Essentials for Water Gardening
Lotus
The following lotus are free-flowering, and reliable (hardy
to Zone 4.) They are rather large, reaching 4 to 5 feet in
height, and are best used in medium to large ponds.
The Carolina Queen Lotus has pink flowers with a creamy
yellow base. The large single pink blossoms are marked with
a yellow heart. The very large flowers are held high above
the water.
The Double Rose Lotus has very large double pink-red
blossoms. The flower is changeable so there can be flowers
of three different colors on the plant at one time. They
start out pink flushed with yellow, the next day the flowers
are pink and yellow, the third day the flowers are a cream
color flushed with pink.
Perry's Giant Sunburst is a yellow lotus. It has large
delicate yellow blossoms that tower above enormous
waxy-green foliage.
Water Lilies
Water lilies are the most common plant used in water
features. Many varieties are hardy here.
Gladstone Water Lily is an award winning hardy lily. The
flower has waxy, cup shaped, cream colored petals and gold
stamens. Gladstoniana has a rather faint, sweet aroma and
can be planted in semi-shaded areas.
Perry's Baby Red is free flowering with striking deep red
blossoms. It is a good lily for the small to medium pond and
has a slight fragrance.
The Sioux Water Lily blossoms open yellow and change to
apricot. It has mottled leaves. The flowers stay open late
in the day. Sioux is good for any size pond.
Cannas
There are 2 basic types of cannas used in water gardens:
true water cannas and water-tolerant cannas. True water
cannas prefer saturated soil and can even stand having their
crowns submersed. Water-tolerant cannas can adapt to wet
soils and will tolerate just a slight amount of water over
their crown. However, they will also do well in garden
soils. When using these types in a water garden plant them
along the edges in shallow areas.
The most popular canna that has made the transition from
land to pond-edge is ‘Florence Vaughn.' This cultivar
reaches 4 to 5 feet and has giant flowers that look like
orange gladiolus edged in yellow.
Hardy Marginals
Elmi (Alternanthera reineckii)
This will put some color in the dull green places around
your pond. It has narrow, 2 inch ruby red leaves and tiny
white flowers. The beauty is that you can plant it among the
rocks at the edge of the pond and it will drape itself all
around and look wonderful.
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Cardinal flower HAS Dark green foliage, and upright stalks
with striking, bright red flowers. It will perform well in
shade.
Parrot's Feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum)
This is the cutest plant! It has soft green, feathery
foliage, and spreads on the surface. Fish think it is fun to
hide in.
Cattails
Cattails provide height and movement to the water garden.
There are 2 common types. Dwarf Cattail (Typha laxmanii),
which only reaches 24”- 30” in height with very narrow
leaves. The cattails are small as well. Graceful Cattails
(Typha augustifolia) will get 3’ – 5’ tall and sway
gracefully in the breeze.
Floaters
Water Hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes)
These are great floaters and very helpful in combating green
water algae. The down side is they are tropical and will not
survive the winter. The good news is that they are
inexpensive, beautiful, fun plants with lavender flowers
that resemble the hyacinth bulb bloom.
Go to next page, Pond
Building Basics
