Spring is here and flowers are blooming! It is time to get started on your gardening plans. Check out the great information in this newsletter to see what plants we are recommending, some of the new items we have in our gift shop and learn about our Mother's Day Event!
SPRING & SUMMER HOURS HAVE RETURNED!
7 Days a Week – 10 to 6pm
We are planning a great Mother’s Day Weekend here at Falling Water Gardens. Come visit us on May 7th and 8th.
On Mother’s Day weekend Moms get to take home a free 4-inch flower, and we will have beautiful hanging baskets ready for purchase, complimentary refreshments, and fun activities.
On May 7th we will also have a fabulous wedding venue open house! Read the Weddings & Events Venue tab in this newsletter to learn more.
Featured Design
Our customers wanted a true Koi pond ready for large fish. This pond is 20’x14’ and 4’ deep. It has a split waterfall/stream about 15’ long. The equipment is hiding behind the waterfall hill and includes a large UV, bead filter, and an out of pond pump. There are also terrestrial and underwater lights in the pond. The pond was installed in four days.
Contact us at info@fallingwaterdesigns.com to get started on your garden project!
Featured Koi:
Kikokuryu
The Kikokuryu is a metallic black & white Doitsu (scaleless or partially scaled) koi fish. Kikokuryu can be black & white, blue & white, or silver & white. Any blue on this fish is not permanent. The fish changes quite frequently. Changes may be caused by environmental changes such as water temperature, lighting, water chemistry, etc. Kikoruyu has good sheen throughout it’s body. The whiter the white on the head, the better quality the Kikoruyu is.
Visit Falling Water Gardens garden center to see the Koi fish we have available!
Keeping Your Koi Happy
Koi are cold-water fish that thrive in water temperatures between 59-77°F. Their metabolism reacts to the temperature of the water that they live in.
Koi do not have stomach acid to digest food, they produce enzymes instead. Below 50°F they cannot produce the enzymes needed to digest their food.
At 50° you can start to feed your fish cool water foods. We have a great selection of quality fish foods within our Gift Shop at our nursery.
pH Balance & Your Pond
You will want to check the pond’s pH level as part of your pond maintenance. Koi do best with a PH between 7 and 8.2.
To test the chemistry of your pond you will want to test for:
– Ammonia
– pH
– Water hardness
At Falling Water Gardens we have a selection of testing kits that will allow you to monitor your pond and ensure a proper environment for fish and plants. Stop by our Nursery and gift shop to purchase your test kits.
Here is a video on how to check your pH of your pond
Getting your pond ready for spring
Around this time of year, we also see an increase of green algae forming in our ponds. This is a normal occurrence, however, we do want to focus on healthy pond environments, and you will want to promote healthy bacteria in your pond.
Read all about how to fully prepare your pond for spring in this article of Spring Pond Maintenance made easy,
You will also want to read up on all the things that will keep your fish happy and healthy in this in-depth article regarding fish health and nutrients.
Stop by the Falling Water Gardens in Monroe, WA to pick up your pond products and aquatic plants!
Featured Plants
Here are this month’s featured plants. We think this selection would look great in your garden right now. Visit our plant database to learn more about aquatic & terrestrial plants. Click on the name of the plants below to learn more about each plant.
Aquatic Plants
Eichhornia crassipes
The Water Hyacinth is a beautiful plant. It has glossy green leaves and lavender blue flowers. The submerged roots are long and hairy and chocolatey brown. They serve as an excellent hiding place and spawning location for many fish.
Sarracenia
Sarracenia are usually the focus of a hardy carnivorous planting. They are a natural for water’s edge or in a bog garden. Sarracenia need at least six hours of direct sun during spring and summer for best growth.
Terrestrial Plants
Anemone coronaria
Poppy anemone is one you are likely to see in spring gardens. It has large, velvety petals in a wide range of colors. They bloom in mid-to-late spring. They attract butterflies and make beautiful cut flowers. These flowers are often found in florists’ arrangements, if you plan to cut for yourself, the flowers have a vase life of three to five days on average. Once they are established they will continue to bloom year after year.
Hyacinth
Hyacinths are spring-blooming bulbs with richly colored flowers and an incredible fragrance that can perfume your entire garden. They bloom in mid-spring at the same time as daffodils and early tulips, and come in a rainbow of colors including white, cream, pink, rose, apricot, lavender, cobalt blue, deep purple and wine red. Like other spring-flowering bulbs, hyacinths are easy to grow. Just plant the bulbs in fall to enjoy beautiful flowers the following spring.
Ranunculus ‘Pauline Violet’
These buttercups are an alluring shade of eggplant when they bloom in early summer. They make an excellent border and are great in cut flower arrangements. To create a striking contrast in your garden, combine violet ranunculus with orange or yellow varieties.
Saxifraga alpino
The Saxifrage include a huge number of alpines. This selection is a good choice for the partially shaded scree garden, wall or alpine trough. It forms a low evergreen cushion or mound of bright green leaves, bearing short stems of upfacing, cup-shaped scarlet-red flowers in spring. Requires a cool, moist location. Dislikes drought and hot humid summer weather. Shear lightly after blooming to remove the flower stems and encourage compact new growth.
Plant Database
Have you checked out our plant database? It contains information about the plants that we sell at the nursery and more!
We have even taken it one step further and have incorporated QR codes into the database to help you save and recall information on the plants you are interested in at home or have bought from our nursery. You can bring us the saved plants from this data base to help us locate the ones you want. As well as when you come to Falling Water Gardens you will be able to scan the plant signs to get further information about the plants and flowers.
What is a QR code? In the simplest terms a QR code is a bar code. Most smart phones come equipped with a bar code/QR code reader that will scan the QR code and bring you to the web page of information about our plants. From there you can bookmark the page. If yours does not contain a QR code reader already, you can download one for free through your phone’s app store.
Gift Shop & Decor
Here’s a sample of items we think you’d enjoy this time of year. Be sure to visit the nursery to see ALL of the latest products and plants! We have a huge selection of décor and gifts to choose from!
Weddings & Events Venue
Save the date for our Wedding Open House on May 7th!
Visit Falling Water Gardens on Saturday, May 7th between 10am and 4pm to experience what a wedding on our venue will look like. The gardens will be set up as if a wedding is about to take place and you will meet some of our favorite vendors to help with your event.
This is a free event. RSVP’ing isn’t required, but you will really help us out by RSVP’ing so we can plan on how many attendees we may have. Contact weddings@FallingWaterGardens.com or click here:
