Water Hawthorn (Aponogenton)
Aponogeton distachyos is amongst one of the best Deep-water aquatics, currently its a simple plant to grow with leaves which are often evergreen and flowers that appear for months on end. These curious flowers borne on spikes which float on the surface, each flower has waxy white petals and black anthers. The fragrance is strong, variously described as 'vanilla and 'Hawthorn-like'. The oblong leaves are often blotched with brown and the eventual spread is about 2 ft. Unlike a Water Lily it should flourish in partial shade and moving water, but ensure that it’s deep enough for the tubers to be below the ice in winter.
Pond Lily (Nuphar)
This is a relative from the Water Lily family but it seriously is not as attractive as it's illustrious cousin. The flowers are small, rather plain and are carried on thick stems above the water. You will discover, however, a few distinct advantages, light ans shade is not a problem and neither is moving water. For the average sized pond choose 'Nuphar minima' (N. pumila). The yellow flowers are about 1inch across and the under-water foliage is translucent. Unfortunately, the kinds on offer are often the large ones such as N. lutea (Brandy Bottle) with its 3 inch bottle shaped yellow flowers which smell strongly of alcohol. This really is only ideal for a huge pond or lake.
Water Fringe (Nymphoides)
There is simply one basic species - Nymphoides peltata, commonly known as Floating Heart. In the catalogues you might locate it listed as Villarsia bennettii or Limnanthermum nymphoides. The miniature Water Lily-like leaves measure about 2 inches across and are sometimes crinkly edged and blotched or spotted with brown. The 11/2 inch yellow flower is more sort of a Buttercup than a Water Lily, and the petal edges are fringed. The blooms are borne in small clusters. This can be a useful plant for giving rapid surface cover before Water Lilies have become established, however it can get out of hand.
Golden Club (Orontium)
Orontium aquaticum is known as a trouble free and non-invasive plant with only one fussy requrement, it does need lots of soil, so make sure you plant it in a deep Water Lily basket. It can grow in shallow water, but it reqiures a planting depth of at least 1ft. if you want the leaves to float around the water surface rather than standing erect out of the water. The foliage is attractive with blue-green above and silvery below. The greatest feature of this member of the Arum family is the unusual flower head. This stands above the water similar to a pure white pencil with a tip which is coloured gold by a mass of little yellow florets. This is one aquatic plant that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone.
Author Resource:
For my next article I will be writing in regards to the floating plants that you might consider placing into your pond. You can get eight specifically that I would like to mention so I might have to split them into a couple of small articles. Happy reading to you all. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the 'gardener london ' company that have given me help and advise all through the countless years that I have been gardening.
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