Get Excited for Spring.

Spring flowers are blooming. Time to start getting your pond ready for Spring and Summer enjoyment. We will be opening Saturday May 5th. With a large selection of pond plants to bring spring renewal to your pond. On tap for this year is the return of some of your favorites we didn't have last year and maybe in a few years, and soon some great new Water Lilies will be arriving. Despite our wet spring weather, I think we will see a great summer. So spruce up your outdoor living areas and prepare for a great escape to your own back yard with friends and family.

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And Mothers day is coming so stay tuned to facebook for more Savings.

Great Opening Weekend!

Was great to get open, and see old friends and meet new pond enthusiasts.

I planted a few of our new offerings this weekend, this is King Tut, a compact Papyrus. It has all the attributes of the Giant Egyptian Papyrus but only grows to 3 feet tall. Already I can see that it is going to be a favorite for many, and will add more to my next plant order.



I also planted another new plant for us, the Giant Pickerell Rush, it is a stately plant that grows to four feet and has blue flowers.

Find us and Connect.

You can now find Finch Family Water Garden on facebook!

APRIL HOURS

April hours begin April 9th! We will be open Saturdays 10am-6pm and Sundays 10am-5pm during April as the weather continues to warm up.

Many of your favorite plants are already planted, and Hyacinths and Lettuce are set to arrive this week. A few of the other plants I ordered will be coming a little later as the weather hasn't allowed them to mature as quickly as usual. Fish will also start arriving a little later in the month as shipping conditions and transition temperatures become more favorable.

The shelves are stocked with your favorite pond supplies and this is a great time to get your pond cleaned and started up for a great summer to come.

Mention this blog, and receive 15% off all in stock Laguna products including Spitters and Nets.

It has been a busy couple weekends at the nursery. Last weekend following the snow I spent my time doing some much needed cleaning following a mild but always rough winter. I trimmed up plants, cleaned almost all of the ponds that house the plants in the selling area as well as the ponds that hold the fish. I cleaned off the slab and made the nursery workable once again. I also gathered many supplies that are needed to make Finch Family Water Garden come to life such as soil and pea gravel. As excited as I was to start planting it was obvious the snow and 20 degree temperatures had set things back.

Finally this weekend it was time to begin planting. I planted many of your favorites and am anxiously waiting for others to spring to life, tomorrow I will be planting more, such as Water Forget-Me-Nots, Marsh Marigolds, and other shade and cool loving plants.

I am still undecided about when opening day will be. But I don't want to bring the hyacinths and lettuce in too early, and while we have seen a few days of sun, it has still been very dark and cloudy. I hope to give you a stronger opening date after next weekend.

I know you are all anxious to bring your ponds to life, there has been a noted
amount of calls on the caller id, especially on sunny days. However the temperatures are still cool at night. Pond plants grown naturally are dependant on the water temperatures. I don't force the plants to life which gives you a quality product I have built the nursery name on.

Your fish may show signs of activity on a sunny day, but please wait for the weather to warm up before you start to feed them. I suggest not feeding them when the water is below 50 degrees and I actually wait until the water consistently stays at or above 55 degrees, They will be fine, they can help you clean the pond by eating algae which is easy for them to digest before then.

The Promise of Spring

Spring is a time of renewal. As the days and evenings begin to warm. A walk in the garden shows new signs of growth each day. Trees begin to bud, life begins to emerge from dormant bulbs hiding deep beneath ground and early bloomers like the Camellia show bright spots of color.

It seems odd to be talking about Spring as just Thursday we saw two inches of snow on the valley floor and our temps this morning dipped to below 20 degrees.

Our Front Yard, February 24th, 2011

But regardless of our temporary weather Spring has Sprung into action. I have taken my walks through the garden, checked my bulbs and dismayed at the clean-up that needs done.....I was really hoping the weather would have begun to warm a little more by now. But regardless of it I have been able to catch a few beautiful days when I wasn't at work. A month ago I go I found a beautiful Sunday and spent several hours weeding in the Memorial Garden. The weekend before last Sunday was great day for cleaning the display pond, I had intended to start it Saturday when I got home from work. However that was the day the wind kicked up and blew through the night. Was a good thing I didn't clean it just to have it full of leaves from the Patio roof, but there was a blessing in that, as now I don't have to clean the patio roof off this summer.

With Expertees closed now on Saturdays I took last weekend to do some work on the nursery area. I trimmed plants in the greenhouse and was amazed by the new growth I was seeing. Almost everything is showing The Promise of Spring, and I hope the weather this weekend doesn't set them back. While out there I also began emptying the plant ponds to ready them for the newly planted plants and cleaning fish ponds. For me as cold as it was it was a great weekend with promise for a new year.

My hope is still to open the first weekend in April, but we will have to see what the weather decides to do. There are a lot of plants to plant, and at this point I think it is in their best interest to let them be rather than start separating them before this cold snap has passed.

It's chilly out, but it is dry today, take a walk in your in your own yard and look for The Promise of Spring. Just this morning I have a lone daffodil bloom smiling at me, greeting me with The Promise of Spring.

Gearing up for 2011!

I know we are all looking forward to a bright and shiny new year. Last years weather made it difficult to do any kind of gardening. Those of you who tried to grow vegetables will understand that, many people planted their gardens three or four times and managed very little yield as the growing season was cut quite short. Myself I tried to do a corn maze for Uncle Daniel's Pumpkin Patch, only to have the small stalks Knocked to the ground by rain before October.

The economy kept us all on our toes as we watched several large and small businesses slip away. However as we watch the economy begin to pick up there are more and more jobs becoming available.

Personally my spring and summer was plagued by the loss of of precious family members and friends. I certainly hope I never have to endure (or anyone else does) six losses in less than Six Months again. For those of you that visited you may have noticed my heart just wasn't in the day to day activities that I love so much.

ON A BRIGHTER NOTE I ended 2010 on New Years Eve at the nursery Doing Year End Inventory and Started 2011 on New Years Day by prepping planters and doing the initial Spring Cleaning, gearing myself up for a Great year. I can't wait Spring to arrive so that I can start planting, and playing in the yard.

Earlier as fall waned to Winter, I moved all of the tropical plants into the greenhouses and bedded others down for the winter. I have already ordered Water lily tubers in anticipation of the upcoming season.

An important thing to remember is that the greatness of a year falls mostly in our Attitude. I hope you all have a great 2011, I am looking for to it being one of the best years I can create.

Great shipment of fish.

Oregon Weather, You have to love it (Right?), this spring is proving to be one of the darker and wetter ones we have seen in a long time. Luckily yesterday I got to stay out of the rain by staying under the fish area putting a way a large shipment of fish.

My supplier has started limiting deliveries to every other week this year because of transportation costs following last years still lingering economy. This proves to be difficult as They don't always have what I need when I want it. But this week they had a good selection so I took advantage of it. We got both Koi and Butterfly Koi, Sarasas, Shubunkins, and Pond Comets. We also got some exceptionally nice Black Moors. I am pleased with the colors and and the assortment of sizes we got on many of the fish.

With the sharp increase of fish sells I am seeing this spring I am hoping that the fish supplier will begin to feel a little more comfortable and be making weekly deliveries soon.

Right now the selection is great, so if you are in the market for fish the fishing is good.

Celebrating

April 26th marked Finch Family Water Gardens 13th anniversary as we journey into our 14th season of being open to the public. A lot has changed and the nursery has seen a lot of growth in those 14 years. Looking back through years is always great fun. I opened the nursery to the public on my Birthday with a dream in 1997. At that time ponds were just beginning to get noticed and people came out of curiosity not knowing what a water garden was.

As my friends and I labored to build that dream I told them time and time again, "Build it and they will come," and had to remind myself "Rome wasn't built in a day."

I invite you to leave comments on the blog of the changes you have seen at Finch Family Water Garden and in the place over the 14 years.

Quick Note

Going to be a busy day, I will be off to work (Expertees) soon. I am so excited, We will be recieving a large shipment of fish tonight, so those of you who have been out looking for fish a good portion of them will be here this weekend. It will make for a long evening getting them all acclimated to the temperature difference and PH of my ponds. Japanese Black Trapdoor Snails are proving to be very popular once again this year. I believe I a hundred of them coming as I have sold most of my own stock in the last two weeks.

The Shipment I was expecting last week of pond supplies arrived and I will need to get it all priced and on the shelves......These things make believe that spring is truly here!

Season Opening

Today is Opening Day 2010! Overall I am pleased with the progress that has been made considering the weather we have had this Spring. About 75% of the plants are planted. Mostly it is just the Tropical and Semi-Tropicals that are lagging behind.

The Hyacinths and Lettuce arrived and look beautiful. The lettuce are particularly large this Shipment.

Some fish have arrived, and I was informed that fish deliveries will now be every two weeks instead of weekly. It appears the cold weather across the country has slowed shipments, Hopefully that will change as we move into summer.

Mother Nature appears to be smiling down on us this weekend by giving us a reprieve from the rain. Hopefully I will find a little mowing time today as the lawn is looking a fright, each time I have gotten a chance to mow it the rains have kept me from keeping up on it.

Our Spring Hours are Friday and Saturday 10-6, Sundays 10-5

It's Coming Together.

This weekend helped by the beautiful weather (well at least Friday and Saturday) things began to start taking the shape I have been waiting for. Still a couple more weeks of cleaning up, but we are set to open on Saturday April 10th (The weedend following Easter).

Friday I was off to Portland to pick up plants, was a good trip but disappointing as most of the plants I had ordered didnt arrive. I needed the driving time to clear my mind of the last months hectic schedule, and got a chance to stop at a few nurserys. Realized that the dark winter has put us all a little behind of the game. I picked up the lotus and waterlily tubers, but only a few of the other things I ordered. I am hoping they will arrive before We open in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday Amanda (who worked for me for several years) came by and made quick work of cleaning up the retail area. It still needs some work but I am still frantically planting so there is no need to mop yet. A huge THANK YOU to Amanda, and she promised to be back next weekend.

Today was definetly a planting day. And though Daniel had to be at Michaels working this evening he was out there with me the early part of the day. I seperated and he planted many types of plants. Some things are holding out on me waiting for a longrun of nice weather. Most of the tropicals are reluctant to start their growth spurt....I understand, while the winter wasn't a harsh one it seems it was a particularly dark one.

A regular customer stopped by this weekend and I was here so I let her in.....she was after supplys and was amazed to see plants in the ponds as hers have yet to begin growing. I reminded her I open in a few weeks so I can't wait. Remember though that I apply very little heat to my plants and that is why they do so good. I rotate them through the Greenhouses (unheated) as they start growing. Some things never even make it into the green houses, the shade plants all love the cool temperatures and are always the first things to start growing and to bloom marsh marigolds are blooming crazily. If you don't have one yet this might be the year to pick one up. Nothing says spring like blooming plants in late February or early March.

Quiet time

I am not really sure what to say. I know it has been a while since I posted. Everything happened so fast. My mother passed away March 2nd, we laid her to rest on March 5th.....those are the dates I know.

She was my greatest cheerleader and believed in me very much. This month has been very busy taking care of things I didn't know needed to be taken care of. I have found solice in the nursery, though it seems I have been out there very numbly....going through the motions. But despite it all I am hoping the nursery will be open the Saturday following Easter.

Numbly I have planted what I can. Other plants are ordered and I will be picking them up Friday we will quickly have them planted and ready for you. I hope that I can get everything cleaned to my expectations in the next few weeks if not please understand.

A Personal Note

I stand upon my desk to remind myself
that we must constantly look at things
in a different way

--John Keating, Dead Poets Society

Many of you, my beloved customers and friends often ask about my mother, and I thank you for that, she and I have always had a very strong relationship. Tuesday morning I received a call telling me that the doctors have concurred it is time time to start hospice. Obviously my mind is reeling in many directions.

She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1999 just two years after I opened the nursery to the public. I kept her here at the place for 6 years, and many of you were blessed with meeting her. She now resides in Lydia's House, the Alzheimer's unit at the Mennonite Village. She has received wonderful care, and we will continue to try our best to make the remainder of her life as comfortable as possible.

My hope is to run the nursery as usual, we have began planting and preparing for the upcoming season, but please be understanding if there are unforeseen delays, lat openings, or short closures this year. If this should happen I apologize in advance.

I am currently hoping to open the weekend following Easter.

Thank You for your support.

Love and Light to All,

James

This weekend was a blessing, bright sunshine and warmer weather, not only helps the plants to grow, but brightens my spirits.

I got lots of quality time at the nursery, separating plants and planting them. I managed to get three more ponds cleaned, and things are beginning to look a little more inviting out there after a dark winter.

The plants emerging from their winter dormancy of course is dependent on the temperatures, and many of them are still lying dormant as our nights are still rather cool keeping the water temperature of the ponds low.

I cleaned the bog pond on the large display pond to ready it to receive plants. I started the water flow to it and started the skimmer back up for the spring. I noticed I had string algae forming in the creek so I turned the system off and applied Green Clean, I want to stay ahead of the game on that and hopefully have it taken care of before the warmer weather arrives.

A little mowing time was a must as the grass was looking quite ragged. I didn't manage to get everything mowed, as the nursery was my first focus for the weekend. But all in all things are beginning to look a lot better.

As the days grow longer and the weather warms I find it harder and harder to sit myself down to write on the blog, but I will do the best I can to keep you informed of the progress.

Loving this Spring!

As the weather begins to warm the plants are beginning to spring to life. I got some things trimmed back today, and have began cleaning ponds to prepare them for the newly planted plants. I managed to plant three types of plants today. Got Moss Killer down on the yard and in general had a good day.....being outside with sun always has that affect on me.

Yesterday someone came by wanting fish food......once again I will tell you IT IS TO EARLY, feeding cold water fish or any fish when the temperature of the water is below 50-60 degrees is not good, and even harmful to them. As the sun hits the water they will begin to come to the top where the water is warmer, but they are still not active enough to be eating. Remember last summer when they swam and played. Until the water warms up feeding them is actually harmful to them. Their Digestive system is still dormant.

But back to your pond, now is a great time to clean it, early spring when the temps are still cool allows nutrients to be used up before the summer heat arrives bringing Algae. Also with the water temperatures cooler there is less chance of causing shock to you fish.

GEARING UP FOR A GREAT YEAR.

This weekend has been all about getting ready for a great year. I spent yesterday gathering supplies, items such as soil and gravel for planting, and getting them put into the shop. Today I prepped a couple hundred planters. This may seem early to many, but when you stop to think about the number of plants we carry, and getting them all planted and ready to go it really isn't.

I also got the filters cleaned in the large display pond and cleaned out the pumps. The fish seem to be enjoying the increased flow of water, as I didn't clean the pump last week. It would be nice to have the door open on the house so I could hear the water flowing.

I took a few minutes to take a look at the Sarasas and Shubunkins that were spawned here last year and am pleased with their progress. I also noted that the water lilies are putting up their first feeder leaves.

While most of other plants are lying dormant waiting for the water in the ponds to warm up a walk through the yard showed new growth on many plants. Daffodils are breaking the ground and both the irises and day lilies are shooting up quickly. Sprouts on the Gloriosa Daisies surprised me. Many of the ground covers have also began to grow. I received a very nice moss last year, that is almost fern like, I was worried it wouldn't take as I got it in November, but it is doing nicely. I guess I shouldn't have worried about it so much as I also noticed a beautiful crop of moss coming up in the yard.

Thanks!

I received a letter this past week from Google. I was a little surprised to say the least--they know What Finch Family Water Garden is? Yep, they do, it was a congratulations letter for being a favorite place on Google. It went on to tell me the number of times google users found my business and also how many times they requested additional information between July 1st and September 30th of 2009 (Seeing the statistics stacked up was shocking as I can only see the last month at any given time).

I have to Chuckle some, as I watch the statistics and what people are searching for when they find me daily, and I know this quarters statistics will blow the ones that got Finch Family Water Garden noticed by Google out of the water even now that the nursery is closed for the season.

Thanks to Google for acknowledging it, but Thank You for searching for Finch Family Water Garden. You are the ones that have made Finch Family Water Garden a favorite place on Google and your favorite place to go for all of your pond needs.

December 2009

After several days of lows hitting 11 degrees the pond is masked by a heavy layer of ice. I tried to check the thickness of the ice yesterday, but couldn't get a good reading. Since the water remained flowing through it the edges of the ice where the water was moving are tappered. The best I could get was about three inches, but I have a feeling in the center it is much thicker. In the preformed ponds in front of the house where there was no water flowing I can see that the ice goes all the way to the shelf, 6 to 8 inches deep.

The water in the main pond continued to flow quite nicely durning this cold snap. The waterfall gathered some ice on the sides, but kept the upper pond open where it went in, and also where it flows out into the stream.


I did worry some about the stream getting clogged with ice and running over, but the water continued to flow under the sheet of ice. That movement kept the lower pond open where the water entered it.



The fish hudled at one end of the pond and seemed to be suspended as their metabolism has slowed. I easily managed to count 26 fish in this one spot at the foot of the pond.