House 2- The Aquatic Garden
Aquatic Garden House 2
The Aquatic Garden is one of the newest exhibit spaces at the Botanical Gardens. This exhibit includes a peaceful pond, a family of koi, and a beautiful flowform water feature that is surrounded by a collection of amazing plants native to southeast Asia.
What can you find in this greenhouse?
Koi Pond
Our koi pond is a balanced ecosystem of plant and animal life. The plants in and around the koi pond provide oxygen, food, and habitats for fish. The fish in turn provide nutrients for the plants through their waste. The hungry fish also help to keep plants and algae from overgrowing. The waterfall is also extremely important to the ecosystem and adds oxygen to the water.
Koi Fish, Cyprinus carpio
Our family of koi fish have been living in our pond since this exhibit was rebuilt in 2017. Since then, the koi have happily made themselves at home. The koi fish do occasionally breed in the pond and baby koi will sometimes appear! Koi are a domesticated ornamental variant of common carp. They can grow to be three feet long and live to be 25 years old. They can be easily identified by their bright colors, as well as their barbels. Barbels are sensory organs that house taste buds. They are located near their mouths and look like whiskers.
Did you know that you can Feed the Fish?
Observational Beehive
Our observational beehive allows you to take a peek into the world of our honey bees! Honey bees are some of our most important pollinators. Many of the plants we eat and plants we grow depend on pollinators to continue their life cycle. Honey bees are accidental pollinators. In visiting multiple flowers to collect pollen and nectar for the hive, some pollen is dusted onto the worker bee’s body. When they visit another flower of the same kind, the pollen can rub off on the new flower. Once a flower is fertilized it develops a fruit which may be eaten or can then make seeds to grow more plants!