Add Water And Let Ecosystem Do The Work In Ponds
At first, it looks like a typical house - until you see the backyard.
Kathy and Terry Thompson recently opened Blue Iris Water Gardens at 8003 E. Cataldo. Although the landscaping has yet to be done and the Japanese tea house - a future retail area - is still under construction, the backyard already is home to five ponds.
One pond is in a sailboat buried hull-high. Another features a Cupid-like statue with butterfly wings. A stone fish, mouth agape, spews out gallons of water into another pond.
Blue Iris sells pond-building equipment to do-it-yourselfers, or refers customers to contractors who do the work.
The Thompsons’ ponds are stocked with fish. Pumps circulate the water through filters, keeping the ponds clean. Water lilies create oxygen for the fish and snails clean pond bottoms. Each is a self-contained ecosystem. The fish don’t need to be fed.
“They are excellent stress relievers,” Kathy Thompson said. Even though the fish feed on the naturally-occurring food abundant in the ponds, the owners like to feed them anyway, to bring them to the surface. Some of the fish even let themselves be petted.
“It’s pretty cool,” Thompson said.
Blue Iris specializes in fish called Koi. Koi can grow to five feet long and their average life span is 50 years. The oldest documented Koi lived for more than 250.
Thompson said the couple hope to foster interest in forming a Koi club here.
Although the construction continues, the business is fully operational. It is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
New nursery features ‘durables’
Greenacres Nursery and Landscape Supply, 18605 E. Appleway, recently opened in an area nearby two competitors - Green Thumb and Plant Land.
Owner Jay Naccarato is a former partner in Plant Land and also former owner of the Farmer’s Market. He said there’s enough room for another plant vendor in Greenacres, because the businesses are different enough to co-exist.
Greenacres Nursery specializes in trees and shrubs - what Naccarato calls “durable plant materials,” for retail and wholesale customers.
The business also sells supplies like bark, soil, stepping stones and other landscaping materials. Greenacres Nursery opened in February, but only recently began operating at full speed, Naccarato said.
Office Depot begins hiring
Managers of the new Office Depot store being built at Sprague and Evergreen will begin accepting applications for new staff on Monday.
The store will continue to accept applications from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Friday.
The store, planned to open in late June, will have a staff of about 40, including 30 to 35 new hires, said Mike Hellman, who manages the Office Depot at 1003 E. Third.
, DataTimes