Submerged oxygenating plants are vital in a water garden. If you order any plants at all, these are mandatory!
We also suggest you have a colony of Japanese Trapdoor Snails
They absorb impurities from the water. See Nitrogen Cycle They compete with algae for nutrients, thereby reducing algae to keep the water clear. They produce oxygen for the fish to breath. Fish spawn and lay eggs in oxygenating plant cover. Baby fish use these plants for shelter to hide. They should be planted in pockets of gravel, garden dirt, and sand or a mix of these elements. Don't fertilize them. Let them absorb the excess nutrients (nitrates) present in your pond water.
Floating pond plants are essential for a healthy pond. The #1 benefit of these plants is that they absorb excess nutrients from the water. This keeps algae at a minimum because the floating plants eat the nutrients before algae can get them, thereby starving the algae. Algae requires light to grow and floating plants reduce the available light. Just lay them on the water and you are done planting them! The floating roots provide spawning beds and protection for newborn fish. The most powerful of all of the floating plants is the Blue Shell Water Hyacinth.
Hardy Water Lilies (Nymphaea) Hardy lilies are distinguished from tropical in that the leaves are smooth around the edges.
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Hardy Water Lilies - These stunning plants with rich vivid colors are the showpiece for your watergarden. You will be able to enjoy these lilies year after year. Hardy lilies are available in pink, red, white, yellow, peach/orange and changeable, which starts yellow and changes to copper. Hardy lilies are perennials and frost tolerant. Hardy lilies require very little care. Give them at least 5-6 hours of direct sunlight and still water 6-18" deep. The hardy water lily with its profuse and extravagant blossoms is a winter hardy or perennial plant available from us starting in March and continuing through September. These lilies are produced from rhizomes and grow horizontally. They are sweetly fragrant and bloom on or just above the water's surface. Lilies come in a variety of colors and sizes and once established bloom continually all summer long. Hardy lilies perform many functions around the watergarden. Besides being very beautiful and fragrant they
provide shade and cover from predators for pond Koi. They absorb excess water-born nutrients from the water and also if you have enough of your watergarden covered with their leaves they act as an insulator preventing rapid temperature fluctuations of the water due to extreme day and night temperature fluctuations. Hardy water lilies grow best in a generous amount of heavy garden soil, avoiding too much organic matter unless it has been well composted. Even the heaviest clay soils will work fine with the addition of a little sand and fertilizer. Depth should be maintained between 6" to 18" when first transplanted and then once established can be grown from 12" to 30" deep depending on the variety. Lilies are shipped to you bare-root.
NOTE: The lilies we ship are semi-mature. The lily pads (leaves) are about 3-6 inches across depending on the variety of lily. Most of the lilies we ship have active blooms, but they will fall off from transplant shock. You may get some new blooms for the rest of the year, but they will be small as the new root system needs to become established in your pond. Next year your blooms will be large and plentiful due to an established root base.
Hardy Water Lotus - Lotus are considered sacred in Buddhist's beliefs. This group of water garden plants are sold as tubers and vary from as little as 3" long up to 18" long. The larger varieties have leaves capable of reaching 2 feet in circumference and colossal flowers up to 1 foot in diameter! The smaller varieties can have leaves and flowers as small as 2-3" but still require a spacious container. Lotus often take a year before they first put forth flowers. The wait is rewarded with exhilaration when the lotus plant demonstrates its flowering capabilities. Lotus need to be planted when the water temperature is at least 70 degrees.
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Hardy Bog Plants - Marginal Plants "Marginal" Plants means "Around the Edges" of your pond in shallow water.
Hardy bog plants accent the water garden by adding color and shape to the water garden. Our plants are grown in 2" net pots to insure good root development to reduce transplant shock. Our method of growing the bog plants in this way reduces the likelihood of the plant dying back like bare root stock normally would. The size of the plant that we ship varies by variety. We try to ship plants that are semi-mature not just new starts.
- Tropical Plants - These plants may be grown in Northern climates. What about winter care? Water temperature must reach 70 degrees at some time for tropical lilies to bloom.
Tropical plants need to be protected if outdoor temp is expected to freeze.
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Tropical Bog Plants - "Marginal Plants"
Tropical bog plants accent the water garden by adding color and shape to the water garden. Our plants are grown in 2" net pots to insure good root development to reduce transplant shock. Our method of growing the bog plants in this way reduces the likelihood of the plant dying back like bare root stock normally would. The size of the plant that we ship varies by variety. We try to ship plants that are semi-mature not just new starts.
Tropical Water Lilies (Nymphaea) Tropical lilies can easily be distinguished from hardy lilies in that the leaves are serrated or jagged. -
Tropical Water Lilies can be the centerpieces for your water garden. Tropical lilies are exotic! They evoke romance and glamour. They are very fragrant and are exquisite as cut flowers. Tropical lilies are treated as annuals and are frost tender. They hold their blossoms high above the water and come in vibrant colors - blue, lavender, pink, green, purple, red, white, yellow and autumn shades. They can have several blooms at a time. The flowers stay open later in the day than the hardy lilies and they also bloom later into the season. Tropical lilies come in day blooming and night blooming varieties. The day blooming varieties open several hours after sunrise and stay open until several hours after sunset. A pond containing both day and night blooming lilies can be enjoyed any hour of the day or night. Some are viviparous (growing plantlets on their leaves) which indicates they are more cold tolerant. The night blooming varieties
will open an hour or two before sunset and stay open as late as noon on a cloudy day. Tropical water lilies grow best in a generous amount of heavy garden soil. Even the heaviest clay soils will work fine with the addition of a little sand and fertilizer. Depth should be maintained between 6" to 18" when first transplanted and then once established can be grown from 12" to 30" deep depending on the variety. Lilies are shipped to you bare-root.
NOTE: The lilies we ship are semi-mature. The lily pads (leaves) are about 3-6 inches across depending on the variety of lily. Most of the lilies we ship have active blooms, but they will fall off from transplant shock. You may get some new blooms for the rest of the year, but they will be small as the new root system needs to become established in your pond. Next year your blooms will be large and plentiful due to an established root base.
Water Garden and Pond Snails "Your Mini-Cleanup Pond Crew"
Black Japanese Trapdoor Snail (Viviparis malleatus) -The Black Japanese Trapdoor snail is the preferred species of water gardeners world-wide. This snail is black in color, body and shell. An adult snail is about 2-2½" long, which is a nice big snail. We ship them when they get 1-1½" long. Trapdoor snails are one of the few larger varieties that can survive the winter in Northern climates. This snail is a great asset in keeping algae under control as they groom your plants, planting pots and watergarden walls. They also cruise the pond bottom and consume decaying matter such as fish food. This is a live bearing snail and gives birth to its young a couple of times a year. This is not an egg laying snail that will overwhelm your pond with 1,000's of young.
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* Restricted Pond Plants: Some states have restrictions or bans on pond plants. Contact your local government for a list of restricted plants. The buyer needs to be aware of any regulations on plants that may be restricted.
** Pond Plants grow differently depending on where you live: If you took pond plants of the same species and planted them in different climates each plant would grow differently. This is Mother Nature at work. We guarantee all of our plants will arrive alive and healthy. We cannot guarantee that your specific location will support long term growth. Over time and experience you will find which pond plants thrive in your USDA Zone
*** We reserve the right to substitute with like plants of equal or greater value unless you specifically request otherwise in the remarks section of your order you submit. This happens almost never though, and if it does happen it is usually in regard to floating and submerged oxygenation plants.
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