Tip of the Week — 8/11/08

Posted in Gardening Tips on August 11 2008, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

Well-behaved Waterlilies

Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education at The New York Botanical Garden.

Waterlilies come in all sizes; it is important to find one that suits your location. Waterlilies that are appropriate for a tub garden should be up to 3 feet in diameter; a good size for a small pool is 4 to 6 feet in diameter.

One popular small-sized waterlily for those of us living in Zone 6 is Nymphaea ‘Pygmaea Helvola’. It is a free-flowering waterlily that is well-suited for small ponds and containers, with mottled purplish leaves and bright semi-double yellow flowers. If red is your color, the 3-4 feet Nymphaea ‘James Brydon’ is good for a small pond. Prefer pink? Then you might be looking for Nymphaea ‘Joanne Pring’. Nymphaea ‘Chrysantha’, ‘Colorado’ and ‘Josephine’ are a few more small ones that you will find in our pools in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyards.

Plant your waterlilies in an aquatic container (lined with burlap if needed) or a plastic pot. Use top soil to pot them up (potting soils are too light and should be avoided). Cover the container with pebbles or pea gravel and fertilize once a month with aquiform tablets that are pressed into the soil (waterlilies are heavy feeders). Initially, elevate the pot with bricks so that the young plant gets enough light. Six hours of sunlight will keep it blooming prolifically.