Water Garden Plants

Water garden plants can be a blessing if you have an area in your landscape that is always wet or marsh-like. You might also want to know about these plants if you are planning on adding a water feature to your garden such as a pool or waterfall.

Wild bergamot, Monarda fistulosa) is a relative of bee balm which is a perennial often seen a nurseries. This water garden plant is hardy in all but the most northern climates. It is a member of the same family as the mint plant. Wild bergamot blooms with flowers that are usually lavender. The blooms appear in July and August. The blooms are tubular and appear in clusters. This water garden plant can grow to a height of four feet and prefers full sun or partial shade. It prefers slightly acidic soil. It can be planted in marshy, perpetually wet areas.

Marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris), called cowslips, are see along streams and do well as water garden plants in the wet soil. They love sun and will tolerate some shade. These low growing plants only reach one to two feet in height and bloom with a yellow blossom during the period between April and June. Their shiny, succulent-like leaves are pretty but avoid handling them because they can cause skin irritation.

Cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) are great water garden plants that have beautiful, showy red blooms. The tubular flowers grow on spikes between July and September. These plants can reach four feet when exposed to full sun but will remain shorter when planted in partial shade. They do well as water garden plants and are hardy enough for all climates except those farthest to the north.

Floating water garden plants add beauty to the surface of your water feature. These plants can float freely in the water, either on the surface or submerged below the water line. Water hyacinth and duckweed are examples of these types of water garden plants.

Aquatic plants for your water garden include water lilies and lotus. These do best when planted in heavy clay loam at the bottom of your water feature. You can plant the water plants in containers that are then sunk into the water feature as well.

To plant hardy water lilies in your water garden, choose a container that is about 15 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep. Tropical water lilies may require a container 20 inches in diameter. Other water garden plants require other containers, depending on the specific species of plant. The larger the container, the larger the mature plant will be while smaller containers produce smaller plant sizes.

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