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.