside early one morning and saw that giant bird standing in the water. He got a pretty good scare, too, I think. At any rate, he began a slow, stately flap of his six-foot wings and rose to the height of our barn roof, where he rested for a few minutes before flying on.
We have done what we can to protect the frogs. They have lots of nooks and crannies — flat rocks resting on other rocks in the pond that allow them to swim 
underneath, the pump house (where we don’t want them to go, but where they like to gather despite those human wishes), and a small bridge that crosses the stream leading from the pond. Despite these efforts, though, some frogs inevitably get caught and eaten.
The frogs’ most common enemies are the garden snakes that like to lurk in the water and nab them, as you can clearly see in this picture. Who will win the battle getting ready to take place in this photo? Will the snake get his dinner? Or will the frog escape to live another day? No one knows.
Another enemy is the weather. We have had two episodes of frozen frogs in the past ten years. In the first case, I did not know to make sure the pond stayed open, so it froze solid and stayed that way for several days during a particularly strong cold snap. When spring finally came that year, several frogs floated belly-up to the surface. We buried them nearby — and I suppose they added fertilizer to the soil. The second time, this past year, the winter was just too cold for too long. We had begun to use a pond rock and pump by this time. The the pond never froze solid — but some of the frogs did.
Despite these challenges, my reptilian friends are remarkably resilient. Every single time their number has been reduced by predator or weather, they have managed to recover.
What Do Frogs Do All Day?
I have never seen a frog actually eat an insect. I have watched them for long periods of time, hoping that sticky tongue I read about in biology books would dart out and nab a fly. For the most part, though, they just sit. Occasionally, they croak, or they enter the water to swim to another spot. (They are amazing swimmers!) However, I have seen them emerge from the water late in the evening and hop over to the garden proper, where the food supply is undoubtedly greater. Therefore, I am sure that they do eat lots of bugs and contribute to the health of my garden.
I love to count the frogs with my grandchildren. The highest number we have counted at one sitting is 24. More often, we see six or seven of them at a time.
Fake Frogs Play an Important Role, Too
Several years ago, I found a birdbath that featured a stone frog holding the water bowl. It was even on sale, so I purchased it and placed in in the middle of my grass garden. That was the first of many frogs.
Others decorate the wall of our barn, looking as though they are trying to escape. Still others are statues that sit among the flowers, or on a rock, or on the dining tables, or on a fence post. They are made of stone, metal, and ceramics.
My daughters have consistently given me frog ornaments of various kinds over the years, so I now have a total of around 30 of them. For me, they add a lot of charm to the garden, just as their real brothers do.
What animal would you most enjoy having in your garden?
Like this post? Sign up to receive an email each time a new post is available. We will never loan, sell or rent your email address — that’s a promise! Please use the buttons below to share with others. Thanks to my friend Michael Hocking for graciously allowing me to use his photos.
