On Mon, 28 May 2007 13:46:51 CST, ~ jan wrote:

Hard to explain: http://www.hoshikoi.com/sale1/koi12.jpg
Course mine isn't worth the $2500 asking price of this one. Spelling is
Kujaku. Mine has yellow points instead of orange, and currently not as
prominent, hopefully those will come out more as it grows.

That is a beauty!
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.

Sounds like better numbers. Hal, you'll have to be this year's lecturer on
"Why you don't add or start with goldfish when you really want koi" pond.
;-) This is also why I'm sticking to fantails in the lily pond, so much
easier to catch.... even if the babies revert to a single tail, that egg
shaped body slows them down. I love wakins & shubunkins, so far I've
reminded myself of the catch-ability, and not purchased.

My wife insisted I keep some of the red and whites, so they now live
in what was a hot tub converted to a plant pond and now the home of
goldfish, with a bucket filter and foam aerating nozzle.

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.

If you get them too thick, like I had them. ;-)

I can understand that, mine were on the sides and most years didn't
cover the center.

I like cannas... the wind blew them over several times

Oh yes, I have this problem at times. I find bungee cords work very well.
Hook it, or 2, into the basket and under the rocks on the side. Also place
the tallest cannas so they fall against the side, not in the pond. If I'm
aware of windy weather I'll actually go lay them down so they go where I
want them too.

That didn't occur to me. There are no hooks inside the liner and I
didn't know how to compensate for the depth, except to use a milk
crate under them, actually I used a milk crate for the pot and set the
pot on an empty milk crate.

There are dwarf varieties that don't get as tall, I have 2 of those. One
sent to me years ago by Rod Farlee who last posted to RP in summer of 2002.
:-( I also have the Bengal Tiger he sent me going strong. Now that can be
get to be a HUGE plant by July.

The one's I had were supposed to be a dwarf variety, but they grew to
6' in a flower bed and over 4' in the pond. I will probably try them
again someday. I keep an eye on the ponds of a friend who uses them
exclusively in one pond and rush in another. Plants are held in place
with stones in both ponds.

I'll probably try a couple iris in the shade along with parrot
feather. My wife picked up a small bloody dock, because she liked the
color, but it isn't doing well under the shade, so I can swap places
with a few iris and see what happens.

Regards,

Hal