How to care for popular pond plants
Q. I love my new pond but when is the best time to set out my water lilies and lotus plants?
A. Water lilies and lotus plants are beneficial to the health of a pond, along with adding beauty to it. There are two types of water lilies: hardy and tropical.
Hardy plants can withstand our Illinois temperatures as long as the roots are below the level where water freezes. If you raise your water lilies during the growing season, you should put them lower in the pond before temperatures freeze in the fall. This type of lily will start to grow in the early spring and doesn't need to be brought in. It is low maintenance and just needs thinning every three to five years. You can fertilize it with aquatic tablets to have it bloom more continuously.
Tropical water lilies will not survive our winters and do need to be brought in and stored in a bucket in a cool place before our first frost. They should be treated like a tender perennial plant. This means that they should not be brought out or purchased to go outside until temperatures will not drop to freezing or below in our spring.
A lotus is a water plant that grows its stalks, leaves and flowers above the surface of the pond. They bloom in more varieties of colors than water lilies and have larger flowers. Most varieties need a large pond, should be fertilized more often to bloom continuously, need at least six hours of light and should be planted in a container that will sit in the pond, either on rocks, bricks, a shelf or the bottom. They can also be grown in a half-barrel or large container without drainage holes. The dwarf variety is recommended for containers and smaller ponds. They should be treated like the hardy water lily, dropping the container to the bottom of the pond or where its roots won't freeze during the winter or moved inside into a cool place.
To speed up the process of growth and blooms, you can remove the container from the water in the spring (or bring it outside) and place it in full sun once the chance of frost is over. Lotus love warmth. Keep water over the soil and put it back into the pond in early summer.
Neither water lilies nor lotus need much care in order to add beauty to your yard all summer and fall. They can usually be found at a local landscaping store or company.
- Jennifer Richardson
• Provided by Master Gardeners through the Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines, and University of Illinois Extension, North Cook Branch Office, Arlington Heights. Call (847) 298-3502 on Wednesdays or email northcookmg@gmail.com. Visit web.extension.illinois.edu/mg.