Parrot Feather and Sweet Flag - see on left side of stream -
New koi ponds ... advice for setup
And the water Iris as shown in the picture of the fish above. All are absolutely no care and all are hardy except for the Parrot Feather. Of course, more plants will be hardy in your 7B zone. - Dax
2rb, don't let them scare you off. Have had some form of a little pond for several years. I have two stock tanks right now that are buried with just an couple if inches above ground level. One is a koi pond and the other is a goldfish pond. I do use the UV and have filtration that is rated for about about twice the pond volume. I never do water changes, never check various levels, have used only one pond de-icer on the koi pond (this year was the first year it lasted all winter, last year it crapped out about halfway through and did not get replaced), don't really feed the fish, etc. and have had a wonderful experience.
I do top off the pond now and then due to evaporation and critters drinking from it and make sure to add dechlorinator when I do. Other than that I clean the filters and just enjoy the pond. I did have a problem with fish loss once but it was because it was overstocked. After having my little ponds I could not imagine ever having a garden again without them.
This message was edited Feb 18, 2009 10:44 PM
dax-I love your pictures-what do you have in your pond (fish wise). Do you have koi and goldfish?
My water was clear but I aggressively changed it each week once my illness started (late June-early July). Initially it was yucky and then it started to smell and in hindsight I think someone spawned in there. I didn't know what spawn looked like but I recall a lot of bubbley stuff in May and had read about spawn but it just didn't click at the time until it got really gross and stagnant and disease started . . .
Sarassa are another type of goldfish that give the appearance of koi to your pond. They are red and white, and come in standard fin and butterfly fin.
There are two nice things about Sarassa's. First their appearance is really attractive. Second they don't reproduce as rapidly as the ordinary Comet. For smaller water features I love 'em.
2racing: go tot the co-op area to a closed sale for Texas Water Lillies. This is where I bought a ton of plants for a good price. They have some information and pictures on their website.
BTW: People here at Daves divide plants up in Spring and I know if I have anything to spare I would offer it to the newbies to get started. I got a lot of plants that way myself!
Hi - Just got on - anyway, I have goldfish mainly. I've got a few koi, but with my type of pond - a natural, wildlife look with a beach - I've found the goldfish MUCH more hardy. Also, I find the Sarassas very beautiful, and give that bright, different, look. So I'd say I'm moving to just having goldfish -- Dax
Thanks mothermole, I'll keep that in mind.
Snapple - I like the Sarassa's too. Surely I can find some of these varieties close by.
They are calling for a bit of snow flurries tomorrow so it's highly unlikely that we will be out working this weekend, but as soon as it warms up a bit .. off to work we go!
You're getting flurries and we're getting 3-5"! What a difference 2 gardening zones can make.
yep, it was 75 degrees two days ago.
Last night was 27 degrees. Now they are calling for flurries saturday. UGH!
We're getting 5-7" and I'm only half a zone warmer than snapple!
It is not going to stop me from driving to Des Moines to pick up my fishies....I hope....
5 - 7 inches!?!
girl.....you be careful. I hate driving in nasty weather. You must love those fishies. lol
Even HERE it's going to be 37 tonight. blah....
For Pete's sake ic - drive carefully! Did you ever find a pagoda? I ask because I'm thinking of getting another lantern. I'm going to head down to the local stone supplier where I got the pagoda and see what he has. It's odd to have a local place carry stuff that's not exactly mainstream in such a small market. The next closest fountain/pagoda/lantern place to me is a fabulous place called Petitti's in Cleveland Ohio which is a 1-1/2 hr drive one way. But OMG the stuff they have is awesome. I make two annual pilgrimages. One to Petitti's and one to Gee Farms. Gee Farms has more conifers in one place than all the other places I've ever been - combined X10. They also have acres of hosta. Gee Frams is 2-1/2 hours one way I would not miss the annual trip for anything.
http://www.geefarms.com/
http://www.petittigardencenter.com/index.php?option=com_departments&task=department&did=1
37 would be heat wave. LOL
Gee Farms looks amazing, I've been saying I'm going to make a pilgrimage to Michigan for two years and I never find the time. This year vacation will be really hard for me to take after transferring to a new department next month.
My brother is getting married next year and is between New York (where he and his fiance life) and Michigan (where most of her family lives and it would be half the price) for location. I so hope he chooses Michigan!!!! Unfortunately, they are also talking about an "off season" wedding, so if they choose December everything will be frozen solid.
I think I'm going to drive out on a weekend to Hornbakers, they have granite stuff and I'm hoping they will have a pagoda. They are seasonal, though, so I have to wait until they are open for the season.
http://www.hornbakergardens.com/
I really want a Rankei lantern (scroll to the bottom) for my pond when it is done:
http://granitesculpture.com/lanterns.htm
I also like the Kotoji lantern, but my pond is not going to have a stream and I don't know what else I would do with it.
2RB, you should get a lantern for that hosta bed you're going to put in behind your house!!! That would look great! It would be so romantic, to have just a little bit of light at night in a quiet corner.
Ooooooooooooo - I'm positively drooling over Hornbaker's granite department. If you do head to Gee Farms, take a truck. Know what I'm sayin?
ic, I love lanterns. I'll keep that in mind too. We have a big gazebo like thing with the curtains we got from HD last year on clearance. That will be on the patio area right in front of the ties. Lanterns would be pretty.
That's the style I have for both the pagoda and the lantern. They're beautiful. They're just as gorgeous in the winter when the snow collects on them. The lantern was easy to level up, but the pagoda with all those individual pieces was a bear. It's shifted over the last couple of winters and now it's sitting a little crooked. I need to put down a deeper foundation. We also lit the pagoda and put it on an automatic timer. It's nice at night. We used a string of clear Christmas C7's.
My goodness you all went nuts with postings since I was here last. I can hardly stop myself (I won't stop though) from looking up those websites with the lanterns. I really want one myself . . . $$$ going out the window and into the garden . . . LOL!
Did you all mention one of those places are in MI? Why not all meet up there for a DG road trip for us midwesterners????
Also, in zone 5, 5"- 7" of snow is nothing . . . Lake effect snow-we're all used to it. Now if Snapps said 2'-3' of snow I would have more concerns . . .
Funny story, my sister and her daughter moved to TX last June and spent their first winter down there. They love the sun and don't miss the snow. One day last month they had "flurries" and everything shut down in a panic and my sister and daughter couldn't understand why they made a flurry into a mountain of snow. . .
Ohhhh, I see that Hornbakers has their 2009 availability lists up:
http://www.hornbakergardens.com/catalog/
I had a road trip planned to go there last year, I didn't find out about them until right before their final weekend of the season, then something came up and I couldn't get away.
mothermole, that is hilarious. That's how people act here too. It's soooo annoying. The world all of a sudden comes to a screeching halt & god for bid try to go to the grocery for "regular" everyday shopping at a time like that. People literally fight over a parking space. Everyone and their momma is in there buying all the milk & bread & don't dare get in their way! You might leave the store with no teeth! lol The gotta get their grub! lol lol
IC, why oh why do ya'll keep posting this stuff!? Now I have yet another "Must Have" list and dh's eyeballs are going to pop out if he sees the prices for something to "sit" in the yard. lol
I do gotta have one tho. XD
MM - That's a fabulous idea to meet up at Gee Farms. I'm probably going to have foot surgery sometime this summer, but I would actually schedule it so that I could make the trip. I usually go around May 10th, but hey, anytime's a good time to go there. Anytime. ANYTIME AT ALL!!!!
IC- You're BAD! You made the official BAD LIST . . .
okay, Gee farms is 5 hours away from me (one way) without pee breaks, drive through soda breaks. . . Is there anything else to do around there? I have been wanting to take the kids to Cedar Park in Ohio . . . maybe a little stop for Mom . . . Road trip anyone?
Okay, then again after looking through the stock lists it might be better I DON'T go there. I really like my husband and I feel I lack self control and I would buy too many things and it would break my camel's (hubby) back. . . 12 years of marriage all because of Snapple, down the drain . . .
Plus I would have to abandon my kids in Michigan to make room for the conifers and plant stuff. Then I will be put into jail. Maybe I can start a little garden club in prison . . .
mothermole, have't you ever used those bungie cord strap things? That's the best way to strap kids to the top, back or side of the car. I have experience :D
If your dh is like mine, he'll have a hissy fit for a minute then it's all over. He doesn't even remember what he's mad about. lol
MM - I honestly dont know what's around Gee Farms in terms of lodging or entertainment for kids. Cedar Point would be a heck of a drive from Gee Farms. I can't see those two together in a trip with family, especialy with the distance you have to drive. Gee Farms is an amazingly dangerous place for plantaholics. Even my non gardening husband gets enthused and sees stuff that he finds attractive. I take a high top conversion van with all seats removed when I go. I can get trees up to 7' in the back if they are on their side. Four footers can stand up in the center. The drive home is a bit smelly like being in a wet forest. Once one of the plants was slapping both of us in the back if the head as we drove. That was when I was at the height of the "Big Makover". I'm pretty much done and now am looking for just a few things. They have an aboratum too where you can see stuff that's been allowed to attain some size.
Snapple: My husband is insisting I go (what is he up to????). He says it would be good for me to get a break from the kids, connect with like minded people who love my passions. He also said, why not take my convertible and your I-Pod and enjoy the trip with the top down because the kids won't be in the back seat complaining about all the wind blowing them to bits. Get a hotel room and go at my own pace. So here I am taking in the delightful picture in my mind of diving in my husband's car (no kid crumbs or smells or trash or toys) MY music playing and the wind in my face and the sun on my skin. Then it suddenly hit me. He wants me to take the convertible so that I am limited (VERY LIMITED) in the amounts I can purchase once I get there. The hotel room in his head would still be cheaper than most trees I might want and would earn him brownie points in the "MOLE" book. Hmmm, things that look and smell right are not always right . . . I'll have to get even and pretend I am looking into renting a U-Haul to tow behind his beloved convertible. . . LOL!
Seriously, I would do this trip but in my Mini Van. Anyone else besides Snapps and me?
Men should never strive to connive. They almost always fail.
Funny that - My DH just suggested I take the old Miata!
This message was edited Feb 21, 2009 5:06 PM
MM, you can probably find a bunch of miniatures that are several years old and under a foot tall. Those should fit into the trunk of a convertable! At a few hundred dollars a conifer, you would still get the last laugh : P
Have you ever seen the size of a convertibles trunk space? This is where the roof all folds up nicely and tucks away (the trunk space). I might fit a hand bag and a pair of shoes, maybe if I really work at it, a toothpick as well. . . LOL! Nah, just kidding, I can fit stuff in his car and I have had trees in it with the roof down and the limbs hanging out because they were so tall (a nice option with a convertible). I always worry I will get stopped by the police and get a ticket for doing that but so far so good! ; )
Well this will tell you how old I am for sure. I, AND a friend, went into in a drive in movie theater concealed in a convertible trunk. Please, please don't ask me what a drive in movie theater was!
Hey, there is still a drive-in near my husband's grandfather's house in Kenosha! I actually know what one looks like, though I can't say I've ever been to one (that I remember!).
I know that theatre in Kenosha WI. A friend of mine took her kids there last summer. Wanted us to join her but my husband and one of my kids cannot bear to get mosquito bites because they get a severe allergic reaction and it's not worth the trouble.
Snapple, you must have been a very, very, small and thin Snapple back in the day when you and another person fit in the trunk . . .
Why yes I was. Boy how that's changed!
Yeah, same here snapple. I blame it on law school. I was so tiny before I moved to Iowa....sigh....