Pondathon II is a year-long gardening-themed readathon hosted by The Quiet Pond! Help us restore the forest by reading to earn plants and decorate your own garden. For more information about Pondathon, read our Readathon Information Post or check out our Pondathon II Portal.
The story:
There seems to be some pomp and circumstance at the Pond today. A sign welcoming visitors has been erected, flowers of all colours line the pathway, and it looks like the Pond friends seem to be wearing their best!
When you look across the Pond, you start to notice how the Pond has changed since we all started our mission to save the forest four months ago. The forest looks healthier and better – much more green and lush with flora and even fauna now too. You had worked so hard that you didn’t notice all the good that everyone has done. You feel quite proud to be part of this.
“Hi friend! Today’s the garden showcase!” Xiaolong says, appearing next to you. She seems to be wearing a floral shirt and glasses.
At your inquisitive look, Xiaolong blushes and then strikes a pose. “I feel like at every garden show, there is a person wearing flower-themed clothes and glasses! I wanted to look the part,” she says with a grin. “Why don’t you have a look around? Every garden on show today is beautiful in their own way – you’ll see what I mean! I’m so proud of everyone.”
Xiaolong isn’t the only one that’s proud – I’m proud too! I want to thank everyone for their participation in our Pondathon readathon so far. Though we’ve had to unfortunately cut it short, I feel like everyone in this readathon has been wonderful, and we even have a small and supportive community where everyone shares the joy of reading, plants and the readathon.
I’m so proud and honoured to showcase the product of everyone’s hard work in today’s showcase. Congratulations to every gardener who submitted their gardens! You are all wonderful!
The Pondathon Garden Showcase
Xiuki
Wyvern’sForestOfBooks
This is my January garden since I haven’t had the time to decorate another garden for a while
Van
I wanted to make a single garden, so you can only see its full glory if you zoom on it haha. I personally love it a lot, and I’m planning to frame it on my room once Pondathon is over. By the time we had blossoms and the pagoda I was living together with the clouds of how I would make it. I’m personally very proud of my little garden!
Melancholic Blithe
My garden has been going very well this year, so much so that I bought another patch of land to cultivate. So, I have to really pretty gardens now, all thanks to the hard work of different individuals who have been working so hard to save the forest ❤
Bookwormy Megan
I wanted my garden to be bursting with bits of everything, especially the trees and vegetables because those were my favorite rewards! I wanted to include plants from other rounds (still forever obsessed with the bluebells!) but didn’t want to go too overboard.
kaabtik
Though normally nocturnal, Kio tends to sleep way longer than his family. One evening, while tending his garden, the blooms from Alechia started to float from their pots. Afraid they would float away, Kio brought them to a cave he had found while exploring. There, the blooms were able to stick to the top of the cave, casting a purple glow over the cave and accelerating the growth of the vegetation. Thus, every night, Kio rushes to his cave, eager to tend to his plants and make them blossom. Right now, he’s thinking of pathways, a maze, maybe even a pond! Hm… so many ideas!
SimplyaBookDrunkard
LiteraryCat
tasia @pipingplots
When Cocoa is not reading by their special plant collection, they are by the mini forest which reminds them of Autumn (their favourite season!) Cocoa’s favourite plant is the Kindred Bloom and they are most proud of their vegetable garden 🙂
cohemiwrites
Mei is a small and fretful turtle. Why so fretful, you ask? Well for one thing, they’re absolutely terrified of flowers, shrubs, and plants of all sorts. I’ve suggested a change in hobby, but at this point, we’re in too deep. The garden has claimed our souls.
TyBooks01
Round 3 was my favorite round! It had my favorite rewards and a great side quest objective so I went all out and read as much as I could! This is my favorite garden so far!
Spud
Spud has been working hard in their garden so they love this forest retreat to rest. And, inspired by The Tea Dragon Society, there’s chamomile tea for any visitors!
ShadyPandy
This readathon has actually inspired me to read so much more than usual that I can’t fit all the plants in one and have made one garden per round, so I have four!!! I secretly think the trees are my favourite, but don’t tell the other gardens! And I rolled over some items that wouldn’t fit in previous gardens, so unused things go to the next round. So much fun!
Dayllyn
I really love the Judy Lin companion quest pagodas because as a Chinese myself, it’s great to see some other cultures represented in these readathons 🙂
Bookcheshirecat
My favorite things about my Round 1 Garden: the accessories (the little crown!! the bowtie!!), the pretty Lavenders, the colorful side quest tree & the cute decorations 🥺
My favorite things about my Round 2 Garden: sunflowers (!!), the cute bench & table, the book stack and the beautiful side quest items (loved the star/moon theme!) 🥰
My favorite things about my Round 3 Garden: the snowdrops (they were blooming outside my window just then) and of course the ability to create a vegetable garden! (I love pumpkins and carrots specifically, so I was very happy to receive them) ❤️
My favorite things about my Round 4 Garden: the maple tree (one of my favorite trees that I was so happy to choose!), the tulips and chamomile (very pretty!) and the decorations for the companion quest (the small pagodas are cute!) 🥰
PapercraftAlex
I tried to fit all 3 rounds into one garden so it is lovingly chaotic.
justpopcorn
Miso is just a tired little doggo who finds joy in stories and pretty things, which happily includes many plants! Miso has been reading so many interesting books thanks to the readathon, and they have faith that the Land of Unread Books will someday be able to undergo a transformation to become the Land of Stories and Boba. Miso just needs to keep tending their little garden plots to beautify the community until the Great Wizard of the land grants their wish (and bribing the Great Wizard with tasty treats, boba drinks, and colorful bouquets doesn’t hurt!).
wintertiger7
One of my places quotes is, “A comfort zone is beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” I’d like to think my garden is a safe place for all creatures, small or large, seeking refuge from the rest of the world. Although it is a comforting and lovely place, it allows things to grow — with time. It is a garden that embraces change and understands everyone moves at their own pace.
Engardee
It’s Gondor’s tiny corner where floristic abundance reigns, a safe place that welcomes every creatures. From enjoying a nice read to relaxing shielded by trees, the key word is comfort. ❤
WritingRosa
I wanted my garden to be somewhere to rest and relax among the beautiful flowers! 🙂
piratesandpixiedust
Daydreaming Book Lover
Mackenzie (bookish_black_hole)
Teemo has been hard at work tending his garden through the Pondathon!! His favorite flowers are the bluebells and snowdrops, though of course all of the plants are beautiful. To relax he likes to sit on the park bench reading a book, or lounge in the pagoda drinking some tea and maybe also reading.
WolfRoseReads
I wanted my garden to capture all the magic and fun of this first quarter, so I planted all the beautiful flowers I collected throughout these past few months. 🥰
Elle Belle
Here are my favorite items I’ve gotten in Quarter 1 of Pondathon.
textandtunes
Pip doesn’t have a lot of knowledge on plants, but they made it their mission to take really good care of it and just plant lots of pretty flowers!
Pufflekitteh
Vale88
thiscubed
While it may be small, Nathaniel takes good care of each and every plant, making sure they each have the right amount of water and sunlight. He knows that it’s not the number of plants in the garden that make it beautiful but how well they are taken care of.
drwhofreak
Susy @SusysStories
Well, it’s Seven’s first garden but she likes it very much and is quite proud. She’s making a garden a month.
Seven loves her veggies! And after a hard day’s work she has her books to relax with.
Seven feels this month her garden isn’t what it could’ve been but she adores her trees!
aleksanderreads
This garden is called Cool For The Summer because it has a cool color palette.
OneGalOneLife
Just a little garden with my favorite flowers and decorations I’ve received so far.
The Reader Penguin
As this terrarium showcase takes place at the end of half 1, I have included every Pondathon item I earned in half 1, rounds 1-4. I will be starting a new terrarium for half 2 as I think I need more space! My favourite items are the star and moon planters.
Z (@zomanjii)
I wanted to make a peaceful, minimalistic garden, so there’s not a lot here, but a few pretty plants.
Adelina
thirdnewscaster
this is my round 4 garden! i think this is my favorite because i made the first three very rigid and carefully aligned, and in round 4 i had some fun moving things around and playing with the positions. also i like trees!!
Nox Xanthes
So this is actually my garden from a while ago (round 1&2 mostly), I was going to send in an updated version but pixlr crashed and didn’t save my progress (very sad), nonetheless I wanted to show off Nox’s hard work at keeping all the plants alive and well!
shalinka.k
Salixa
Minnie Bee
sneirr
Jam’s garden may be a little crowded, but he loves to be surrounded by lots of plants.
CharlotteSieg
A bit of a slow start, but a nice foundation for what is to come 🙂
The Quiet Pond 
So many pretty gardens! I still have to finish my first quarter garden. I saved every email I got with rewards. And then I’ll do a new one for this quarter, I hope. I still have to submit a few books I think
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I love seeing everyone’s beautiful gardens!
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