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Welcome to Y2008....
We had a nice, warm extended autumn in 2007.
As a result, the leaves on the trees stayed green and didn't turn their beautiful fall colors for three or four extra weeks. Our growing season was equally extended for three or four more weeks....well into the early part of November. Unusual....even for this part of the country. Our first major frost did not occur until well into November. This was a duplicate of the previous year.
Fast-Forward to January 08' ....Here in the northeast, winter finally reared its ugly head the second week of January. Other than a few days of 30ºF weather in December, it was very warm. The snowfall to date, can be measured in fractions. Again, almost a mirror-image of the previous year.
The ground finally froze solid the third week of January....though on the warmer days, the ground thaws slightly to make it a muddy mess. And since that second week of January, we've had some of the coldest temperatures we've experienced in a long time.
Will this winter season be another short one? It's doubtful....we're sure to get at least a little more cold weather and maybe some snow to speak of!! Regardless, the bugs will be out in full-force this spring. Hopefully, that groundhog "Phil" will say spring is just around the corner. Please Stay Tuned!!
What's new this year??
In the greenhouse....
There's not much (new) news for plants this year.
We'll be offering more of the plants that you've been requesting.
Dwarf Giant Papyrus continues to be a very popular plant. It's a very compact version of our Giant Papyrus, at about twenty-four to thirty inches tall at maturity. They look great in small ponds and container gardens, or even by themselves in a waterproof container on your balcony. The starter plants we receive from our propagator sell out early every season. GET YOUR ORDERS IN EARLY for this plant, as we only have a limited supply available for 2008. They're sure to be a sellout again for this year.
Online....
Not much here, either. Our New Website has been up and running for about a year now, and has almost run flawlessly!! We have not received any calls or emails concerning website performance to date.
We hope you are comfortable with the new site. We plan on making a few design changes, but won't mess with the looks much.
We decided to take our old website down in the middle of last year. This was pondsplantsandmore. "net" - or http://www.pondsplantsandmore.net . We were so dissappointed in that old platform, and temporarily pointed the domain name to our present (.com) website.
It's a good thing, too! We've recently received the bad news that (that) web host was shutting down their service in March, of this year. Too bad for all those businesses that were still using that "pre-historic" platform.
In the shipping department....
Again, we did not raise our shipping prices in 2007. However, the time has (again) come where we have to make a decision if we're going to raise them - or not. We're trying very hard to keep our shipping fees from going up for as long as possible. The shippers have been brutal to us over the years, and we have done our best to absorb their increasing fees without passing them on to our customers.
As you already know, gas prices have gone through the roof over the past few years. Place your orders as early as you can to lock in our present shipping fee. We won't raise yours even if we do decide to raise our shipping rates.
Miscellaneous....
Most ponds in all zones should be cleaned by mid-to-late March.
Order hard to get / fast selling plants such as our Dwarf Giant Papyrus, as well as lotus tubers before they're gone again for the season.
Inspect your filters and pumps before the season begins, to make sure they're clean and in working order.
Check and repair leaks in your pond liner now, so you won't have to later on in the season.
Order your beneficial bacteria, submerged and floating plants (including water lilies) early, to get your pond off to a good start.
When all is done....sit back and relax!
And as always….
Enjoy your watergarden and the friends that it will bring!
Let's hope that 2008 proves to be another (fairly) quiet year on the hurricane front. We don't want to see any more devastation caused by hurricanes such as Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
In an effort to help bring aid to those who need it most, please click on one of the following links to donate: The Red Cross, The Salvation Army, or click on USA Freedom Corps, to choose another humanitarian organization.
--Please Remember--
We ship Free Samples of "Aquatic-Tabs" Plant Food with all Plant Orders! **While supplies last!!**
Priority Mail is reserved for plant orders, only! Dry Goods are shipped via UPS Ground Service only. If you would like your Dry Goods order shipped using Priority Mail or UPS 2nd Day Air, you must call us before you place your order to get a quote for the additional shipping charge.
NOTE: Due to the cost of fuel, there will be an additional charge for shipping Dry Goods if you prefer to use these alternative shipping methods.
--Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, Hotmail and Mindspring customers....
Please check your browser settings or add us to your address book, so you can receive our emailed order confirmations and other emails.
Click Here for the Latest Information
Plant Shipping Schedule for 2008:
Plant orders are shipped in the order that we receive them. So if you wish to have your plants at the earliest time - place your orders early.
Plant orders are shipped via USPS Priority Mail on Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays (only), every week during the 'plant-shipping' season. (Please note that during the off-season (October thru March), plants will be shipped on Saturdays only.) Provided the plants you buy are ready for the season and are in stock, and the weather is appropriate (for your geographical location) to ship your plants, we will ship your plant order on the next available day.
Saturday is our biggest plant shipping day of the week. We work all day Friday, through the night and all through Saturday morning, pulling plants for the previous week's orders. Mondays and Tuesdays are used for late orders and the plant orders we couldn't fill on Saturday. Wednesday is reserved (only) for shipping "local" Pennsylvania orders.
Please Remember
Priority Mail is reserved for plant orders, only! Dry Goods are shipped via UPS Ground Service. If you would like your Dry Goods order shipped using Priority Mail or some other faster method, you must call us before you place your order to get a quote for the additional shipping charge. PLEASE NOTE: To keep our Standard "Plant" and "Ground" Shipping Rates low, (due to the cost of fuel) there will be an additional charge for shipping Dry Goods if you prefer to use these alternative shipping methods.
Remember: We ship Free Samples of "Aquatic-Tabs" Plant Food with all Plant Orders! **While supplies last!!**
PLEASE NOTE that due to poor spring weather conditions that may or may not exist across the country....under no circumstance will plants be shipped sooner than the below stated dates.
Dependent upon weather and where plants are shipped in the country (we start shipping to the warmer,southern states first): - Hardy Marginals, Hardy Water Lilies and Lotus - Starting (on or about) March 15th to April 15th
- Tropical Marginals - Starting (on or about) April 1st to May 1st
- Tropical (day-blooming) Water Lilies - Starting (on or about) April 15th to May 15th
- Tropical (night-blooming) Water Lilies - Starting (on or about) May 15th to June 15th
- Note: Dormant lotus tubers are shipped mid-March thru late-May or early-June, only.
Starting dates are yearly estimates only and are weather permitting.
Purchase plants between January 1st and March 15th with the understanding that they will not ship until sometime after March 15, 2007, due to poor spring weather conditions that may or may not exist across the country. We start shipping plant orders to locations in the south first. (If you live in the north, you won't start getting plants until sometime in April.)
In the event we raise our plant prices, we will hold your plant order at your currently purchased price and ship it at the appropriate time for your area of the country.
Plant orders are shipped in the order that we receive them....so if you wish to have your plants at the earliest time - place your orders early.
Please Remember: Plant orders are shipped separately from Dry Goods orders. If you wish to purchase some other product from our site (other than plants), you must place a second order using the appropriate shipping method. Thank You!!
All USDA Zones:
December 2007.... Happy Holidays!!
A big"Thank You" goes out to all of our loyal customers who have chosen to come back to us year-after-year. Also, a big Thanks to all of the new friends we made this year, for choosing us for all of your "pond and watergardening" needs.
May you have aSafe and Happy Holiday Season, and a Very Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you all again next year, in 2008!
If you still need plants....
Unless your plant purchase is for an indoor pond or aquarium, we recommend that you not purchase plants until the Spring of 2008. We begin taking plant orders in January, for March (or later) shipments. (Please see our "Early Buy Program" for extra discounts and savings.)
That said....
....We usually can ship most plants to our customers all winter long (especially to our customers in the south), as long as you buy them in the quantities listed below....please use the guidelines for "buying plants in volume" below.
Email us for plant availability, before you place your order!
Remember....We do not close down for the winter!
Our "online" store is open 24/7....
....We ship Gifts and Pond Supplies 52-weeks a year.
....We ship Plants about 40-weeks a year.
We continue to stock and sell our pond supplies, statuary and Gifts from our Gift Department all year long!!
June 2007....
Questions or Phone Orders?
....Our New Spring / Summer office hours are now in effect @ 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST - Monday thru Friday. Leave a message at all other times. (As a reminder.....you can always email us your questions, or place your orders online 24/7.)
We're in the middle of the busiest part of our plant shipping season and most of our help has gone home to take care of their kids for the summer.
We're very busy in the greenhouse, with very little time to spare for anywhere else. So if there is no answer when you call us, please leave us a message. If you don't leave a message, we can't call you back....and everyone knows we love talking to our customers. Speak loud and clear (especially your name and phone number)! If you speak softly, we won't be able to hear your name or your phone number and unfortunately can't call you back.
(Hint: The best time to catch us in the office is usually sometime between 9:30 AM and 11:30 or 12:00 noon - EST, Mondays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. Due to the hectic day we have here on Fridays, please do not call us for your pond related questions on that day. Please try to limit your phone calls to orders only, on Fridays. Thank You!)
We're beginning to run out of some plants, while others are now completely Out of Stock for the season. Get your plant order in soon, before they're gone again until next season.
Plant orders are always shipped in the order that we receive them. So if you wish to have your plants at the earliest time - place your orders early.
After a very busy Spring, we are now caught up with all our plant orders, as they're now shipping on schedule....though Father's Day and July 4th will most certainly cause some delays. Provided the plants you buy are in stock, we will ship your order on the next available day. (Please see our plant shipping schedule for days we ship plants. But again, we only ship plants on Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays.)
Remember: We ship Free Samples of "Aquatic-Tabs" Plant Food with all Plant Orders! **While Supplies Last!**
Priority Mail is reserved for plant orders, only! Dry Goods are shipped via UPS Ground Service only. If you would like your Dry Goods order shipped using Priority Mail or UPS 2nd Day Air, you must call us before you place your order to get a quote for the additional shipping charge. PLEASE NOTE: To keep our Standard "Plant" and "Ground" Shipping Rates low, (due to the high cost of fuel) there will be an additional charge for shipping Dry Goods if you prefer to use these alternative shipping methods.
--Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, Hotmail and Mindspring customers....
Please check your browser settings or add us to your address book, so you can receive our emailed order confirmations and other emails.
January 2007....Welcome to our new and much improved website!!
Happy New Year! We wish you all a Safe, and Happy New Year.
....Our Fall/Winter office hours are in effect @ 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM EST - Monday thru Friday. Leave a message at all other times. (You can always email us your questions, or place your orders online 24/7.) We'll change back to our regular hours in March.
Pond plants purchased between January 1, 2007 and March 17, 2007, are held for shipment until a later - more appropriate time for your area (but sometime after March 17, 2007) due to poor weather conditions that may or may not exist in your (or our) area of the country. We'll start shipping "hardy" plant orders to the southern part of the country first...."tropical" plants will follow to the south about 2 to 4-weeks later.
Before buying your plants, please see our "Early Buy Program" for extra discounts and savings.
....And Remember: We ship Free Samples of "Aquatic-Tabs" Plant Food with all of our Plant Orders! **While supplies last!!**
In the event we raise our plant prices, we will hold your plant order at your currently purchased price and ship it at the appropriate time for your area of the country.
Plant orders are shipped in the order that we receive them....so if you wish to have your plants at the earliest time - place your orders early.
For our Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, Hotmail, Mindspring and other customers....
....Please change your browser/filter settings so you can receive our email order confirmations after you place your order. Some of these browsers see your "order confirmation email" as spam and bounce them back to us. These order confirmations are not "spam". Without these messages confirming your order, or other important ordering messages, you'll never know we received or even shipped your order.
Remember....We do not close down for the winter!
Our "online" store is open 24/7....
....We ship Gifts and Pond Supplies 52-weeks a year.
....We ship Plants about 40-weeks a year.
We continue to stock and sell our pond supplies, statuary and Gifts from our Gift Department all year long!!
November 2006....
Our office can be reached using our Fall / Winter schedule. We're open Monday thru Friday - 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM EST from now until early-Spring.
It's that time of year again....where it starts to get cold outside. For the most part, our pond plant shipping season has ended until the Spring of 2007.
Generally, most aquarium plants are still available throughout the year, except for the coldest months....January and February. We'll continue to ship aquarium plants until we run out of them, or the weather forbids us to. If you want your aquarium stocked before the cold weather sets in....order your plants ASAP.
For our Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, Hotmail, Mindspring and other customers....
....Please change your browser/filter settings so you can receive our email order confirmations after you place your order. Some of these browsers see your "order confirmation email" as spam and bounce them back to us. These order confirmations are not "spam". Without these messages confirming your order, or other important ordering messages, you'll never know we received or even shipped your order.
September 2006....
It's almost Autumn....that time of year when we run low on aquatic plants. Tropicals are usually the first to go, so take advantage of our End of Season Sale and order yours soon before they're gone till next season. Remember, some of the tropical marginals make great house plants, so you'll be able to keep them growing all winter long. We still have some Water Hyacinth and Water Lettuce available, though they're quickly dwindling in numbers. We ship plants until we run out of them, or the weather forbids us to.
For our Yahoo!, AOL, Hotmail, Mindspring and other customers....
....Please change your browser/filter settings so you can receive our email order confirmations after you place your order. Some of these browsers see your "order confirmation email" as spam and bounce them back to us. These order confirmations are not "spam". Without these order confirmations, or other important ordering messages, you'll never know we received or even shipped your order.
June 2006....
Questions or Phone Orders?
....Our New Spring / Summer office hours are now in effect @ 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST - Monday thru Friday. Leave a message at all other times. (As a reminder.....you can always email us your questions, or place your orders online 24/7.)
We're in the middle of the busiest part of our plant shipping season and most of our help has gone home to take care of their kids for the summer.
We're very busy in the greenhouse, with very little time to spare for anywhere else. So if there is no answer when you call us, please leave us a message. If you don't leave a message, we can't call you back....and everyone knows we love talking to our customers. Speak loud and clear (especially your name and phone number)! If you speak softly, we won't be able to hear your name or your phone number and unfortunately can't call you back.
(Hint: The best time to catch us in the office is usually sometime between 9:30 AM and 11:30 or 12:00 noon - EST, Mondays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. Due to the hectic day we have here on Fridays, please do not call us for your pond related questions on that day. Please try to limit your phone calls to orders only, on Fridays. Thank You!)
We're beginning to run out of some plants, while others are now completely Out of Stock for the season. Get your plant order in soon, before they're gone for the season.
Plant orders are always shipped in the order that we receive them. So if you wish to have your plants at the earliest time - place your orders early.
After a very busy Spring, we are now caught up with all our plant orders, as they're now shipping on schedule....though Father's Day and July 4th will most certainly cause some minor delays. Provided the plants you buy are in stock, we will ship your order on the next available day. (Please see our plant shipping schedule for days we ship plants.)
Remember: We ship Free Samples of "Aquatic-Tabs" Plant Food with all Plant Orders!
Priority Mail is reserved for plant orders, only! Dry Goods are shipped via UPS Ground Service only. If you would like your Dry Goods order shipped using Priority Mail or UPS 2nd Day Air, you must call us before you place your order to get a quote for the additional shipping charge. PLEASE NOTE: To keep our Standard "Plant" and "Ground" Shipping Rates low, (due to the high cost of fuel) there will be an additional charge for shipping Dry Goods if you prefer to use these alternative shipping methods.
--Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, Hotmail and Mindspring customers....
Please check your browser settings or add us to your address book, so you can receive our emailed order confirmations and other emails.
April 2006....
Our Spring / Summer office hours are now in effect....Monday thru Friday - 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST. Be patient…. this is a busy time for us. If we don’t answer the phone during these busy hours, please leave us a message and if a response is required….we will call you back.
We started shipping Plants on March 11th. However, some of our plants such as Gloriosa Water Lily and Variegated Sweetflag aren't ready yet, due to the below average temperatures we had in March. (Water Hyacinth and Water Lettuce are now shipping to warmer parts of the country.) So it is possible that either a part of, or all of your plant order may be delayed until late-April or early-May.
For our Yahoo!, AOL, Hotmail, Mindspring and other customers....
....Please change your browser/filter settings so you can receive our email order confirmations after you place your order. Some of them are being seen as "spam" and have been bounced back to us. These order confirmations are not "spam". Without these order confirmations, or other important ordering messages, you'll never know we received or even shipped your order.
March 2006....
Our web host (the company that houses our web site) has been experiencing intermittent technical difficulties over the past few weeks. If you experience any problems while viewing our web site or while ordering, please call us at 724-239-6673 with your questions or with your order. Or if you like, you can email us your phone number and we'll be happy to call you back, to answer your questions or take your order by phone.
* We ship Free AgriTab "Aquatic-Tabs" Plant Food samples with every Plant Order! *
Our new Spring / Summer office hours are now in effect....Monday thru Friday - 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST.
Pond plants purchased between January 1, 2006 and March 18, 2006, will not ship until sometime after March 19, 2006 due to poor weather conditions across the country. We start shipping plant orders to the south first.
Plant orders are shipped in the order that we receive them....so if you wish to have your plants at the earliest time - place your orders early.
For our Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, Hotmail, Mindspring and other customers....
....Please change your browser/filter settings so you can receive our email order confirmations after you place your order. Some of these browsers see your "order confirmation email" as spam and bounce them back to us. These order confirmations are not "spam". Without these messages confirming your order, or other important ordering messages, you'll never know we received or even shipped your order.
February 2006....
....Our Fall/Winter office hours are still in effect @ 11:00 AM to 4:00PM EST - Monday thru Friday. Leave a message at all other times. (You can always email us your questions, or place your orders online 24/7.) We'll change back to our regular hours in March.
Pond plants purchased between January 1, 2006 and March 18, 2006, are held for shipment until a later - more appropriate time for your area (but sometime after March 18, 2006) due to poor weather conditions that may or may not exist in your (or our) area of the country. We'll start shipping "hardy" plant orders to the southern part of the country first...."tropical" plants will follow to the south about 2 to 4-weeks later.
Before buying your plants, please see our "Early Buy Program" for extra discounts and savings.
....And Remember: We ship Free Samples of "Aquatic-Tabs" Plant Food with all of our Plant Orders!
In the event we raise our plant prices, we will hold your plant order at your currently purchased price and ship it at the appropriate time for your area of the country.
Plant orders are shipped in the order that we receive them....so if you wish to have your plants at the earliest time - place your orders early.
For our Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, Hotmail, Mindspring and other customers....
....Please change your browser/filter settings so you can receive our email order confirmations after you place your order. Some of these browsers see your "order confirmation email" as spam and bounce them back to us. These order confirmations are not "spam". Without these messages confirming your order, or other important ordering messages, you'll never know we received or even shipped your order.
New Service Available - Invoices to be Emailed
We're happy to announce, that your invoice will now be emailed to you, rather than using conventional mail.
This is intended for our online customers only. For our mail-order and phone-order customers....you'll still receive your invoices by mail, unless you prefer to receive them via email. (This is in addition to the email confirmations you receive when you place your order and when we ship it.)
A brief message will be emailed to you - Thanking You for your purchase....with the title "Your Invoice from Ponds, Plants and More" in the subject line. - Your invoice will be attached to this email in PDF Format.
- You should print it for your records as it is identical to the one we mail out via the US Postal Service.
- You'll need the "Acrobat Reader" plug-in open, to view and to print this form. Most computers already have this plug-in installed on them.
- If you do not have it, we provide a link in the email and on our website to download it.
- Yahoo!, AOL, Hotmail and Mindspring users....please set your browsers to accept this emailed invoice.
All we require is the exact spelling of your email address when you place your order, in order to send it out to you. If we do not have your correct email address, we won't know for sure if you've ever received this vital piece of information for your order.
Please Note:
There's no need to worry....we do not enter credit card numbers on these invoices.
For All Customers:
If you would rather have your invoice mailed to you via US Mail, please let us know when you place your order....we would be happy to do so.
We're constantly searching for new or improved items, to make your ponds and water gardens healthier, and even more beautiful than ever.
 Look for this symbol throughout our web site, to see our newest pond products, plants or supplies.
Our great customers have determined the placement of this symbol.
 Look for this symbol throughout our web site, to see the pond products, plants or supplies that you like best.
We will again be offering 10% discounts on buying plants in volume this year….
If you buy plants in volume, we will give you an additional 10%-off our already low, Sale price.
Here's how it works: - If you buy for example, 12 bunches (or more) of Anacharis, or 3 (or more) water lilies, you'll save an extra 10% on the cost of those plants.
- Have enough to share with your watergardening friends (or trade your friend for a piece of that special plant, you've had your eye on)!
- Pond and Watergardening Clubs…. Double your savings! Make one order for all of your members! Save on plants….Save on Shipping with our single flat shipping rate on plants!
Plants must be of the same variety (same plant / same color) to take advantage of the savings. You must buy at least: - 12 or more - submerged plants (same plant / same color).
- 12 or more - floating plants (same plant / same color), or
- 4 portions or more - of Azolla, Duckweed or Salvinia.
- 6 or more - hardy or tropical bog plants (same plant / same color).
- 3 or more - hardy or tropical water lilies (same plant / same color).
- 3 or more - lotus tubers (same plant / same color).
Your savings will be manually deducted before we charge your account. You will be notified of your savings via e-mail.
Please Remember: Plant orders are shipped separately from Dry Goods orders via USPS Priority Mail or UPS 2nd Day Air. Please choose the 2nd Day Air option (as opposed to "ground service") as your shipping option at checkout. If you wish to purchase some other product from our site (other than plants), you must place a second order using the appropriate shipping method. Thank You!!
Not sure what to buy your favorite pond owner? Ponds, Plants and More Gift Certificates make great gifts for Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Birthdays, or for any occasion!
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The dust has settled!
Our newly remodeled Christmas Shop is now open and ready for business! There are lots of new and exciting gift ideas for Christmas.
We are now one step closer to our goal as being your complete, Online Watergarden and Gift Center!!
We hope that you enjoy it.
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Ponds, Plants and More is proud to announce that we have dropped our $5.00 box fee, on plant orders under $75.00....but we will continue to carry our "No Minimum Order" policy.
This is a move that existing and future customers will all benefit from!
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