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Updated: 11.29.23

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2023 June Newsletter

Father's Day

Summer is just a few weeks away!

June is a busy month at Falling Water Gardens, and there are several important dates we’ll be watching for.

June 5th is World Environment Day, and June 6th is National Gardening Exercise Day – we’ve got plenty of ideas for both! There are some great low-water and low-maintenance plants on hand that would be both an easy install and an environmentally-friendly addition to your space!

We will also be celebrating Father’s Day Weekend, June 17 and 18th, in style. More below!

This is our second-busiest weekend of the year and we’ll have lots to do!

Dads get a free fish, we’ll have refreshments and special pricing on items throughout the nursery and grounds. Play lawn games in the formal garden, or take a stroll around one of several show ponds. Feed the koi, visit the peacocks and try to find the bunny!

From biker lawn gnomes and garden dragons to more practical items like thermometers and rain gauges, we have a wide selection of gift ideas!

This event is free and family-friendly! We’ll be open 10 a.m. to p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

This month, instead of focusing on a pond install of ours, we decided to show you a little more about where the magic happens – the fish house. Take a short tour of the fish house and it’s many tanks and specialty plants and come back to see it in person!

We have dozens of varieties and colors of koi and goldfish in different sizes, along with a range of aquatic plants and some stunning terrestrial plants that really like the warmer climate inside our aquatic greenhouse.

The fish house is open to visitors, but please be careful! Many of the tanks have netting to stop the fish from jumping out, and we do ask that visitors keep hands out of the tanks to avoid contamination.

See something you like? Come find someone in a blue Falling Water Gardens shirt.

Our 2023 wedding season is underway! We’re thrilled to have so many couples say “I Do” here at Falling Water Gardens, and we’ve been looking forward to having weddings back for the summer.

We recently held an open house with more than two dozen vendors from around the greater Puget Sound area. You can see photos of the event on our wedding Instagram.

We do have a handful of 2023 dates available! If you or someone you know is looking for a drop-dead gorgeous outdoor wedding venue this summer, have them give us a call or submit a request on our wedding page!

With the summer weather, our glamping tents are also up and running!

This is a special way to experience Falling Water Gardens. You’ll get the peace and quiet of the countryside and a rustic experience of sleeping in a tent – just with a LOT of extras!

While the gardens are a great place to spend time, the glamping tents also make a great jumping off point to visit the Skykomish River, go thrifting in Duvall or travel up Stevens Pass to Leavenworth.

You can visit our AirBnB listings for more information and availability. We have two setups: The Huntsman sleeps two, and the Satterley sleeps four.

Sanke KoiSanke

Sanke tend to change their markings as they mature, which is why some koi owners confuse their Sanke to be a Kohaku.

How can I tell if my Koi is a Sanke?

  • Red and black markings above the lateral line of the fish
  • Little or no black on the head
  • Black markings should be balanced and have a deep contrast to the red/white
  • Fins are either clear, have black stripes or have black marks located on the tip of the fins or closer to the body

 

Sunfire Water Lily

Sunfire Water Lily

The sunfire waterlily is a newer peach waterlily that will do fine in containers but shows its best color as most lilies do in an earth bottom pond where it can stretch its legs (or rhizome) and grow to full potential.

We have a beautiful sunfire waterlily on display in our reflecting pond here at Falling Water Gardens! It’s an excellent place to see these stunning aquatic flowers as they’re meant to be viewed, along with many other lilies in case another color variation fits your space a little better.

White IrisAssorted Iris

This is one plant with many, many varieties! Throughout the gardens, we have quite a few irises in bloom, both aquatic species and terrestrial irises.

The iris is a perennial, either growing from rhizomes or bulbs depending on the climate. They feature a delicate, ornamental bloom on a long, green stem. Colors can range from white and cream to deep blue and purple, and even bright yellow.

Because there is such a variety of uses for irises, we suggest taking a walk through the gardens and finding an iris that tickles your fancy. Find a gardener and we can help teach you how to care for it!

LavenderLavender

Take a stroll to the formal garden where we host weddings, and this featured plant is impossible to miss – even with your eyes closed!

Lavender has extraordinary evocative power, intoxicating us with flowers’ saturated blue, silvery foliage, and head-spinning fragrance. ‘Phenomenal’, a new cultivar, is the hardiest lavender there is: tolerating heat and humidity, resistant to root and foliar diseases, deer proof, and, most extraordinary, surviving winter. With flowers perfect for fresh and dried arrangements, fragrant 24” plants are lovely in the cottage garden, the border or patio. Blooms best after vernalization.

Plant Database

Did you see something you’re interested in on a recent visit and can’t remember the instructions to care for your new plant? Check out our plant database, and ever-growing index of the plants we sell here at the nursery. You can get tips on the amount of sun, watering needs, placement in the garden and even other plants that may pair well with what you have!

If you’re ever here on site and are curious about something you see, scan the QR code on the sign to access the database entry on the plant in question.

No matter what Dad fancies, we have a selection of ideas for Father’s Day! We have a great collection of dragons and gargoyles, spinners, decorative sprinklers, rain gauges and thermometers – and plenty of ideas that aren’t practical at all.

Don’t see what you’re looking for? Feel free to come walk the grounds and pick out ideas, or purchase a gift card so dad can come pick out something on his own time!