Hi All,
I've been working on some re-potting and dividing of my pond plants and have some extras to offer for sale. I've done a lot of research on specific types that stay smaller and are well suited to growing in tubs etc. These are all pretty different than what you might find locally. If you are keeping fish in any tubs this summer, these are particularly nice to grow with them since as we hit the really hot days, their leaves have already spread out and keep the water from over heating.
Dauben (dwarf tropical water lily) - $10 each
This is a tiny tropical water lily that I've grown both in a small pond and in a smallish container (20" diameter at the top). Unlike the hardy lilies with their flowers floating at the surface, the tropicals hold their flowers up off the water. While they won't make it through the winter, Dauben is one of the tropicals that are vivaporous (start new plantlets from the leaves) and are easy to keep going in a small container in a window. I wintered over 5 little starter plants and just need 2, so I have 3 for sale. These are still at the stage where they are putting out underwater leaves, but with fertilizer and nice warm weather they grow quickly and will be flowering by early July if not earlier. Here is a picture of mine still flowering even after the first frost (they go longer than any of the hardy water lilies since they just flower until the weather gets them which is nice) and a close up around the same time. The over exposure of the flower in the picures don't do it justice but if you google it you'll see they come out a lovely light blue (almost lavender) with a light, almost white toward the inside and bright yellow center. Dog head shows you how small these little beauties are. You'll get the little plant in a bag ready to be planted.
Laydekeri Lilacea (dwarf hard water lily) - $10
I also have a very pretty pink water lily that is great to grow in a container or corner of your pond. It has leaves about 4-5 inches wide and flowers 2-3 inches wide. I'm going to divide my plant and will just have one tuber to share. It will come in the plastic bag ready to plant.
Hermine (small hardy water lily) - $10
This was the first lily I ever grew and I still love it. Not as small as Lilacea or some of the pygmy lilies I grow, but much smaller than most hard lilies. The leaves normally get about 6 inches and the flowers about 4. In my pond, which only gets about 5 hours of light, the leaves get a bit bigger (about 8 inches) as the plant is trying to make the most of it. But even with less light I get a lot of blooms. It is the classic white water lily. It is a bit big for the resin half barrels I often use (I think those are only about 24 inches wide), but great in a small pond where it won't dominate like most bigger lilies will or in larger containers. The frog in this picture is on the small size, but good for reference. Unfortunately my camera phone over exposed this one as well.
I also have three types of lotus that I can offer as tubers. These are really awesomely showy plants and the ones I grow are all considered dwarf or "bowl" lotus. I grow them in the resin half barrel planters that you can get at Lowes or HD and are about 24" inches at the top. They lotus are planted into 7-quart oil change pans (about $5 or less) so it makes it easy for me to take them out of the barrels to winter over without having to store/move the barrels themselves. Here's a picture of the three growing around July 4th after being started as tubers. By early August there were usually 1-4 flowers out at a time in each lotus pot.
Sparks (dwarf or "bowl") - $15
This is the one in bloom in the photo above. This is a more traditional style flower and came from the research project at Auburn that collected lotus from all over China. It will grow even smaller if grown in a smaller container. Here is a picture of the flower. When the light is hitting these, they are stunning.
Meizhonghong - $15
This is the lotus in the middle of group of lotus in the picture above. While I don't have a picture of the flower, it was actually the very first to flower (mid June maybe) and has a similar, but larger flower than Sparks. It has a few more petals than Sparks and is considered a "dancing" style bloom since the petals are at slighly different levels when the flower spreads out and the petals "dance" in the breeze. As you can see in the first lotus flower it is the largest of the three I grow but still easily grown in a container. It would be great in the corner of any pond as well.
Momo Botan - $15
These are pink like the others, grows smaller like Sparks and has what is often called the thousand petal style bloom. It is the first lotus I grew and has come back and flowered easily for me. All three of these were very productive and bloom repeatedly during the summer into early fall. If you leave the flowers to seed you get the pretty seed heads you can use in dried flower arrangements, but you get fewer blooms. Here is a picture of Momo in bloom, probably the last day of blooming since it is all the way open.
And so you know what a tuber looks like, here is what I have from the Momo Botan I'm dividing. Each tuber will come with a minimum or 2 growing tips and should grow and flower easily by summer.
As you can probably tell by this very wordy post, I love the pond plants and am very happy to help anyone with advice, etc. They are pretty easy to grow and are great to add to your tubs and ponds with your fish this summer. One word of caution, if you have Koi you probably won't have plants for long. There is something you can do with Lotus, but water lilies will just be a quick lunch for any decent sized Koi.
I'm in Arlington, will be at the PVAS auction tomorrow and may be coming to the April CCA meeting. Eventually I'll put these out on CL or sell them at a neighborhood plant sale, but wanted to offer them here first.
I've been working on some re-potting and dividing of my pond plants and have some extras to offer for sale. I've done a lot of research on specific types that stay smaller and are well suited to growing in tubs etc. These are all pretty different than what you might find locally. If you are keeping fish in any tubs this summer, these are particularly nice to grow with them since as we hit the really hot days, their leaves have already spread out and keep the water from over heating.
Dauben (dwarf tropical water lily) - $10 each
This is a tiny tropical water lily that I've grown both in a small pond and in a smallish container (20" diameter at the top). Unlike the hardy lilies with their flowers floating at the surface, the tropicals hold their flowers up off the water. While they won't make it through the winter, Dauben is one of the tropicals that are vivaporous (start new plantlets from the leaves) and are easy to keep going in a small container in a window. I wintered over 5 little starter plants and just need 2, so I have 3 for sale. These are still at the stage where they are putting out underwater leaves, but with fertilizer and nice warm weather they grow quickly and will be flowering by early July if not earlier. Here is a picture of mine still flowering even after the first frost (they go longer than any of the hardy water lilies since they just flower until the weather gets them which is nice) and a close up around the same time. The over exposure of the flower in the picures don't do it justice but if you google it you'll see they come out a lovely light blue (almost lavender) with a light, almost white toward the inside and bright yellow center. Dog head shows you how small these little beauties are. You'll get the little plant in a bag ready to be planted.
Laydekeri Lilacea (dwarf hard water lily) - $10
I also have a very pretty pink water lily that is great to grow in a container or corner of your pond. It has leaves about 4-5 inches wide and flowers 2-3 inches wide. I'm going to divide my plant and will just have one tuber to share. It will come in the plastic bag ready to plant.
Hermine (small hardy water lily) - $10
This was the first lily I ever grew and I still love it. Not as small as Lilacea or some of the pygmy lilies I grow, but much smaller than most hard lilies. The leaves normally get about 6 inches and the flowers about 4. In my pond, which only gets about 5 hours of light, the leaves get a bit bigger (about 8 inches) as the plant is trying to make the most of it. But even with less light I get a lot of blooms. It is the classic white water lily. It is a bit big for the resin half barrels I often use (I think those are only about 24 inches wide), but great in a small pond where it won't dominate like most bigger lilies will or in larger containers. The frog in this picture is on the small size, but good for reference. Unfortunately my camera phone over exposed this one as well.
I also have three types of lotus that I can offer as tubers. These are really awesomely showy plants and the ones I grow are all considered dwarf or "bowl" lotus. I grow them in the resin half barrel planters that you can get at Lowes or HD and are about 24" inches at the top. They lotus are planted into 7-quart oil change pans (about $5 or less) so it makes it easy for me to take them out of the barrels to winter over without having to store/move the barrels themselves. Here's a picture of the three growing around July 4th after being started as tubers. By early August there were usually 1-4 flowers out at a time in each lotus pot.
Sparks (dwarf or "bowl") - $15
This is the one in bloom in the photo above. This is a more traditional style flower and came from the research project at Auburn that collected lotus from all over China. It will grow even smaller if grown in a smaller container. Here is a picture of the flower. When the light is hitting these, they are stunning.
Meizhonghong - $15
This is the lotus in the middle of group of lotus in the picture above. While I don't have a picture of the flower, it was actually the very first to flower (mid June maybe) and has a similar, but larger flower than Sparks. It has a few more petals than Sparks and is considered a "dancing" style bloom since the petals are at slighly different levels when the flower spreads out and the petals "dance" in the breeze. As you can see in the first lotus flower it is the largest of the three I grow but still easily grown in a container. It would be great in the corner of any pond as well.
Momo Botan - $15
These are pink like the others, grows smaller like Sparks and has what is often called the thousand petal style bloom. It is the first lotus I grew and has come back and flowered easily for me. All three of these were very productive and bloom repeatedly during the summer into early fall. If you leave the flowers to seed you get the pretty seed heads you can use in dried flower arrangements, but you get fewer blooms. Here is a picture of Momo in bloom, probably the last day of blooming since it is all the way open.
And so you know what a tuber looks like, here is what I have from the Momo Botan I'm dividing. Each tuber will come with a minimum or 2 growing tips and should grow and flower easily by summer.
As you can probably tell by this very wordy post, I love the pond plants and am very happy to help anyone with advice, etc. They are pretty easy to grow and are great to add to your tubs and ponds with your fish this summer. One word of caution, if you have Koi you probably won't have plants for long. There is something you can do with Lotus, but water lilies will just be a quick lunch for any decent sized Koi.
I'm in Arlington, will be at the PVAS auction tomorrow and may be coming to the April CCA meeting. Eventually I'll put these out on CL or sell them at a neighborhood plant sale, but wanted to offer them here first.
