As far as I am concerned the Water Lily is the queen of aquatic plants.
Nearly every one that has a pond has a Lily or wants one. The worth of this
hardy Water Lily lies not only in the wonder of it’s cup-shaped or
star-shaped flower but also within the round or heart shaped leaves (pads)
which not only do they keep the fish happy but they help to maintain the
water clear as well.
I believe it is a fascinating plant that has a number of surprises for
every one of us and an equal quantity of pitfalls for the novice. The
initial surprise for the newbie is the vast range of flower sizes, leaf
sizes, leaf spread and planting depth required. The dwarf varieties
(minatures) with 1″ wide leaves covering about 1 sq.ft of pond surface and
bearing medal-sized flowers are a great choice for the minipond made from a
half-barrel. On the other end of the scale there are the Viogrous varieties
with leaves measuring greater than 8″ across whch, and if left alone, will
blanket a pond of 50 sq.ft or more and produce flowers the scale of dinner
plates.
The golden rule is never to buy a Water Lily simply because the picture
looks nice and also it costs lower than the others on show. You should
measure your pond surface and then aim to purchase a number of specimens
with an anticipated spread of no more than half of the pond surface. Never
be guided by the price. Those that are far too vigarous for the average
size pond actually cost less than the more compact ones which tend not to
look good value for money because of thier size.
To make selection easier it really is better to group Water Lilies into a
tiny number of types. Dwarf, Medium and Vigorous. All you have to do is to
choose the type with the right planting depth and also the anticipated
spread to your needs and then find a variety within that group which has a
shape and colour that you find attractive. Time of flowering won’t come in
to the choice because all Water Lilies behave more or less the same.
Blooming starts in June and then the flowers appear in succession until
September. Each bloom opens from late morning to late afternoon and lasts
for roughly 4 days.
Now for one of the surprises. A lot of the scores of varieties on offer
today came from the breeding work of a Frenchman who lived the name of M.
Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac. The first one appeared in 1877 but
unfortunately his secrets died with him in 1911. For this reason, the
majority of the Water Lily varieties in the catalogues are in excess of 80
years old. I an happy to say that new American varieties are actually
starting to appear on the market, but Latour-Marliac hybrids still continue
to dominate.
Now for the planting rules. May and June are the perfect months for
planting and you’ll need a sunny spot and still water . Take off the old
leaves from the rootstock and trim back the firous roots. Plant firmly so
that the crown is just protruding above the surface. Submerge the basket so
the young leaves float at the surface and gradually lower the basket to the
ultimate depth as the leaves grow. This will likely take several months to
achieve.
Once you’ve stocked your pond with plants, leave it for a month befor
introducing any fish. Don’t just tip the fish in as soon as you get them
home. Place the polythene bag in the pond and leave it for an hour. After
an hour gently open the bag and add some pond water to it. Leave the bag in
the pond for an extra 10 minutes. The final stage is to tip the fish in to
their new home. Don’t worry if the fish hide amid the foliage for a few
days, this is quite normal behavior. Leave them alone and what ever you do,
don’t attempt to coax them out.
The beauty of a garden pond will not really complete without the presence
of water plants. Among many types of beautiful water plants, water lily is
the most preferred plant because of the beauty offered by this flower to
your garden. You can find many types of water lily that gives you different
attractive colors. Before choosing a certain type for your pond, it is
better to know more about this flower. Therefore, you can get the most
beautiful water lily for your pond.
Water lily not only gives additional beauty for your pond, but also to help
your pond has balance ecosystem. Adding water lily makes your pond very
eye-pleasing since this flower floats beautifully with attractive colors.
This flower spread their leaves across the water surface because it needs a
lot of sunlight to grow properly. This shape will be a good formation to
create shelter for the fish in your pond, especially during hot summer
time. Automatically, it prevents your pond to get too much sunlight so the
growth of the algae could be reduced significantly. Surely, the water in
your pond will have clean-looking appearance.
Water lily could survive to beautify your pond up to a year. This flower is
dying in winter time and growing its new flowers and leaves in the spring.
Some types of water lily generally bloom during May through September. They
will give you beautiful appeal of opening flower in the morning and closing
flower in the opening. You can choose your favorite color among many
different attractive colors offered by this flower, such as yellow, pink,
red, white, purple, blue and orange. Some of the types are also giving its
fragrance that will be perfect addition for your garden.
So, if you want to have livelier pond, you can try adding this beautiful
flower for your pond. Once this flower blooms, you will have a very
attractive pond in your garden.
