Water Hawthorne loves cooler/cold water

The elongated leave is the leave of the Water Hawthorne. Water Hawthorne loves cool/cold water and will bloom all winter. The flowers have a slight vanilla fragrance. You can read more here about these amazing plants.

I took the above photo just a few days ago. Now is the time of year to plant the Water Hawthorne bulbs if your water is between 60 and 70 degrees.

I plant them in the same pot as hardy lilies. For a short period of time in the fall and spring both plants will bloom. The hardy lilies will soon be going dormant and the Water Hawthorne will continue to grow and bloom all winter long in the same lily pot. In the spring when the water warms up, the Water Hawthorne will go dormant - just about the time the lilies are starting to wake up for their winter's sleep.

Sock net question

I am still trying to figure out the blog. I tried to post a reply but have no ideas what happened
The answer to your question is could the sock net be made?

I don't think so because it is very fine netting, almost like silk. There is a short handle that is heavy duty. Without the handle the net would be useless in handling large koi.

I do have them available from my one supplier. They are $69.98 plus shipping.

I recently purchased one and sent it to a customer and he "loved it"

If there is enough interest, I would stock them and have them available on my shopping cart.

He also purchased a professional 28" net for netting large koi. The handle, sold separately telescopes from 4 to 8'.

We use both of the items here when handling large koi for shipping and moving them around from tank to ponds, and ponds to tanks (spawning time)

How to move and handle large koi

With large koi it is imperative that you not move them around in a fish net. If they flop or struggle in a net or worse yet, hit the ground, there is a real danger that they will break their back.

We get the fish in the net and then carefully heard the fish into the sock net. You can then pick up the fish in the sock net and move it where it needs to go.

Middle pond cleaning Thursday September 2nd Myths untrue

We cleaned the middle pond yesterday. Drained it down, washed the liner and vacuumed it dry. Removed 5 small koi ( used to keep the snails off of my lilies) and put them in a holding tank with an air stone and pump.

The "shark" in the middle pond was 12 inches, up from 7 inches in March of this year.
The one photo, he/she let me hold him in my hand and roll on its side to get a side view and was extremely docile while held. Try that with a koi!

There are a lot of myths on the Internet about them:
* grows 1 to 2 inches a year
* does not like high pH, my pH is 8.4

I plan to dispel the "myth" that they do not breed in captivity. Because I have a total of 5 in my 15,000 gallon pond, I am sure I have both sexes. I will try to sex them in the spring when we drain the ponds down again for spring cleaning. I will set up a tank in the greenhouse and try to breed them.

Today we cleaned the upper pond by draining it down and washing the liner. We also dead-head lilies and fertilized them. I would see him/her from time but only glimpses because it would dart back into the lilies.

I took this photo of a Chinese hi-fin banded shark that I put in my pond back in March. He/she was 7 inches then and today measured 10-1/2 inches. They are only supposed to grow 1 to 2 inches a year.
Tomorrow we will be doing the middle pond and I know the "shark" there is even bigger. I am anxious to see how much he/she grew since March

Update mid-August

I had abandoned this blog for awhile because I was not sure how to use it.

Soon I will be updating here regularly.

Bonnie

Snow and more snow in NC, lotus plants now shipping

February 15, 2010

This sure seems like the winter that will never end. Snow is rare in North Carolina. Since we moved here from Michigan in 2000 we have only seen snow one time. And while our winters are cold, we rarely see ice.
Now in just the past few weeks we have had snow 3 times. And possibly the 4th time will be today. And we have had record cold and ice on one pond that holds koi that we sell.



The photos are of my pond, taken on Saturday February 13th


Stream-bed, bridge over stream bed and upper pond




















Lower pond where my koi live, waterfalls, middle pond, stream bed


My email is filled with cries of help from many of my customers because these snow storms have effected mostly areas in the southeast USA, and folks who normally don't or have rarely dealt with snow and below normal temperatures.

It is truly heart-breaking for me to hear of ponds with dead fish. Twelve ponds so far. I sent out 3 email newsletter in January to my customers with tips and hints on dealing with record cold and snow. If you would like a copy, email me and I will be happy to send it to you.

Lotus tubers
We are into the 3rd week of shipping lotus tubers and a few varieties are now close to being sold out. Lotus can only be shipped while dormant and that is January - March or until we sell out.

The tubers are started in the house during the winter to ensure that they bloom the first year. This is particularly important in colder climates where the growing season is much shorter. I do provide step by step photos and information on how to get lotus tubers started inside.

You can see prices, varieties and make a purchase here Shopping cart click on the folder that says Lotus.