2019 28th Annual Koi Show by Washington Koi and Water Garden Society

2019 28th Annual Koi Show by Washington Koi and Water Garden Society

This is first Koi show I've been to and it was a fun one. Held at Sky Nursery's main greenhouse in Seattle we were protected from the elements. 

There were about a dozen tubs with Kois that have been submitted by members for show. The judges were a Gary Elmore (VA) and Michelle Gravenish (MN). Funny enough we ran into them later that day at PAN intercorp and they helped us pick out the 3 best fish from sale pond Picture below. What a treat to have 2 seasoned Koi judges help you pick out fish.

The fish were amazing. Their size and colors were very inspiring. So much so we ended up buying 4 little fish from the sale tubs.

But we weren't done yet...

15 minutes away is Pan Intercorp aka koi.com. These fish below are Pan Intercorp Kois. These were $200 a piece for about 10 inches.

The judges helped us select these 3 kois. I think they are very beautiful with lots of potential. 1 Kohaku and 2 sanke.

Unofrtunately, since my pond is only near completion, i didn't want to come home with more fish only to house them in a temporary holding cell.

But I'll be back =).

The Hummingbird Flower - Regal Birdflower Crotalaria Cunninghamii

I was on the interweb a couple months ago and saw this post about the Regal Birdflower Crotalaria Cunninghamii. The flower of this plant looks exactly like a hummingbird.

Naturally I was very intrigued by the plant. It's quite a show stopper. So i bought some seeds online and grew them. The seeds rooted incredibly easily and even though I started them late in the year I should be able to keep them alive under the grow lights.

I can't wait to see the flowers.



Here's the wiki on the plant.

Crotalaria cunninghamii
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Green birdflower
Crotalaria cunninghamii 2.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Crotalaria
Species: C. cunninghamii
Binomial name
Crotalaria cunninghamii
R.Br., 1849

Crotalaria cunninghamii - this form has distinctive green flowers in axillary clusters.
Crotalaria cunninghamii, also known as green birdflower or regal birdflower, is a plant of the legume family Fabaceae[1], named after early 19th century botanist Allan Cunningham.[1][2] It is native to, and widespread, in inland northern Australia [1][3]. It is a coloniser of unstable sand dunes, along beaches and in Mulga communities.[3] It is pollinated by large bees and by honeyeaters[citation needed].

Description
Green birdflower is a perennial shrub that grows to about 1–3 m in height. It has hairy or woolly branches and dull green foliage. The oval leaves are about 30 mm long, the large and greenish pea flowers are streaked with fine black lines, and the club-shaped seed pods are up to 50 mm long. The plant’s flowers grow on long spikes at the ends of its branches.[1] The flower greatly resembles a bird attached by its beak to the central stalk of the flowerhead.[3]

Uses and cultivation
The sap from the leaves was used by Aboriginal people to treat eye infections.[1][3]

Green birdflower can be grown in warm areas. It needs well-drained soils and a position in full sun. It is not suited to cold climates or where there are frosts. Propagation is from seed, which readily germinates after boiling water treatment, or from cuttings

Here are the seedlings under a grow light.