Hi: my clients have a wonderful man-made pond that pours out to adjacent bog lands: It is fed by a spring up the hill. The water never freezes, nor does it ever get warm----always about 40 degrees. This year we began some marginal planting, with success, and we have four resident green frogs! But the experimental water lily from Home Depot did nothing except stay on the bottom (30") and put out three small leaves. We figure that the water is just too cold. My client (I'm a garden designer just learning about ponds) yearns for lily pads; other floaters, hyacinth and water lettuce, have just floated away through the pond outlet to the bog. I saw a "pond w/in a pond" and other "containerized" lily pads. Any suggestions? There is room to expand--in fact the client want to do so. Could we create an environment just for lily pads? Just glad that I was smart enough not to invest in the gems of water lilies. Thanks for your thoughts.
Cold Water, Spring Fed Pond & Lilies Zone 6b/7a
DRCAT
Waterlilies need a water temperature of about 60 degrees in order to bloom. It sounds like this pond is fed by a natural spring and that is why the water never warms much more than 40 degrees. In order to have anything more than just a smattering of lily pads, you would need to create a warmer environment.
On the plus side...no algae so the water should be crystal clear. Koi would be fine in it and your client would be able to see them.
Is it in the sun? If so, dark colored rocks and stone
would collect some heat and maybe warm the water up enough for a small pond within a pond. Maybe lotus would be able to bloom in such an area. The water would only have to cover the lotus pot by a few inches. Even if it were warmer waterlilies and lotus do not grow where there is moving water so you would have to create an area of still water.
Parrot's Feather like the cool temps, in fact when the weather gets hot here it goes dormant. It looks great cascading down rocks. It stays anchored so will not wash through the spillway.
Sounds like a challenge, I would love to see some pictures.
Loretta
This message was edited Sep 6, 2009 8:51 PM