by Engh Gardens
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Combining the sight of lovely garden plants and the reassuring whisper of water, is what water gardens are all about.
There are three main types of pond plants. They are water lilies, bog/marginal plants, and floating plants.
Water-lilies are rooted in soil in bodies of water, with leaves and flowers floating on the water surface. The leaves are round, and often have a notch in the leaf.
Water-lilies are divided into two main categories: hardy and tropical. Hardy water lilies bloom only during the day, but tropical water lilies can bloom either day or night, and are the only group to contain blue-flowered plants. There are hundreds of variations of a common water lily.
Bog/Marginal Plants: These types of plants are planted at pond edges in 6″ of water or less. There is a wide variety of plants that fall into these categories. But they can be perennials, ferns, and grasses.
Perennials
Iris
Hosta
Lysimachia Creeping Jenny
Astilbe
Tradescantia ‘Sweet Kate’
Pulmonaria ‘Gaelic Magic’
Ferns
‘Lady in Red Fern’
‘Victoria Lady Fern’
Ostrich Fern
Tassel Fern
Japanese Painted Fern
Grasses
Juncus ‘Spiralis”
Acorus ‘Ogon’
Carex
Phalaris ‘Strawberries and Cream’
And then, there are floating plants. These float on the pond’s surface and don’t have to be anchored by planting them in the dirt. They help control algae by minimizing sunlight below the surface. Two great examples are water hyacinths, and water lettuce.
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