Walker Avenue Nursery

Water Plant deliveries to nurseries and garden centers begin the first week of March.

The nursery is in the midst of farm and ranch land so sometimes we get a neighborly visit from our next door steers.

Alnus rubra seed cones

Wake Up Water Plants! We just need to get past this brush of cold weather and the plants will be waking up to the spring. Deliveries to retail stores will begin early March--email us for stores in your area and Happy Water Gardening!

Mayla Water Lily

Bareroot Louisiana Iris rhizome

Seeds, tubers, and seedlings

A new iris in our collection: Iris spuria ‘Sunset in Sonora’

MP Slocum grows well outdoors in Sonoma county

Pacific Tree Frogs having a snooze in a Green Goddess Calla Lily

What about that String Algae?!?!? Here comes the early spring algae bloom--no need to freak out! The pond needs to cycle through in the spring and find its biological balance. Clean as much algae out by hand, keep your filtration system going, cover more of the pond surface with shade (can be plants, floaters, floating island), and add a biological product that increases the bacteria and enzymes that compete with the algae for nutrients. Hopefully it will start clearing up within 3 weeks.

Time to repot Waterlilies! If your waterlilies are in containers, they may need to be divided or shifted. If they have put up their first floating leaves it is time to fertilize. Given enough sun (minimum 6 hours per day), you should see flower buds in the next weeks; if they don't start blooming, they need more fertilizer! For soil, use a clay-based loam....be sure it contains no pesticides or fertilizers which will negatively impact your water environment. We recommend Down... to Earth Bio-Fish Organic fertilizer if you are repotting your plants, and Jobe's Organic Fertilizer Spikes 4-4-4 if you want to add fertilizer to an existing plant--push the spike in about an inch from the waterlily crown and below the soil surface, fully burying the spike so that it doesn't just dissipate in the water. Happy planting! ....and, of course, our prepared aquatic soil is available at the stores, as well as planting pots and bags suitable for submerged plants.

We are expecting some new varieties of waterlilies and lotus this season. A new red and new white Lotus; new red & pink waterlilies.