March 2017 has proven to be one of the most challenging months in Rochester, New York area and at Bergen Water Gardens. As a result, our lotus tuber shipping has been delayed by 1 week.

March 8 – 9, Historic windstorm swept through the area, with winds topping 80 mph. Power was lost to over 120,000 area homes, including Bergen Water Gardens and our home. The wind also caused considerable damage to gh 3 and 4. After 3 days, power was restored and temporary repairs were finished.

March 15- 16 : Snowstorm. The Rochester area was blanketed by over 27 inches of snow accompanied by high winds once again. More power outages and travel restrictions.

March 15 & 16: As result of the blizzard threat in New York City, our lotus tuber shipment was delayed. First on the 15th, Customs officers and APHIS inspectors did not have to report to work due to the blizzard. On the 16th, the courier missed picking up the inspected by shipment by 10 minutes. Therefore the lotus tubers were not picked up until March 17th and we received them on Saturday March 18th – about 3 days later than scheduled but the tubers look excellent!

March 17th: Sudden death of my Aunt Florence – Sadly she was the third family member to die in less than year. Helping to make funeral arrangements, followed by the wake and then the funeral on the March 21st took a tremendous amount of personal time and energy.

March 25th: We are completing the final phase of cleaning and sorting the 3,000 Chinese lotus tubers –  We have over 300 varieties growing for 2017!

We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we deal with the challenges of this month. We will start to ship our lotus orders on Monday March 27th as growing conditions dictate in your locality. Thank you Larry and Lili