Water Gardening

Water lilies are the focal point in the pond. Their blossoms are simply beautiful. You should have about 3/4 of your water covered with plant life. This is to provide shade and cover for the fish. The lilies are excellent for this. However, in my own pond which is about 750 gals., I could not keep them because of the turbulence of the water from the waterfall. So I have water hyacinths, which produce the most beautiful lavender flowers all summer.

I have 6 gold fish and 1 koi in my pond. The koi is supposed to eat any and everything! That is his purpose for being in my pond! The gold fish are all fantails. They are so graceful. They are all about 5 years old. In the winter they go to the bottom which is about 24" deep. They remain there until the water warms up in the spring.

The Chinese hold these flowers as sacred symbols. The Lotus plants are spectacular plants with huge blossoms. The foliage is waxy and cups upward. They hold droplets of water that glisten in the sunlight. I have one Lotus plant at the top of my waterfall. It is in a 10 gal. container. In the winter you just need to cover this with about 6" of leaves. But don't forget to uncover very gently so as not to disturb the plant in early spring.

You will need some shallow marginal plants to create a natural transition from shallow water to the pond's edge. Plant them no deeper than 6". I have this beautiful Pickerel Weed. It blooms a pale lavender from June to September.

I also have a pot full of these lovely yellow iris. I have had to divide them twice because they were taking over the pond. I took them and planted them along the back side of the pond where it stays moist.

And.....you know what....when you have this wonderful water garden in your yard....you invite beautiful things like this!

Are these beautiful or what? If you think these are beautiful, go to my page on Butterflies and see that. It is filled with information on Butterflies too. It takes some time to load but it is well worth it!