Water and Pond Plants

How to choose water plants

Start with depth. Water lilies sit deepest. The Sioux Water Lily is a hardy, medium sized lily whose flowers open buff yellow and deepen through peachy orange to coppery red over three or four days. It needs thirty to sixty centimetres of water over the crown. The Perrys Baby Red Water Lily is a small grower for tubs, bowls and small ponds, with deep ruby red double flowers, in twenty to forty five centimetres of water.

Marginal plants stand at the edge. The Dwarf Papyrus has slender stems forty to sixty centimetres tall topped with fine pom pom tufts. The Pickerel Rush carries glossy leaves and spikes of violet blue flowers from late spring to autumn, and bees love it. The Umbrella Sedge grows one to one and a half metres tall in shallow water or wet soil, in sun or shade. The Common Nardoo is a native aquatic fern that looks like a four leaf clover, for shallow water and frog ponds. Louisiana irises, corkscrew rush and elephant ears fill out the boggy edge.

Where water plants grow

Water lilies need still water and five to six hours of direct sun a day to flower, so place them away from splashing or moving water and out of the shade of trees. The hardy lilies here are dormant in winter and return in spring. Most marginals grow in sun to part shade. Papyrus, elephant ears and the bacopas are frost tender, so shelter them over winter in cold districts.

Umbrella sedge, papyrus, pickerel rush and other vigorous water plants belong in ponds, bowls and containers only. Keep them out of natural waterways, and never plant them beside creeks, dams that overflow, or drains. For more plants that enjoy wet ground, see our elephant ears, canna lilies and other plants for wet spots. Our guide to pond plants for Australian gardens covers more choices.

Planting and spacing

Grow each plant in its own wide, heavy pot of loam or clay based soil, topped with gravel to hold the soil down, and lower it to the right depth. Set marginals with the crown at water level or just under it. A small pond or bowl needs only one or two water lilies. The lilies here are sold in packs of six, which suits a large pond, a dam or several ponds. Aim to cover about half the water surface with pads once the plants are grown.

Care basics

Remove yellowing pads and spent flowers before they rot in the water. Feed water lilies in spring with slow release fertiliser tablets pushed into the soil of the pot. Divide crowded lilies and marginals every two or three years in spring. Cut the seed heads from umbrella sedge before they ripen, and thin floating plants when they cover too much of the surface. The water lily growing guide covers planting depth, baskets and growing a lily in a bowl.

Common questions

How much sun do water lilies need?

At least five to six hours of direct sun a day, in still water. In shade they produce pads but few flowers.

Can I grow water plants without a pond?

Yes. A glazed bowl or a sealed tub holds a small water lily or a group of marginals on a sunny patio.

How deep should a water lily sit?

It depends on the variety, from about twenty centimetres of water over the crown for small growers to sixty or more for vigorous ones.

Do water lilies die in winter?

Hardy water lilies are dormant in winter. The pads die away and new ones rise in spring.