- Universal Press Syndicate
Some water lilies have pads so sturdy that they could hold a dinner place setting.
Marty Ross, Universal Press Syndicate
HOMEOWNERS LOVE ponds and fountains. Even a tiny water garden in half a whiskey barrel or a galvanised stock tank brings shimmering reflected light into the garden and allows gardeners to grow beautiful aquatic plants. Tropical water lilies, which respond to warm summer temperatures by producing dozens of gorgeous and fragrant flowers, are among the best plants for ponds of any size.
"Tropical water lilies truly take your breath away," says Rob Proctor, artistic director at Denver Botanic Gardens in Denver, Colorado. All these plants need is warm water and bright sunshine.
"It's magnificent to see them," Proctor says. "You have a huge vista of water lilies across the pond. At first you concentrate on the flowers close to you, but pretty soon it becomes its own Monet painting."
Claude Monet, the great French Impressionist artist, painted enormous canvases depicting the luminous water lilies in his garden in Giverny, France.
Tropical water lilies are especially prolific during the hot days of late summer. "They outbloom hardy water lilies by maybe 5-to1," says Richard Koogle, director of operations at Lilypons Water Gardens, a water-garden specialty company.
Tropical water lilies bloom in a wider range of colours, including exotic blues -- some flowers glow as softly as moonlight, others are a deep, smoky blue, and some have flashy golden centres. In general, all the tropical water lilies have brighter flowers than hardy lilies, and the blooms are often larger, up to 10 inches in diameter.
The flowers open on sturdy stems held above the surface of the water and last for three to five days. Night-blooming tropical water lilies are perfect for hard-working commuters: They are very beautiful in the dusk and by moonlight.
Designing a water garden with lilies and other aquatic plants is really just like making any other perennial bed, Proctor says. Water lilies of contrasting or complementary flower colours can be combined with other aquatic plants to add depth, variety and texture to the tableau.
"It's hard to make a mistake designing with water lilies," Proctor says. "They are not meant to be grown in rows, so we have a lot of variety in shapes and textures."
Water gardeners can take great advantage of reflections, and big lily pads look striking when crossed by the dramatic shadows of taller water plants like iris, pickerel rush and cattails.
LILY POTS
Backyard gardeners rarely have room for the largest of the tropical water lilies, the Victoria amazonica. These astonishing lilies' pads grow to 3 feet or more across and have a raised rim, like a tray.
"People always tell me, 'I wish my water garden were larger,'" Koogle says. "If you have mainly hardy water lilies and one or two tropicals, you can just replace the tropicals every year. That way, you always get to try new plants."
