Water Lilies
Many people have ponds just so they can have water lilies. Here in New Orleans we love tropicals with their aroma reminiscent of tropical islands and colors that defy description.
Hardy water lilies are beautiful and grow anywhere. If you have a pond, you want a water lily. Their beauty makes your pond complete.
Water lilies are blooming at their finest now. Don't forget to fertilize them. I often fertilize every 10 days this time of year to get the most blooms. Have a night bloomer and a day bloomer, so you can enjoy water lily blooms at all hours.
You may want to stagger your fertilizing. Fertilizer feeds water lilies, it also feeds algae. With the hot summer sun baking our ponds, we can have an algae problem if we feed our lilies too much all at once. So feed half of your lilies this week and the other half next week. That way your water will stay clear of algae.
About Water Lilies
Tips about Hardy Water Lilies
Hardy water lilies can grow most anywhere. I have seen lakes high in the Rocky Mountains covered with water lilies. If you live north of the tropics, put a hardy water lily in your pond. If the pond ices over, you will not lose the lily.If you choose tropical water lilies, they will give you exotic aromas that bring to you the south seas. They shoot up from the water about a foot and wave gently in tropical breezes. They will not survive in freezing weather without special care.
Feed your lilies once a month with water lily tabs, a compressed fertilizer tablet that you push into the soil. Water lilies are in their heavy blooming season in the summer. Fertilize them often and they will provide you a great show.
Your water lily bloom will last about three days and then die. By that time you should have more buds. Often you will have three or more blooms at once. When a flower dies, pick it off and discard it.
Water lily pads grow in circles. The oldest pads are the farthest away from the pot. As they start to decay, pinch them off and discard them. Try not to let organic matter decay in the pond. It can foul the water and upset the water chemistry.
If your lily pads start to get smaller and the plant begins to bloom less and less, it may need dividing. Do your dividing in the spring. Very simply, remove the plant from the pot, rinse off the corms and break them apart. Repot and replace in the pond. When you repot, stick the corm in the soil upright with a small piece sticking out of the soil.
Water lilies love to have their pots at least 6" below the surface of the water. If they can be deeper than that, they are even happier.
If you plant the water lilies in a natural pond, that is, one that is not lined with a rubber liner or concrete, the lily will become invasive. If you do not control it consistently, the entire top of the pond will become covered with a thick mat of water lilies. You will need strong backs and a flat bottomed boat to rake the lilies out and get them under control.
Turtles and koi will eat water lilies. So will ducks and raccoons. If you start your pond with one water lily and one turtle or koi, soon you will have a large turtle or koi and no water lily. If you buy one turtle or koi and many water lilies hoping your critters could never eat that much, you will have larger critters and no water lilies. Water lilies are expensive critter food.
Hardy Water Lilies
In the cold parts of the world, hardy water lilies grow well. Their vivid, bright colors brighten any pond or water garden.
How to Plant Hardy Water Lilies
Use a heavy clay soil, not any amended soils with vermiculite or perlite in them. Actually the only thing the lily wants is a way to hold it up. I have used rockwool sucessfully. Use a large wide pot. You can buy them or cut down a black nursery pot. Put the soil in the pot. Place the lily tuber at a 45 degree angle with the non-growing end against the side of the pot. Add aquatic plant fertilizer by pushing one tab per gallon of fertilizer in the soil, not touching the root. Do not cover the crown of the plant with soil. Add a layer of gravel over the soil, again being careful not to cover the crown. Fish like to root around in the soil and the gravel seems to keep them from doing that. Place the lilies 18" to 30" deep. Feed them at least monthly; they are heavy feeders.Keep the lilies away from the waterfall. They do not like moving water.
Tropical Water Lilies
See the vibrant colors of the tropical water lilies
These water lilies are tropical and will not over winter in freezing climates without special care.
Giant water lilies
Water Lilies Trailer
UK trailer for the film 'Water Lilies' which is released from the 14th of March. http://www.waterliliesmovie.co.uk The current list of release dates/cinemas: *West End* 14th MARCH Curzon Soho Brixton Ritzy Cineworld Fulham Odeon Swiss Cottage *Regions* Belmont *Aberdeen*- 18 April Little Theatre *Bath* - 28th March Electric *Birmingham* - 28th March Duke of York's *Brighton* - 14th March David Lean *Croydon* - 18th April Cameo *Edinburgh* - 14th March Picturehouse *Exeter*- 28 March Eden Court *Inverness* - 19th May Duke's *Lancaster* - 2nd May Phoenix Arts *Leicester*- 4 April Cornerhouse *Manchester*- 4 April Corn Exchange *Newbury* - 18th April Tyneside *Newcastle* - 21th March Cinema City *Norwich* - 18 April Broadway *Nottingham*- 18 April Showrooms *Sheffield*- 11 April Harbour Lights *Southampton* - 28th March
Runtime: 1:40 | 46634 views | 69 Comments
Water lilies
Water lilies from all over the world
DSC07754
DSC07759
DSC07760
Waterlilies
pond
carpet of waterlilie...
waterlilies all over
quoit
Kew Waterlily Pond 1
Lotus flowers @ Nirw...
Building a Backyard Pond
- How to Build a Pond
- How to build a backyard pond. Materials you need. Digging the hole. How to measure a liner. Installing pond rocks and more.
Oxygenating Plants
- Oxygenating Plants
- Ponds and water gardens need submerged vegetation to be ecologically balanced. If you have a pond and do not have koi, you can make your pond nearly maintenance free with the proper amount of underwater plants and floating plants.
Floating Plants
- Floating Plants
- Find out about floating plants.
Build a pond yourself
- How To Build A Pond
- Instructions and photos to build an inground pond in a weekend
- How to Build a Waterfall
- To build a waterfall, read a few of my tips and tricks. You can build a professional looking waterfall in just a couple of hours.
- How to build a Pondless Waterfall
- Pondless waterfalls are another wonderful way to have a water feature in your yard or garden. You can have a waterfall with no pond, no fish, no green water to worry about. A pondless waterfall is also great for a small space.
- How to Build a Koi Pond
- Building a koi pond is different than building a goldfish pond or water garden. Let's talk about how to build a koi pond.
- Self Contained Small Ponds
- Small ponds in limited spaces are very difficult to design and install. When confronted with building a small pond, we pond builders tend to call it a design challenge. See some of the ways to overcome the small pond challenge
- How to Build a Natural Swimming Pond
- Natural swimming ponds are all the rage. Many people in Europe already do have natural swimming ponds and they are catching on quickly in America.
- How to Build a Natural Swimming Pond - English Style
- How to build a swimming pond that uses no chlorine, no chemicals and looks like a natural pond in your landscape.
- Build an Inexpensive Pond
- You can build an inexpensive pond easily and in a weekend. It can look as beautiful as any that a professional has done and you will not have spent a fortune.
- Build a Rain Garden
- Build a rain garden and conserve water at the same time. Learn a few simple ways to make a rain garden.
- Ponds Under Trees
- Ponds under trees can offer planting opportunities for us that ponds in the sun cannot. Ponds under trees can demand a bit more maintenance but not enough to stop us from building our ponds under trees.
- How to Build an Indoor Pond
- You want to build an indoor pond, because you have no place to put it outside or just love the soothing sound of water bubbling in the house. You can have an indoor pond cheaply and easily.
- How to Build a Bog Garden
- Building a bog garden, one of many forms of rain gardens is a great way to conserve water and add another element to your garden.
- How to Build an Above Ground Pond
- Occasionally ponds must be built above ground. Either the location is under trees and digging would injure the tree, the pond is to be on concrete, so digging is impossible or the pond builder is a tenant and wants to take the pond along when moving.
Pond Maintenance
- Routine Pond Maintenance
- Now that I have a backyard pond, what routine pond maintenance is needed? I have heard they are practically maintenance free. Find out how maintenance free a pond can be.
- Pond Algae: Green Pond Blues
- You don't have to suffer the pond algae and green pond blues. A green pond is normal and happens easily.
Your pond has turned to pea soup overnight. What can you do now? Here are several ways to keep your pond clean and clear. - Spring Pond Care
- Spring pond care is essential and easy. Follow the the tips below to give your plants and fish an easy transition from winter torpor to spring awakening, so your pond, fish and plants can give you pleasure all summer long.
- Summertime Pond Care
- Summertime pond care is only a bit different than spring pond care. When summertime weather hits, we must take a few precautions to ensure fish health.
- Fall Pond Care
- Fall pond care involves a few different approaches to pond care.
- Pond Cleaning-Step by Steps Instructions for Cleaning the Garden Pond
- Pond cleaning is not for the faint of heart! Step by step instructions for cleaning your garden pond.
- Winter Pond Care-fish and plants
- Winter pond care requires some special care, not much, but just a few things to watch. If you have not done all the nasty fall care, you must do it now. Trying to remove debris through the ice is impossible.
- Winter Pond Care-pond equipment
- Winter pond care means special care for pumps, filters, hoses and supplies as well as pond dwellers.
Pond pumps, filters, skimmers
- Choosing a Backyard Pond Pump
- From initial cost to running cost, what pump is best for your pond? There are hundreds of pond pumps to choose from: Be sure you pick what is right for you.
- Pond Filtration
- Figuring out pond filtration can be a chore. I have tried to explain what pond filtration means and some different ways to do it. And choices if you choose not to use pond filtration.
- Pond Gadgets
- As we begin our pond keeping hobby, we find that we need certain pond gadgets. Pond gadgets are things we don't use often, but when we need them, we need them now, not tomorrow or on Monday.
- Backyard Pond Pumps
- Many backyard pond pumps to choose from: Which one is best for me?
- Epoxy Pond Liners
- Epoxy pond liners are coming into their own. Now we have another choice when it comes to materials to line our ponds
- Filters and skimmers???
- Pond filters and skimmers have been sold to the public as necessary equipment for your pond, but are they always?
- Faux Rocks - The Real Deal
- Faux rocks are a great substitute for expensive, heavy and unwieldy rocks for pond and waterfall building
What's wrong with my pond? Help!
- Pond Disasters
- Pond disasters can happen to any pond or water garden. They are usually simple to find and easy to repair. Often a pond problem develops quickly when the ecosystem gets out of balance. How you can find your pond problems and solve them yourself with quick and easy solutions.
- My Pond is Leaking
- Learning how to repair your pond liner is the most difficult problem to solve in pond keeping. You must find holes and patch them and very often that is not an easy task.
- Pond Troubleshooting - a Case Study
- Pond troubleshooting is much like any other troubleshooting. Eliminate the easy problems first and then start hunting.
Plants for your pond
- Water Lilies
- Water lilies are often the reason we have ponds. Water lilies lend an exotic look to the pond that we treasure, taking little care and offering much enjoyment.
- Pond Plants
- Pond plants can be submerged, floating or emergent. The submerged plant, usually anacharis is the key to balancing the pond ecosystem. With enough, your pond will stay crystal clear.
- Floating Pond Plants
- Floating pond plants are a necessity for the ecologically balanced pond. Like submerged vegetation, they are workhorses in your pond.
- Pond Plants: Umbrella and Pitcher
- Pond plant choices are many and varied. We want early bloomers, late bloomers, hardy or tropical. For every pond and bog there are plants that will thrive. Two are spotlighted here.
- Pond plants: Duckweed and Water Fern
- Duckweed and water fern are floating pond plants. They probably the most invasive and noxious of all of the floating plants.
- Pond Plants: Arrow Arum
- Arrow arum is one of the dozens of marginal or bog plants that do well in the ornamental backyard pond.
Book reviews
- The Complete Book of The Water Garden
- The Complete Book of the Water Garden, by Philip Swindells and David Mason is arguably the finest, most comprehensive water gardening book ever written.
- Miracle Gro Water Gardens
- MIracle-Gro has produced one fine pond help book. The very best part of it is that it is spiral bound, so it will lie flat, and waterproof so you can take it outside with you, put it on the ground for reference and clean it up later.
- The Curious Gardener's Almanac, a Review
- The Curious Gardener's Almanac, centuries of practical garden wisdom, by Niall Edworthy, published by The Penguin Group in New York is not a book about ponds. In fact, it is not a book about gardens either. This book has no pigeon hole in which to be pushed.
- The Pond Owner's Problem Solver, a Review
- The Pond Problem Solver by John Dawes, Book review, how to build a pond, where to put a pond, fish, fish diseases, pond maintenance, pond plants
- All about the Pond
- A great book for teachers of small children with many resources in one great book.
- The Creative Herbal Home
- The Creative Herbal Home is certainly not a book you would expect to see in the backyard water garden section of Pondlady.com
fish, frogs, toads and other critters in your pond
- Choosing Goldfish for Your Pond
- Choosing goldfish for your pond can be simple if you follow a few tips. When you are choosing goldfish, shop at a pet or fish store, limit your choices, don%uFFFDt buy too many and don%uFFFDt spend much money.
- Toads and Frogs in your Backyard Pond
- Frogs, toads and backyard ponds go together. We build wildlife resorts in our back yard complete with room service, 400 count sheets and chocolates on the pillows and wonder why we get nightly applause from our invited amphibious residents.
Pond info I have learned along the way
- The Pondkeepers' Glossary
- Pondkeepers use words that most do it yourself pond builders have never heard before. What are pond builders talking about when they say GPH or dechlor? What is a spitter? What is a UV light and do I need one?
- Water Conservation and Your Backyard Pond
- Our water crisis is worsening, but ponds can be a way of water conservation, not waste. Find ways to conserve water by using efficient pumps, statuary and solar power.
- Starting a Pond and Water Garden Society
- Pond and water garden societies can be a great educational tool for pond keepers. If you don't have one near you, here's how to start a pond and water garden society.
- Ponds, schools, and kids
- Ponds and kids go together. Schools and ponds go together. Use a pond across the entire curriculum to teach kids.
- Attracting Winter Wildlife to Your Backyard Pond
- In the winter our ponds lie dormant, or do they? We can keep a water supply open and give our winter garden creatures a drink and something to eat.
- Decorate Your Pond for the Holidays
- Decorate your pond when you decorate your house for the holidays
Ask The Pondlady
When should water lilies be divided? What do I feed them?
If you have a question about your water lilies, ask The Pondlady here.
|
pondlady
Pack your lily tubers in damp sand and keep them above freezing. Pot them up when the temps reach 55º where you are. Posted October 03, 2008 |
hello i am moving during the winter to a zone 4 climate and would like to take some of my water lilies with me. I have already dug some of the tubers from the pond and have them in a pail with pond water. how do i pot and keep them through the winter please until i can relocate them in a real pond? thanks.
regarding your comment on animals eating water lilies - i've had deer feast on them especially enjoying the stalk of the flower.
Posted October 02, 2008
Thanks for a great leans. I have a formal pond with comets and waterlilies. I've just started a blog about Garden Pond Design to increase my knowledge of garden ponds.
Posted September 23, 2008
|
|
pondlady
Beaudale, I *think* your comets will be OK if you have plenty of submerged vegetation in the pond. If you can, however, add some aeration. Then I am sure they would be fine. Posted July 06, 2008 |
Hi Pondlady:
FINALLY someone who knows how HOT my 750 gal pond gets. I need that hot sun for my lilies but the temp gets so warm on consecutive days like today 98 %s.
Until now i have only had shade ponds without lilies. How hot temps can my comets survive. without any nearby power source for aeration?
Posted July 06, 2008
From the Pondlady's Pad
The Pondlady's Blog
The pondlady's blog covers everything from how to build a pond to troubleshooting, maintenance and even takes your specific questions. You will receive a personal answer from the pondlady.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWater Lily Reading
Books by the Water Lily Experts
Gardening with Water: How James van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme Plant Fountains, Lily Pools, Swimming Pools, Ponds...
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Water Gardening: Water Lilies and Lotuses
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Waterlilies and Lotuses: Species, Cultivars, and New Hybrids
Amazon Price: $23.07 (as of 10/07/2008)
Monet's Water Lilies
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Monet Water Lilies Journal (Guided Journal Series)
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 10/07/2008)
The Pondlady's Links
- The Pondladys Water Gardens
- Enjoy the serenity of rushing water in your backyard with a garden pond. Watch your fish playing in your waterfall. Get complete instructions with photos free. All materials available.
- Gardeners Gumbo
- A community of gardeners from all over the world. Get your questions answered, keep your gardening journal, enjoy the camaraderie of gardeners everywhere
- From the Pondlady's Pad
- Time to time musings about backyard garden pond building, keeping, troubleshooting. Tips on the latest pond supplies and equipment.
- The Pondlady's shop
- We carry the products you need to create you own water garden or to enhance your existing pond environment. From statuary to adorn your water garden to the hardware you need to keep that fountain running year after year, we carry it all!
