22nd annual pond tour - sckoi.com
TRANSCRIPT
Visit our Web Site at: www.sckoi.comClub Meetings:
The club meets on the third Tuesday of each month except July (Third Thurs-day) and December (No Meeting) in the Willow Glen Public Library, 1157 Minne-sota Ave, San Jose, CA 95125. Check the web site Calendar for updates and amap. At our meetings we get acquainted with any guests, address any pondissues from guests or members. We generally follow this with a presentationwhich is usually related to pond or water gardening. Finally, we enjoy refresh-ments and open discussion.
V O L U M E 2 9 , N U M B E R 8 A u g u s t , 2 0 1 3
22nd Annual Pond Tour
Jack & Linda Christiansen’s Koi Grazing
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Officers Phone Email
President Frank Mullaney (408) 691-2656 [email protected]
Vice President Cal Hansen (408) 394-4642 [email protected]
Secretary Don Chamberlain (408) 594-4161 [email protected]
Treasurer Eve Bretzke (408) 559-7762 [email protected]
Board of Directors
Cal Hansen
Dave Shelley
Don Chamberlain
Frank Mullaney
Rita Hughes
Sanjiv Kapoor
Club Functions Phone Email
Program Director Cal Hansen (408) 394-4642 [email protected]
Email Don Chamberlain (408) 594-4161 [email protected]
Splash Don Chamberlain (408) 594-4161 [email protected]
Website Don Chamberlain (408) 594-4161 [email protected]
Club Equipment Cal Hansen (408) 394-4642 [email protected]
Pond Tour Selection Dave Shelley (408) 269-5911 [email protected]
Event Coordinator Open Need a Volunteer for this Critical Role
Dealer Relations Cal Hansen (408) 394-4642 [email protected]
AKCA Representative Don Chamberlain (408) 594-4161 [email protected]
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MembershipClub dues are $30.00 per year. Our fiscal year starts July 1, so if you join before that date, your duesfor the remainder of the current year will be prorated at the rate of $2.50 per month.
To join, send your name, address, phone number and email address along with your check for dues to:
SCVKWGPO Box 9006
San Jose, CA 95157
Or better yet, come to a meeting and give your information and check to Eve.
Treasurer’s Report
CD (maturity 5/5/14) Statement Date Notes
4/19/13 $12,902.79
Checking
Beginning Balance 5/25/13 $8,936.03
Ending Balance 6/27/13 $8,533.15
Income (to date) 7/23/13
Dues $785.00
Advertising $2,155.00
Pond Tour $3,130.00
Other
Total Income $6,070.00
Expenses (to date) 7/23/13
Room Rent $70.00
Pond Tour $1,567.24 Chk 546 not cleared as of 6/26/13
AKCA Dues $100.00
Insurance $125.00
Website $107.88
Hospitality $61.04 Chk 665 not cleared as of 6/26/13
Other $27.14 Chk 664not cleared as of 6/26/13
Total Expenses $2,058.30
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In MemoriamJulaine Smith Mullaney
BornFebruary 4, 1942
Deadwood, South Dakota
DiedTuesday, July 3, 2013San Jose, California
She’ll be missed by all.
July Director’s Meeting 7/18/2013Attendees
Terry Denevan, Cal Hansen, Dave Shelley, DonChamberlain, and Rita Hughes
Pond Tour Status
An unforeseen issue has arisen with Pond #2. As aresult it was unanimously determined that TerryDenevan’s pond would replace the previouslyannounced pond. Thanks to Terry for making thisoffer at this late date.
Dave Shelley will produce maps showing the locationof the new pond. Rita will help distribute these Fridayafternoon.
Treasurer
Eve Bretzke has volunteered to assume the role ofTreasurer after the passing of our long time Trea-surer, Julaine Mullaney. Eve was nominated for thisposition by Don Chamberlain by email earlier in theweek. Her nomination was seconded by Cal Hansenand she was unanimously approved for the positionby all director’s present. We welcome Eve to thisposition and thank her for stepping forward.
July Meeting7/18/2013Attendees
We had a good turn out for this special Pond Tourpreperation meeing, 37 members and pond ownerswere in attendance. All but one of the pond owners
came and the one that missed was absent becausehe was conducting the Bonsai Club meeting.
Club Business
In Frank’s absense Cal called the meeting togetherand asked for pond problems. No one had any so Calthen announced that this would be the last year thatRita would be handling Event Coordination.
This typically includes finding volunteers for theCherry Blossom Festival, the Pond Tour, arrangingthe Christmas Party and any other events the clubmay engage in.
We certainly hope that someone will step forward tofill this critical role as it will be nearly impossible forthe club to do anything worthwhile without this posi-tion filled.
We certainly want to give our sincere thanks to Ritafor filling this role for so long. I have no idea how longshe’s been doing this, but certainly as long as I’vebeen involved with the club. Thanks Rita for a job welldone!
Cal then asked for volunteers to help with the club’sbooth at the county fair.
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Volunteers will get free tickets and parking passes forthe fair. Call Frank Mullaney, 408-691-2656 to volun-teer or get more information.
Besides helping get the word out about our club andthe hobby of koi keeping in general there a severalother good reasons to attend the fair.
Pond Tour Preparation
Cal then introduced Rita who proceeded to give apresentation on the duties of the ticket takers andexplain the table setup and the contents of the “Box”.
As usual this was a lively discussion and many ques-tion were made and answered. At the completion ofthe explanation we were treated to a very pleasantsurprise when the owner’s of Pond 1, Reno andPaula, came forward with an invitation for all of the
volunteers to join them for a post tour wine andcheese tasting. I’m certainly looking forward to that.
Desert
At this point the formal meeting adjourned and weenjoyed the usual fine snacks provided by Alan andLinda Merrifield. Owners and workers got introducedto each other while several of the club officers scur-ried about placing the money and tour guides in theboxes before the morning shift ticket takers left withthem.
The President’s Cornerby Frank Mullaney
Why did I join the Koi Club?
My son who is in the army started a pond in the backyard and when he went into the army he left a big holeand a temporary pond with fish in it. I went to themeetings and pond tours looking for a magic formulafor doing the filtration. Lon had done all the researchbut I did not understand what he was doing.
By joining the club I was able to talk to others who hadponds and I soon found out that there was no magicformula or design for a pond, each one is different asthe Koi keeper.
I knew every society needs workers and I was glad tohelp but a lot of the meetings and activities were onFriday night or Saturday and Sunday. Because of mybusiness I was not able to help. When the meetingswere moved to Tuesday this made it easier to attendmeetings and activities.
Pond PlantsStopped by Cherry Hill Koi to chat with Gregg Steedabout pond plants last month. Timely, as I don’t haveany plants in my new pond, but I got some good ideaswhy my luck with plants when I did have them was sobad. Maybe some of this information will help thoseof you that do have plants.
The day I was there a gentleman was returning alotus with brown leaves that looked just like the lotusI used to try to raise. Gregg put it back into his pondwhich also housed the beauty in the next column.Gregg recommends that you only attempt to grow aPerry’s Yellow Sunburst lotus in this area.
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Beautiful Yellow Lotus
If lotus sound a little too challenging for you, you canenjoy much more lasting beauty with water lilies.Gregg says you’ll have the best luck with hybrids con-taining yellow Mexicani stock in there makeup. Thishybrid is on the borderline between tropical and hardyvarieties.
With a little luck and care you can easily have a scenelike this.
Hardy Water Lilies in Bloom
Tropical varieties produce many more blooms, butthey are slowed by cool nights, so may not show any
blooms until June when the weather is cool like it hasbeen this year.
Lonely Tropical Lily Blossom
Tropical lilies are generally annuals. They turn tomush when the weather gets cool. Occasionallythey’ll produce a nut.
You can place this nut near the surface of the waterwhere it is warmest. With luck, in the Spring it willbegin to produce new plants.
A nut can produce hundreds of lilies. You simply nipthem off and repot.
Speaking of repotting, you’ll probably need to repotyour hardy lily each spring. The rhizome grows veryquickly and will grow right out of your pot if not cutback.
Dividing Water Lily
Place the cut end next to the side of pot. Fill the potwith heavy clay, aquatic plant potting soil, or PrettyKitty Clay litter (available at Walmart).
The lily should be fertilized with aquatic plant tabs,spikes or time release fertilizer pellets. Gregg says
EyesCut Here
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Aquascape makes the only true time release aquaticfertilizer.
Aquascape Once-A-Year Fertilizer
These pellets sprinkled in the pot as directed will lastall year. The tabs or spikes need to be replenishedevery three months or so. However, the Aquascapefertilizer only begins working once the water reaches70°, so you may need to use tabs or spikes to getthings started.
Repot next to the pond. Wet the fill and press downto compress. You should then be able to place thepot into the pond without clouding the water.
The cut portion can be placed in another pot if youhave room, given away to another water gardener, orjust thrown away.
Strangely enough tropical and hardy lilies can spon-taneously sprout a new plant out of the center of abloom. Tropical lilies can also do this out of the centerof a leaf.
While water lilies and lotus may be the most glamor-ous water plants there are a number of marginalsavailable to add variety or provide useful functions foryour pond.
These include dwarf red stem parrot feature, stripedrush, taro, dwarf papyrus, cat tails, nymphoides,water cress and water hyacinth.
Collection of Marginals
Nymphoides
The roots of water cress and water hyacinths provideexcellent water filtration, removing ammonia, nitriteand nitrates from the water. Water hyacinths alsoremove heavy metals. Caution, do not use Algae Fixif you have hyacinths in your pond.
Gregg has many years of experience with waterplants and is a great resource if you have questionsand an excellent stock of plants if you are in the mar-ket.
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He also has a lovely pond with a number of large andbeautiful koi to admire.
Gregg’s Pond
Doesn’t that look inviting on a hot day!
If you have a deep interest in water gardening, Greggrecommends these resources:
• Water Gardening, Water Lilies & Lotuses
By Perry Sloccum & Peter Robinson
• Encyclopedia of Water Garden Plants
By Greg & Sue Speichert
If you plan to order aquatic plants by mail, it is criticalthat you identify them by their formal latin names.Trade names can be very deceptive.
Other locations handling pond plants in this areainclude:
• Liquid Gardens
• Bay Area Water Plants
• Summerwinds Nursery
• Almaden Valley Nursery
• Green Design
Taisho Sanke The second member of the Go-Sanke varieties is thetaisho sanke, more commonly referred to as simplysanke.
This is a red, white and black nishikigoi. Like akohaku, but with small black patches.
A Sanke
The name derives from the fact that this variety wasfirst widely displayed in public at an exhibition inTokyo in 1914 during the Taisho era, the reign of theTaisho emperor. The koi was presented to theemperor as a gift. Sanke simply means “three col-ors”. See how easy this koi business is!!
Saving Little Sammie
Little Sammie
Some time ago I had an inquiry from a gentlemanwho’s pond was leaking. Not sure how he found us,but someone had pointed him our way for pond prob-lems.
I gave some recommendations and he wound up hir-ing Mel Bretzke to fix up his pond. This inquiry landedReno on my mailing list, so after his pond wascleaned up and looking sort of empty with only threekoi he immediately responded when another troubled
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soul wrote in that they had a lonely little koi that was left behind in this tiny pond at the house they’d just pur-chased.
When Reno arrived at the house he learned that the previous owners had removed the four koi they thoughtthey owned to their new home. Because the tiny little pond was so filled with leaves they were unaware thattheir koi had an offspring that was hiding in the leaves.
The new owners were thus surprised when they started to drain the pond and found Little Sammie. This iswhen they contacted SCVKWG.
At first Reno wasn’t able to see anything. Fortunately, he had brought his net and started removing leaves.On the third or fourth dip he saw something wiggling among the leaves.
Little Sammie was revealed. Into some water and on his way to his new home. Before he left Reno suggestedthat the new owners clean out the pond and keep it, visiting Liquid Gardens to pickup some plants and foun-tains to create an easy to maintain water feature. They thought this was a great idea.
Back home, Reno placed Little Sammie in quarantine for a few days before joining his jumbo koi, Larry, Curleyand Moe. Having lived in the dark all his short life Little Sammie is a shy little fella.
He spends most of his time hiding in a cave at the edge of Reno’s pond. If you visited Reno and Paula’s Pond#1 during the tour and had sharp eyes you may have caught one of his rare appearances.
However, he appears to be getting braver by the day so he will probably be challenging Larry, Curley and Moefor the ample food that Reno provides before long.
Unfortunately, the story has a sad sidebar. The couple that took their four koi to a new pond lost all of themshortly after the move. If only they had contacted or joined SCVKWG and gotten some advice they might stillbe enjoying their koi as much as Reno and Paula.
Paula and Reno’sAfter Party
The Perfect Endingto a Perfect Day!
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22nd Annual Pond TourThe morning of July 20 dawned bright and cool. Thank goodness the weatherman’s predictions of highs near90 did not come true. It was just a perfect day for a tour and it seemed like the 224 paying customers allenjoyed themselves very much.
The compact route this year made it a breeze to get to all of the ponds in a unhurried manner. This led tolengthy discussions with docents and owners. If you missed the tour, you can catch a video of all of the pondsat our website, http://www.sckoi.com.
As always we owe a big thanks to all of the volunteers that made this year’s tour a success once more. Anda special shout out to Paula and Reno at pond #1 who held a super after party for all of the volunteers. Thatreally capped off a perfect day. I can still taste those chocolate covered strawberries.
Reno & Paula’s Pond 1
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Terry & Carol’s Pond 2
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Larry & Diane’s Pond 3
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Jack & Linda’s Pond 4
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Ron’s Pond 5
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John & Yvonne’s Pond 6
Our SponsorsPlease support our sponsors. They help make our club possible and provide valuable products andservices to koi keepers and water gardeners.
While we love their ads and you depend on them to get the koi and supplies you need, SKVKWG doesnot endorse any business or product. Please use your best judgement when selecting a vendor orproduct.
Splash rates are per year (10 issues). All ads willalso appear on our website and will be linked to yourwebsite if possible. Ads placed mid-year will be pro-rated based on the number of issues remainingbefore July.
Annual Pond Tour Guide rates are for the tour guidefor our annual pond tour held in July. A specialcombo rate is available if you’d like to place thesame ad in the Tour Guide and the Splash.
To place an ad, please send ad copy (pdf or jpg file)to [email protected] and we’ll send you a bill.Your ad will appear in the next issue after we receiveyour check.
Advertising Rates
Annual Pond Tour Guide
Business Card $25.00
Quarter Page $50.00
Half Page $100.00
Full Page $200.00
Back Cover $250.00
Splash 1 Year
Business Card $35.00
Quarter Page $95.00
Half Page $175.00
Full Page $325.00
Combo Annual Pond Tour Guide/Splash 1 Year
Business Card $50.00
Quarter Page $125.00
Half Page $250.00
Full Page $500.00
Back Cover Guide/Full Page Splash
$525.00
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Santa Clara Valley Koi & Water Garden ClubPO Box 9006
Sab Jose, CA 95157