Current Pond 54° F
Updated: 5.01.25
Summer’s Almost Here – Let’s celebrate Dad, gardens, and the great outdoors!
June is one of our favorite months at Falling Water Gardens — the ponds are alive, the koi are active, and the garden is bursting with blooms! As we count down the days to summer, we’re also keeping our eyes on a few exciting dates:
🌱 June 5: World Environment Day
🌿 June 6: National Gardening Exercise Day
🐟 June 14–15: Father’s Day Weekend!
Whether you’re looking to enhance your space with low-water, low-maintenance plants or find perfect Father’s Day deals on gifts, there’s something here for everyone this month.
Father’s Day Weekend is one of the liveliest events of the year here at Falling Water Gardens, and we’re excited to welcome families for two full days of fun, fresh air, and garden inspiration. Whether Dad is a seasoned gardener, a pond enthusiast, or just loves spending time outdoors, there’s something here for everyone.
Dads will receive a free fish to take home—something a little more special than your average fair goldfish—and the whole family can enjoy refreshments, lawn games in the formal garden, and plenty of opportunities to explore the grounds. From feeding the koi and saying hello to our peacocks, to discovering your new favorite plant or garden ornament, it’s the perfect way to spend the weekend together.
You’ll also find special pricing throughout the nursery, with deals on everything from unique garden art to practical tools and décor. We’ll be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, and we invite you to make a day of it. Bring your camera, your walking shoes, and your love for gardens—we’ll handle the rest.
We last featured our greenhouse back in summer 2023, and while not much has changed in our fish house it remains one of the more popular places for visitors!
This is where we keep many of our koi and goldfish before they head out to new homes. You’ll see tanks full of vibrant colors, from tiny goldfish to larger koi. We carry dozens of varieties and sizes, so whether you’re starting your first pond or adding to your collection, there’s plenty to choose from.
But it’s not just about fish. The fish house is also home to aquatic plants and heat-loving tropicals that thrive in the greenhouse climate.
Visitors are welcome inside, but we do ask you to be careful. Please don’t reach into the tanks—our netting helps keep the fish safe, and clean water is key to their health.
If you see something you love, just flag down someone in a blue Falling Water Gardens shirt. We’re happy to help you find the right fish or plant for your pond—or answer any questions about setup and care.
As we get further into the summer season and the fish are more active, it’s important to make sure your pond is balanced – especially when it comes to ammonia levels. That can be a big risk as your koi pond gets warmer.
Ammonia in ponds is common and can be extremely toxic to your fish, causing illness or death.
Causes of high ammonia are:
* An overstocked pond
* Overfeeding your fish
* An improperly functioning biological filter
* A Biological filter that has been cleaned “too well” or with chlorinated water from the tap
* No biological filter at all
Every time a fish breathes he creates ammonia, just like when you breathe you create carbon dioxide. Other contributors to high ammonia levels are excess fish waste from overfeeding and excess food and plant material decomposing in the pond.
A large pond with only a few fish can deal with the ammonia that is created because it is changed through a chemical/biological system into “fertilizer” that the plants in your pond can use and thus eliminating the ammonia from the pond.
In small ponds or ponds with a lot of fish we add a piece of equipment called a biological or bead filter. We grow beneficial bacteria on the filter media that happens to love to eat ammonia. The bacteria and the fish live happily together both taking care of the other.
In winter much of the bacteria dies so every spring we need to “seed” our biological filter by adding beneficial bacteria to the pond. Falling Water Gardens sells several varieties of beneficial bacteria for you to use. You typically add the bacteria to the pond. It is then pumped through your filter and begins growing in the filter. We suggest adding the bacteria three times in a row with three to seven days between applications.
For more information on how to check your ammonia levels and seed your biological filter, visit our section on pond maintenance.
Our featured fish for July is the striking Hi Utsuri!
“Utsuri” is short for Utsurimono, a type of koi known for its bold black base color paired with vibrant red, yellow, or white markings. These koi are prized for their balanced, high-contrast patterns.
Shiro Utsuri—the white and black variety—is the most common. The ideal Shiro has a pure, subtly glossy white base with deep, jet-black sumi (black markings), including partial sumi in the dorsal and caudal fins.
Hi Utsuri, our spotlight this month, showcases a red-to-orange base with rich black markings. There’s also the Ki Utsuri, featuring a striking yellow and black contrast.
In all Utsuri types, the sumi should ideally begin at the nose or mouth and appear in a pattern-like rhythm all the way to the tail.
Now that the warm season is in full swing, here are a few of our favorite blooms that are currently flowering here at the garden center.
The Sunfire waterlily is a newer peach-colored variety. It grows well in containers but really shines in an earth-bottom pond, where it can stretch its legs (or rhizomes) and reach its full potential.
We have a beautiful Sunfire waterlily on display in our reflecting pond here at Falling Water Gardens!
Hardy water lilies are one of our specialities, and we sell them in bunches throughout the summer season. They can survive through the winter with the right care, and bring delicate color to whatever space they’re added to – along with some good shade for your fish!
This is one plant with many, many varieties. Throughout the gardens, you’ll see several in bloom—both aquatic species and terrestrial types.
Irises grow from rhizomes or bulbs, depending on the climate. They produce delicate, ornamental blooms on long green stems. Colors range from white and cream to deep blue, purple, and even bright yellow.
Because there are so many options, we recommend taking a stroll through the gardens and finding one that catches your eye. Find a gardener nearby—we’d be happy to show you how to care for it!
Walk over to the formal garden, where we host weddings, and you’ll find this plant is impossible to miss—even with your eyes closed.
Lavender captivates with its deep color, silvery foliage, and unforgettable fragrance. ‘Phenomenal,’ a newer cultivar, is one of the hardiest types yet—tolerant of heat and humidity, resistant to disease, deer-proof, and even winter-hardy.
With its beautiful blooms, fragrant 24” plants, and multiple uses in fresh or dried arrangements, lavender is a lovely addition to borders, patios, and cottage gardens. It blooms best after vernalization.
We’re now in the midst of our 2025 wedding season, but we do have limited dates available and we’re beginnig to book dates in 2026!
If you missed our spectacular open house on Mother’s Day Weekend, we remain open for tours of the venue here at the garden center. To schedule a tour or for more information, visit our dedicated wedding website or take the virtual tour below!
Below are a few of our favorites from the gift shop and around the garden center! Garden art is particularly popular around Father’s Day Weekend, especially the larger anmals like herons and dragons.
If you’re not able to bring dad on Father’s Day, we also sell gift cards so he can come back and explore on his own!
Falling Water Designs is an award-winning Seattle, Washington-based landscape design and pond installation company serving the following areas: Seattle, Bothell, Bellevue, Sammamish, Redmond, Kirkland, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Clyde Hill, Medina, Mercer Island, and more.
