On Sun, 27 May 2007 15:06:07 CST, ~ jan wrote:

My favorites also, all of mine are now butterfly, and I saw the most
gorgeous one I'd like in my collection in Yakima. Until I see one like that
for sale, I won't be buying any more. The little one I have in Q is a
kajaku (spelling?) very nice.

What color is that in English?
I have a different fish count today. A couple visitors helped me net
out the goldfish Sunday and took them home. Sonny also picked up his
two short fins that had been boarding here since his pond cracked last
year. We were expecting a couple months, maybe, but health and
circumstance extended their stay until the pond was really full. Today
I have 4 adult 5 yearlings (8 to 12") and shredded lilies that I hope
will recover. Unfortunately I still have at least 5 goldfish, that
are black very fast and difficult to see on a black liner. I gave up
on catching all of them rather than drain.

So far my koi have continued to be very good. Though I only have 2 lilies
in the upper pond. The lower pond ends up being mostly T.cannas I've
conditioned to water. But that's why I put in the lily pond, so could have
more lilies that were not obstructing the view of the fish. ;-) Also why
the lower pond needs more variety of fish colors.

I was hoping for shade from the lilies and the fish seem to swim
around in the open water, so I never thought of them as blocking the
view.

This could be why the lilies were getting eaten, they needed more greens.

Probably, they are still growing, but there were a lot of them and I
wouldn't be surprised that they didn't get everything they need in
their diet.

I don't really want to get into the food controversy.... but I'm not a fan
of Mazuri, so I'll just leave it at that. ;-)

Thanks for that. I buy what is available at a reasonable price and
hope for the best for the fish. I couldn't argue with you about what
would be the very best, but life isn't perfect.

Because they take up so much space that I'd rather use for my cannas, I now
rotate my plants. My DH gave me these big holeless pots (3) one was suppose
to drill a hole. I decided instead of dirt, fill with water and water
plants. Everyone likes those spiky plants in the middle of these type pots
right? So why not spiky iris? I put the iris in the pots when the cannas
are ready to go in the pond. I have small floating islands I planted this
year with creeping jenny & impatiens to nestle in amongst the iris.

You have talent for making things look good.
I like cannas and had them for a couple years, they begin to grow at
40F and are pretty tough. I did have a bit of a problem with the
Brazilian Skipper larvae (leaf roller) that kept them looking nasty,
plus the wind blew them over several times and a second year bunch of
cannas is a bit heavy to handle so I gave them up for shorter plants,
mostly floaters.

The iris give me great plant filtration in the pond in the fall and spring
before the cannas go out. :-) And then look great by the front door. I
still put them in baskets, for containment and easy removal, but I no
longer use dirt, just rocks. ~ jan

That's interesting. I just got Louisiana iris last year and didn't
notice they grew before cannas, not much does here except parrot
feather, but I will be watching next spring and they do multiply well.
Have you ever tried them in shade? I have a vacant 160 gallon pond
under the gazebo now that needs something.

I'm glad the rocks work for you. It seems every time I try stones it
sets up a small spot for collecting debris and gets nasty. Bricks
seem to work better for me, after I find a way to tie/attach them to
the plants.

Regards,

Hal