Quiet fountain in a hosta bed

Here's another very charming feature in Mrs. Phactor's gardens. In a shady copse under a couple of huge sugar maple trees Mrs. Phactor has a large bed of big old hostas that surround a small fountain water feature that just dribbles water out of a blue and white glass bowl. So when the hostas are in flower, as they are right now in early July, the hosta-fountain combination makes for a lovely color-water-sound garden feature especially when a spot light of sun shines through a hole in the canopy. And of course there's the quiet music of dribbling water. It all has a very calming effect just beyond the patio area behind the house, a perfect place for early evening cocktail.

Is the fountain of frustration on the level?

Even though the lily pond is being renovated, another water feature in our gardens demanded the Phactor's attention over the weekend, and it's his own fault for having given Ms. Phactor a pretty thing for a present, a gift that keeps on giving. This isn't rocket science, but what you don't see is the part that gives you problems if you allow yourself to become obsessed with having the water flow such that it dribble and drips from all around the dish. The variables are the surface of the glass dish itself, which undulates with shallow channels, the direction of the water as it wells up from below, and of course, any off plumb tilt such that a few millimeters down below can change the dynamic up above. So you tinker and tinker to no avail. Still, who can argue with pretty; it's good looking especially when the hostas are in bloom and a spot of morning sunshine lights up the fountain, and it sounds good too, although at first you keep thinking you left water running somewhere. This year the setup is a bit off kilter, but before too long the whole assembly will have to be lifted and cleaned out providing an opportunity to try again.