Different Kinds Of Lilies

In the Garden: Plants for Water Gardens

It isn't easy to create or maintain an attractive, natural-looking water garden, but ponds or other water features can add a lot of beauty and interest to outdoor spaces. More importantly for plant people, there is a whole range of fascinating water plants that simply can't be grown anywhere else in the garden.

Plants are essential for a pond; they help clean the water and provide food and shelter for fish, wildlife and beneficial insects. The basic types of water garden plants include underwater or oxygenating plants to absorb nutrients that otherwise would feed algae, floaters to filter the water and shade the surface, and marginal or bog plants to soften the edges.

Cuttings of underwater plants can be potted up in bunches in very coarse sand, topped with gravel and placed in 6 to 30 inches of water. The recommended rate is one eor two bunches per square foot of pond surface. Water lilies do best when their crowns are covered with 6 to12 inches of water. They should be divided every other year to maintain vigorous plants.

Marginal or bog plants thrive on shelves along the margin of the pond. Different plants do best at different depths of water, but start pots in shallow water before gradually moving them to their proper depth (use bricks or concrete blocks for temporary supports).

Lilies and marginal plants should be planted in large pots with average garden soil and the crown of the plant at the very top of the pot. Allow space for a top dressing of pea gravel to prevent muddying up the water. Plan on dividing pot-bound marginal plants every other year to encourage new growth.

Try planting a couple varieties in the same pot to provide a horizontal and vertical element in the same area. Place groups of tall spiky plants next to understory plants for a natural appearance.

Floaters are plants that float on the surface of the pond with their roots dangling in the water. Floaters draw extra nutrients for cleaner water, but they can spread like crazy once established, so you only need to plant a few each year. Pond experts recommend that up to 60 percent of the pond surface be covered with plants to shade the surface.

Water quality and clarity are easy to maintain with a good choice of plant materials designed to filter nutrients and reduce the sunlight necessary for algae growth. To maintain some areas of open water, simply pull out any extras and add them to the compost heap.

SUE'S ESCAPE FROM CANCERLAND: Lilies

I love lilies of all kinds. I have a few star-gazer lilies that will bloom later along with my many day lilies which have buds but no blossoms. The Asiatic and tiger lilies are out in full force in my yard for the next few days. Wish they would last longer but in this heat (96 degrees yesterday!!!) not going to happen. It finally rained a bit last night. Lots of thunder and lightning but very little rain. I am a 57 year old mother of 3, wife of 1, and grandmother of 3. For years, I had been a medicinal chemist but no longer. When not working or raising children, I love to be physically active, travel, read, and garden. Although I am not a 'medical' expert, I keep up with the literature and report herein watching closely for good news against this deadly disease.

The standard cyclopedia of horticulture, a discussion for the amateur, and the professional and commercial grower, of the kinds, characteristics and methods of cultivation of the species of plants grown in the regions of the United States and Canada for ornament, for fancy, for fruit and for vegetables; with keys to the natural families and genera, descriptions of the horticultural capabilities of the states and provinces and dependent islands, and sketches of eminent horticulturists

Notes on lilies and their culture, a reliable guide for beginners

Flower Confidential

The flower gardener's bible, time-tested techniques, creative designs, and perfect plants for colorful gardens

A modern herbal, the medicinal, culinary, cosmetic and economic properties, cultivation and folk-lore of herbs, grasses, fungi, shrubs, & trees with all their modern scientific uses