Working with Water Lilies

Working with Water Lilies

Water lilies in a container are a joy as they will bloom, grow and continue to provide you with pleasure in the water garden. Water lilies are going to help clean the water, and provide addition benefits for your fish when placed in the pond.

Hardy water lilies are a type of lily that is a little more adaptable to the weather and how they are grown in the pond. The hardy water lily when planted in containers should use a thick clay loam type of soil, not potting soil as regular potting soil can wash away easily. When first planting water lilies in a container you should also include a few fertilizer tablets at the bottom of the soil so that the roots will reach nutrients as the plant continues to grow.

Hardy water lilies are going to grow quickly across the top of a container. Because the hardy water lily grows so quickly across the top, it will need at least twelve inches to a sixteen-inch wide container. The water lily grows from a rhizome, similar to a bulb, and it will grow again and again each year. The best types of pots to use for hardy water lilies are the fabric type as they will be most flexible for your use in the water garden.

When planting the rhizome for the first time, be sure to leave the very tip of the rhizome sticking out of the soil, and put the remaining in the soil as much as possible. Pour a few cups of sand over the top of the container to keep the top from washing away. You can use some small amount of gravel around the edging of the container to keep the plant balanced and nice looking.

If you are planting hardy water lilies, the best time for planting new plants and putting containers in your water garden is in the early spring while the water is still balancing out, which the water lily will help you with. Hardy water lilies can be put into the water a little deeper than other types of lilies, up to almost two feet in large containers, and still they will bloom.

Hardy water lilies in containers are going to bloom in the months of June, July and August, with some even lasting into the months of September in the best of conditions. During the winter months, when the snow comes and the temperatures drop, you can leave your container plants in the pond, where they will grow and bloom again next year.