Koi Herpes Virus (KHV) continues to infect hobbyist's ponds in the United States. Although the KHV responsible for causing the disease in the Koi fish is highly contagious to both the common carp and ornamental carp, it will not cause disease in humans.

In many countries, the common carp is a food fish. As a result, because of the virus, it is recommended that those who eat the fish cook the fish completely.

Ornamental carp or Koi, were originally breed in Japan as colorful fish and today are breed and enjoyed in ponds all over the world.

Other related species such as the common goldfish were originally believed to be unaffected  by the KHV, however there is a Goldfish Herpes Virus(GHV) that is believed to be going virtually undetected. Both viruses remain in the infected fish for the life of the fish. You should treat any exposed or recovered fish as potential carriers.

There are several treatments currently used to treat the virus

1. KoVax vaccine

2. For five to seven days, raise the temperature of the water to 86 degrees

3. Once the fish have been isolated and the temperature lowered from 86 to 80 degrees, treat the infected fish with KOI FIX. KOI FIX is advertised as a cure by the National Fish Pharmaceuticals.

4. Eliminate your entire population of exposed or infected fish

5. Disinfect all equipment and material, once eliminating the entire population. Common household chlorine bleach or quaternary ammonium chloride compounds are presently used. However, quaternary ammonium chloride is gentler on nets.

The first reported cases were in 1998, in Israel and confirmed in 1999. In 2003, Japan experienced an epidemic and the infected fish shipped all over the world. Since then, the United States and Europe confirmed cases. In early spring of 2008, reports of another outbreak in central Florida surfaced. A hobbyist, who apparently bought fish at a show during the spring in Orlando, unknowingly purchased Koi fish infected with the Koi Herpes Virus.

Blackwater Creek Koi Farms Inc., a closed facility, suggest hobbyist purchase their fish in the United States from breeders with closed facilities. Closed facility Koi farms do not allow imported fish onto their farms. Thus, they eliminate the possibility of exposure to any exotic illness.

KHV seems to spread the same ways as most herpes virus

1. Direct contact with infected fish

2.Direct contact with fluids of infected fish

3. Direct contact with water or mud from infected fish

KHV attacks the surface of the fish. This includes

1. The surface of the skin

2. The surface of the gills

3. The surface of the lining of the fish's kidney

So ask before you buy. WHERE DID YOU PURCHAS YOUR FISH FROM? Or, you may be in need of Fish Help Line looking for emergency help.

Mimosa trees bloom a delicate pink blossom. A strong wind or summer shower can bring them floating to the ground. Holding the blooms and twisting them between your fingers are almost hypnotizing. It's hypnotic effect is why I love this tree and am blessed with about twenty in my yard. They are, however, invasive. I have not found anything they will not grow on or in.

We have one Mimosa that is dying. We don't know why. It is about ten years old. We think that something is eating it's roots. Almost all the leaves and blooms are gone. The loss of the tree itself  would not be a problem. As I said, we have twenty more to enjoy. The problem is it stands beside the pond. It's dead leaves and blooms are hanging over the pond and dropping in-clogging two of the three filters.

The brown debris on the top patio are the Mimosa blooms once they have died. They are not so pretty then. Their beauty is just a fleeting memory. The above picture shows a normal loss of blooms. So you can imagine what the dying tree is like.

We have cleaned the filters four times this week. We usually clean them once a week.

The fish do not appear to be affected by the unwanted foliage. That is the important thing.

It has been almost a year since we were honored with our backyard pond featured in the local news paper. I find it only fitting to honor Rebecca W. Miller and the News Freepress by printing her wonderful article here.

Tre's landscaping project brought more than beauty to his mother's backyard-it gave them a new appreciation for nature. After his mother fell ill, he moved from his home in Florida with hopes of easing her burden around the house. "This is a lot of property to take care of," she stated.

A few years after his move back to Tennessee, he suffered two strokes that left him with a partially paralyzed left arm. Unable to afford rehabilitation, he was forced to find a way to recover mobility in his arm alone.

Inspired by his mother's inability to truly enjoy her backyard, he decided to start a project that she could see from every room of the back of their house.

"I wanted to do something for her so she could feel like she was somewhere else." said Tre. He decided a water garden and waterfall would be attractive on their back slope, where the sounds of water would be soothing throughout their home.

Tre, a graphic arts designer, had never attempted such a daring landscaping project before. Undaunted by the challenge, he read books to learn the basics of landscaping and water gardening. The results of Tre's research and labor is a series of waterfalls ending in an expansive koi pond that circulates 8,000 gallons of water.

Using his good arm to grip and his bad arm to balance, Tre carried every pebble and rock to its place in the project. Using a shovel one-handed and hauling rocks worked to bring strength and mobility back to Tre's injured arm.

Intrigued neighbors would come and watch him work, curious as to what he was digging and if he would finish. "It was a process. I had to make myself  believe it was something I could do," explained Tre.

After the path for the falls was laid and the koi pond was dug, Tre began lining the bottom with padding material to prevent leaking.

The final touches to the inside of the main pool and along the water's path from the top of the falls were still not finished when the unthinkable happened. Four solid days of rain kept Tre from his work and filled in the water garden.

Tre, who had little other choice, hooked up the pumps and watched the rain water flow down the falls and into the koi pond. "By the grace of God, I didn't have any leaks" said Tre. By using mostly natural materials from his yard, the completed waterfalls and pond looked like it had always been there.

Also, thanks to the sparing use of cement, Tre could shift around rocks and plants to allow the water to flow strong and even.

"This is a wonderland," said his mother, who can now enjoy short walks up and down the length of the falls and the pond. An entire miniature ecosystem has spawned around the water garden's presence. Frogs, lizards, a variety of birds, and many more animals that Tre had never truly appreciated before now delight him.

"I had never see a humming bird before," admitted Tre. "Now I have one that plays in the water while I water the flowers. With his first project nearly completed, Tre is far from done with his homemade paradise. Plans for an outdoor fireplace and patio in the upper yard are keeping him busy this summer.

Tre started the project as a way to help heal his mother, but the sights and sounds of his masterpiece have proven soothing to all their family friends and neighbors who stop by.

Watering my flowers is the time that I spend thinking things through or if I so chose, not thinking at all. It is one of my quite times. It is the time that I enjoy the beauty of the flowers, the trees and bushes that are blooming...:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

My son usually sprays our yard with a long lasting insect repellent. If anyone knows the reason why mosquitoes exist, please tell me. I have not found their redeeming value. On this particular day, the potency of the yard insect repellent was weakening so I decided to spray insect repellent for the body on mine.

The humidity was high.  In addition, within minutes, I was dripping with perspiration. I wiped the perspiration from my fore head with the back of my hand. The hand also contained insect repellent.

The perspiration contaminated with insect repellent rolled down into my unsuspecting eyes. The burning was immediate.

I quickly flushed them with water from the water hose. I went inside the house and flushed them again. I took a shower and feeling as though I had this situation under control, I went to sleep.

The next morning I awoke to find my left eye glued shut, my head hurting, and my left eye feeling as if someone had hit me with his or her closed fist, and left his or her fist there in my eye.

I called my ophthalmologist, John E. Miller, who told me to come to his office. After checking my eyes, he assured me that my cornea was not damaged (that was all I really wanted to know) and that he was prescribing an antibiotic in the form of eye drops to help with the irritation.

In a few days, my eyes were back to normal and I was again able to return to watering my flowers. This time I had a new awareness of how precious the gift of sight truly is.

I could have avoided the trip to the doctor by using Mosquito Dunks or Mosquito Bits. They are biological mosquito control agents that stop mosquitoes before they can bite. The bites or the dunks , when placed in ponds and or standing water kills mosquito and black fly larvae for up to thirty days. Both the bits and the dunks are used in birdbaths, ponds, flowerpots, or anywhere that water accumulates. In addition, they will not harm pets, birds, fish, or wildlife.

We have been experimenting with new plants in the bog areas of our waterfall. The bog is the area where the water moves very little. In some water features it does not move at all. Flowers that we would not have imagined could withstand that much water are thriving.

Wave Petunias - Because of the drought last year, and this year proving to be heading in the same direction, we decided not to purchas Petunias this year. Well they were not having any of that. So they voluntarily returned from last year. At first we thought it was some type of wild plant. The leaves were bigger than we had seen before. So much so, that we simply could not reconize them. Not until they started to bloom.

We thought it would be interesting to see if they would survive in our bog area so we placed some of them in two different places. Well they are growing and still blooming. The green leaves lightened a bit. But the blooms are just as pretty and they continue to thrive.

Purple Queen - This is a beautifully colored, purple, trailing, plant. It took several weeks for it to adjust to the water. And adjust it did. It is multiplying and has those pretty pink blooms that we all love about this plant.

So don't be afraid to try new plants in your water feature. They just might surprise you