EIPS Newsletter
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| In This Issue: | October 2004 |
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Saturday, October 9th, 2004
October : days are getting shorter and evenings cooler, and we move to one meeting per month. Ornamental Grasses Directions: This is easier than it looks on paper. 24th Avenue is really Hwy 218 South out of Vinton. Sharon’s will be on the right if you are heading south. About a mile south of town. Weiss Country Bloomer Garden Center. We will be gearing up for the November meeting at which we recognize all the great helpers from the past summer. And sometimes make fun of the silly mistakes we have made along the way. We will also be electing new officers and beginning the planning process for Summer 2005. If you are interested in hosting a meeting at your pond in 2005, please get that information to the November meeting. We would like to see some “new to us” ponds. And hear new adventures in ponding. So please plan to attend or get that information to Kacy before the November meeting. | |
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September 9, 2004 Our Thursday, September 9th, meeting was held at the home of Deb Frese and Kevin Dolan in Cedar Rapids. It was a beautiful night for sitting by the pond and talking and Deb and Kevin’s pond is a beauty to sit by for sure. President, Kacy Novak, opened the meeting by asking that the minutes be approved as printed in the previous newsletter. And, they were. Nancy Baldwin gave her treasure’s report and announced no new memberships for the month. Carol Sindelar talked briefly about a Cedar Rapids Community Planning meeting she attended entitled “15 in 5”. (15 community projects finished in 5 years) that Cedar Rapids is seeking ideas from everybody on. If you have any ideas for projects of any kind (beautification or otherwise), please contact Carol. Deb then gave a short talk about her pond. Seems it was already at the residence when they moved in. Deb’s back yard is a hard slope into a wooded ravine. There is barely a flat enough place for a pond, but it looks great in it’s natural wildlife setting. This is their second summer in learning to care for it. She demonstrated some netting that they use to cover it in the fall to help keep out the leaves. The fish seemed happy in their home and a rabbit even appeared to check out the crowd. Deb also fed us some extra yummy treats. Wish I hadn’t eaten so much supper prior to going there. Tim Nolan shared with us some pictures of how he nets his pond using a support made of PVC pipe. The Wutzkes are moving south permanently and are tearing down their pond. They have many plants available (mints, forget me knots, water celery, iris, horsetail, etc. ) If you are interested give her a call and make an offer. Jeanette or Bruce 377-2010. We next did a round robin conversation about what everyone used to keep a hole in their pond with or how they cared for their pond in the winter. Many great ideas were expressed. Some simply take their fish into the house or garage, there were various heating devices being used with pros and cons discussed about each. I felt it was very informative for the new members just going into their first winters. Gave them lots to think about. Kacy will be starting a sign up sheet for a mass club order of slow release- 1 yearly dose, fertilizer tabs for our plants. Any one interested in getting some, please see her. If we can get enough ordered, we can get a discount on them, making them around 40 cents per tablet. Door prizes where drawn for with fish food going to Lou Winchip and Roger Thompson and pond clarifier going to Edna Rife. Respectfully submitted - Jackie Allsup
September 25, 2004 Saturday, Sept. 25th....Our regular Saturday meeting was called to order by president, Kacy Novak at the home of Margie and Roger Thompson. New member, Ron Zimmerman from Langworthy was introduced. Many of you may know him for his lawn ornament business right along the highway. We began with Roger telling us about his pond and surrounding landscape. If you recall, Roger sold his lawn mower at a garage sale last year and has been enjoying his landscape which is now completely planted in native habitat. He explained that in trying to establish a natural habitat, you look for native plants that are supportive of wildlife, hardy, and drought tolerant. They should provide shelter, nuts, and seeds. This is their 3rd season for their new landscape and it is quite beautiful. Their 2400 gallon pond is it’s focal point. Roger and friends hauled in 30 tons of rock, to put together his 6 foot waterfall and 4 foot deep pond. Home to plants and many a happy fish, it is easily viewable from his 4 seasons porch. We held our meeting there and everybody chowed down on the great spread of food and drinks that Margie and Julie put together. Roger also talked briefly about some earlier fish health issues he had with his ponds. A couple fish parasites that were causing some of his smaller fish to die. Roger shared with us the types of medications he used to get rid of them. Namely Anchors Away for fish lice and Prazi for gill flukes. ( A lot of people don’t like to talk about fish problems. I think they don’t like to admit they’re having problems. I commend Roger for sharing his experience and know members will learn from them.) Fish are live animals, sickness and troubles are very, very common. Dogs and cats get fleas, fish can get parasites easily. If your dog gets fleas we don’t take it as something we personally did wrong, we just fix it. It’s part of pet care. Fish should be the same way. Early detection, again is the key to fish survival. (Sorry, off my soap box and back to the minutes.) After Roger's brief talk, Kacy commended the newsletter and the people and articles that have been going into it. She again mentioned that if you have something you’d like to contribute to the newsletter, please e-mail or send it to Carol Sindelar, our editor. Kacy shared with us some pictures of Quinn in his wet suit and some great frog pictures that he had taken. A treasure’s report was given and approved. The club has received several Koi Nutrition II books that are free to members if you are interested. Also, samples of KOI magazine, which is published by AKCA were available for members to view to see if they’d like to subscribe to. Julie Thompson then presented Roger and Margie with an anniversary cake. They have been together 34 years! We all sang Happy Anniversary to the Happy Birthday music. Roger also had a birthday last Tuesday, so they have had much to celebrate lately. Door prizes where drawn for. Roger and Margie had purchased a cement statue from Zimmerman’s and Harry Allsup(me, me, me!) won it. Then he drew my name for some fish food! Pat Bueter also won some food and Elana Morley took home some Water Prep. It was a beautiful fall day for a pond meeting. It was great to see Karen and Roger Inman again. Many thanks to Margie, Roger, and Julie for their hospitality. Respectfully, Jackie Allsup, Sec. | |
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I got up this morning and was really taken by something I have never seen before and want to share Penny is my name. My game (for this snippet) is pond owner. I have a small “pond” on my patio. It is a 22-gallon whiskey barrel containing four fantail goldfish and numerous water hyacinth plants. I always want to call them water broccoli so don’t be surprised if I say that at some time. Although I have other varieties of feathered friends, sparrows are the vast majority. The water in the pond is low right now. I know what you ‘re thinking: don’t just sit there at the computer. Go out and add water to the pond. I will. I will. Today. I promise. Back to my story. As I looked out of my kitchen window this morning this is what I saw: The early morning sun was bathing the water brocc (oops) hyacinth in soft light. There were sparrows lining the rim of the pond. Some would jump onto the hyacinth and drink, fly away, and more birds would take their places. The special part was when I looked more closely little sparrow heads were popping up out of the plants. These were birds I Hadn’t noticed before as they were completely obscured until their little heads popped up. What a sight! What a delight! I stared in awe and smiles overtook my face. What a great way to start the day! It is said that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Since I don’t own a camera and could not take a picture, these 260 words, hopefully, will provide an inadequate glimpse into the moment. Have a Great Day! Here is a footnote. I looked out the same window after a writing my little story and there was a fat, fuzzy squirrel perched on the rim of the pond drinking. | |
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Ron & Becky Zimmerman
George Hendley Jr.
Gary & Jo Hunerdosse
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By Mary Robinson Joe and I were bitten by the ‘dwarf conifer’ bug a few years ago when we met the ‘conifer man’ Gary Wittenbaugh. We now have a fairly nice collection of dwarf conifers. With such a great choice of conifers and limited budget, each purchase really has to call us. These conifers pictured are two of our favorites. They are easy care and both would look wonderful around a pond. Especially the weeping form that has the grace of a waterfall. If you want more information about dwarf conifers,they have a wonderful website www.conifersociety.org But beware of the Wittenbaugh magic or you could end up like us as one of Gary’s conifer groupies! Weeping Canadian Hemlock
The weeping form of the Canadian hemlock is one of the most graceful and ornamental conifers. It’s dark green needles with silver overtones give a subtle but striking effect to the landscape garden. Pendula is especially effective when planted around stone, rails, decks or water features. The height and spread can be controlled by judicious staking. Unrivaled specimen plant. Grows as wide or wider than tall with graceful weeping branches. Fairly slow to develop its potential size, it is more of a medium to large sized shrub of 5-8’ for many years. Eventually in 25-50 years it is capable of spreading 15 to 20’ or more. Deserves a prominent location. Highly prized. Hemlocks prefer a well drained, but moist soil, and will tolerate extreme acid to neutral types, even slightly alkaline where it is not too dry. Susceptible to drought, they dislike hot dry conditions, although they will be happy in sun where the soil is moist and the plants are protected from constant or extreme winds. They are shade tolerant but prefer light, not dense, shade. Hemlocks are not always easy to grow in all locations, so giving them the most suitable conditions is vital for their success. (Text in italics is reprinted from Gardening with conifers by Adrian Bloom) Weeping White Spruce
A real show-stopper with it’s grayish-green color and gently weeping side branches. So stately in appearance, it is an elegant specimen that would add a touch of class to any garden. Especially as a focal point. The species is native to northern US and Canada making the plant extremely cold hardy. | |
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* Your biggest fear is when you die your spouse will sell the fish for what you said was paid for them. * The pond isn’t done and you are already installing a bigger pump. * You can’t wait for payday so you can go and buy more pond stuff. * You find yourself taking in homeless Koi despite your pond being overstocked, by your standards. * You go to tractor dealerships looking for tracker tire inner tubes without owning a tractor. Any BIG size will do to make that thing that keeps the ice open in winter. * You install an underwater cam so you can watch your fish sleep in the winter or when it is raining outside. * You are going into withdrawal because winter is coming. | |
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Not all members of EIPS live in the Cedar Rapids metro area but we do meet here frequently. That is why Kacy asked me to attend the “Fifteen in 5” meeting and am bringing it to you. I encourage every member of EIPS to think about the City of Cedar Rapids and consider how it can be improved. At the kick-off meeting they emphasized no idea was too big or too small to be suggested. Then get your suggestions to me. I will compile them, present them at the November EIPS meeting for approval and then send them off to the Fifteen in 5 committee from the Eastern Iowa Pond Society. Let’s see if we can spark some ideas. Here are excerpts from the press release: Community leaders seeking input to develop 5-year goals. Local leaders unveiled an ambitious community planning campaign on Wednesday called “Fifteen in 5.” The idea is to identify 15 goals over the next six months that can be achieved in the next five years. The effort is similar to the Foresight 2020 effort in the mid-1990s. The new planning endeavor is being jointly sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. Representatives from more than 700 community organizations were invited to a kick off breakfast. They were encouraged to go back to their groups and come up with their own lists of tasks the Cedar Rapids area needs to accomplish by the end of the decade. A committee of 15 people will then whittle the idea to 15. Ron Corbett, chamber president/CEO, said Fifteen in 5 will amount to a community “to-do list “ not unlike the to-do lists people use at work or home to set agendas and get things done. “A to-do list provides some focus...and it’s important for the community to have focus,” Corbett said. “A to-do list also provides some accountability.” Mike Weston said, “We’re going to ask for input from every segment of the greater Cedar Rapids area. Dan Baldwin, president/CEO of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, said the 15 ideas would encompass more than capital projects. The ideas may be related to education, human services, recreation, “the look and feel of our city” and “all the elements that go into describing quality of life,” Baldwin said. Get excited, send your ideas to me at fishlounge1@cs.com or bring them to a meeting or mail them to me at 1754 D Avenue NE CR 52402—Carol Sindelar | |
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Reminder: If you have not paid your dues for the year, this will be the last newsletter you will be receiving. Eastern Iowa Pond Society Membership Application | |
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November
All locations and topics are subject to change. | |