Hi Mike, nice to find someone here from California. I had my pond cleaned as it was almost toxic from so much algae. The pond is fairly large and we had numerous water lillies, which were removed in the cleaning process. We had lots of tree frogs leaving their black eggs all over the lily pads which I thought was killing the lilies, but the frogs are gone and where once the lily pads filled the pond, they are now sparse and getting smaller and smaller. My pond cleaning lady says it is the normal course, but w/o the liliy pads providing the only shade I am afraid the fish will die. Should I just replace the lilies and is this the season to do so? Judging from your pictures, we have many of the same plants you can view mine on http://sbgardening.ning.com under Terri. Also, I have several Zwartkopf planted by the previous owner, but over time they have become tall and spindly. A few times I have beheaded and replanted them successfully, I am considering trying it again. Also, I have two Proteas which are doing great, but I am hesitate to cut the flowers as I have read they are susceptible to disease, should I use a tar on the cut part of the stem??