The Water Garden's display gardens at our retail store in Chattanooga have been certified as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ by the National Wildlife Federation. We encourage our customers and visitors to welcome nature into their yards and water gardens. Although our Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ is just over a year old, the NWF's Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ program has been encouraging people to make the environment around homes and businesses wildlife friendly for more than 30 years.

When we moved to our new location in the fall of 2002, we undertook the project of building a new garden area featuring multiple ponds. The gardens currently feature 5 display ponds ranging in size from 1,400 gallons to 18,000 gallons. Two additional smaller ponds will be added in coming months. We invite you all to come visit our Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ next time you are in the Chattanooga area.

Below are a few photos of some visitors to our Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ as well as a pair of temporary residents.

All Photos on this page Copyright©2003 - 2005 The Water Garden/WaterGarden.com

We saw our first dragonfly teneral
of 2005 today (4/16/04). As you can
see in the photo (left), it had recently
emerged from the water and was clinging
to the exuviae it will leave behind. Once it
completes the transformation from a naiad
to dragonfly, it will take to the air for
for the first time.

A damselfly [thought to be a Citrine Forktail (Ischnura hastata) - immature female?] sitting on a Queen of Siam water lily flower (above).

A Toxomerus Hover Fly feeding on the nectar of an aster flower (left).

Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly.

We discovered this Robber Fly eating a male Blue Dasher dragonfly near one of our large ponds. More Dragonfly Photos

Face to face with a grasshopper in our butterfly garden area.

A Mocking Bird atop tree that is home
to her two hungry offspring.

A dragonfly hovers over a water lily bloom (above). A dragonfly larva cuticle is left behind after metamorphosis of a dragonfly exuviae (right).
  

A lady beetle walks across a leaf dotted with morning dew.

A water beetle sits near the surface eating an insect (left). Above, a scarlet skimmer (Crocothemis servilia) dragonfly. This is a non-native insect that has shown up at our ponds recently. More Dragonfly Photos

 

 

Visit the Backyard Habitat Section of the National Wildlife Federation's Website to learn how you can have your "Backyard Wildlife Habitat™" certified.

All Photos on this page Copyright©2003 - 2006 The Water Garden/WaterGarden.com