Planting and CareInstructions for Water Garden Plants

TROPICAL WATER LILIES - Day and night blooming – tropicalwater lilies should be planted in pots at least 12 inches in diameter. A 3-5 gallon size should suffice for eachlily. Fill the pot half full with richgarden soil and add 2-4 fertilizer tablets, then continue to fill the pot withsoil to about 2 inches from the top. Therhizome should set up right with the roots buried gently in the soil. Make sure the tip of the rhizome is notburied. Next add an inch or two ofgravel or sand in order to prevent the soil from escaping from thecontainer. Remember to keep the gravelaway from the crown of the rhizome. Theplant can now be lowered into the water to a depth of approximately 6inches. As the plant grows it can belowered to a depth of 12 inches. Tropical lilies cannot tolerate cold temperatures and should not beplaced in the water until the water temp reaches 70 degrees. Planting too early can cause dormancy andrestrict the potential growth of the plant. Tropicals bloom from late spring through early fall, depending on theweather.

HARDY WATER LILIES - Hardy lilies are planted in much the sameway as tropicals. Hardies grow horizontally across the container so a wide potis necessary for planting. The rhizome should be planted at one edge of thecontainer with the rhizome planted at an angle of about 45 degrees with thecrown exposed. Remember to add fertilizer, use a rich garden soil, and top thesoil with an inch or two of gravel or sand. The plant can be lowered to a depthof 6 inches to begin with and then lowered to a depth of 12 to 18 inches as theplant grows. Hardies should be planted in early spring. They bloom from Junethrough September depending on the weather, and become dormant during thecolder months. As spring approaches, growth will begin again.

MARGINAL OR BOG PLANTS - Marginal plants should be planted inindividual containers of approximately 1 to 3 gallon capacity. The marginalplants are grown in 2' net pots and it is recommended that you plant withoutremoving these net pots as not to damage the roots. Plant as you would thelilies, but when adding fertilizer tablets, use 1 tablet for 1-gallon size potsand 2 tablets for 2- or 3-gallon pots. Marginal plants should be lowered to adepth of only 2 to 3 inches. They grow out of the water and are usually foundat the water's edge.

OXYGENATING PLANTS - All ponds should have underwateroxygenating plants to aid in maintaining clean and pure water. These plantshelp prevent algae growth and provide oxygen. Oxygenating plants can be plantedas you would the lilies and marginals. A one-gallon size pot is recommended.Completely submerge these plants to a depth of at least 12 inches.