Aquatic Plants play a critical role in water features. They help balance the water quality and turn what would otherwise be rocks and water into a beautiful feature.
Backyard Concepts Aquatic Plant Nursery provides marginals, floaters, submerged plants and lilies that grow well in the North Texas area. All our aquatic plants are potted for water gardens, meaning they are in appropriate water garden containers, with the right soil mix and fertilized. They come ready to be placed directly into your pond. Our prices range from $11.99 to $24.99. Our lilies…are unbelievable! Lily prices range from $45-$65
Caring for Water Lilies
10 Steps to Dividing Lilies.
Done in March (North Texas)
1. Remove the water lily from the pot. Rinse off the excess soil. This can be done with a garden hose and is quite a dirty process, so I would recommend doing this in a grassy area.
2. You will have a tuber left, known as a rhizome. The new growth will be at the upper end; you should see some new leaves developing.
3. Slice at the tuber with a sharp, serrated knife at a 45º angle. Cut at 2” to 3” for smaller lilies, and up to 6” for larger lilies.
4. Trim roots to about 3” long with a sharp, serrated knife.
5. If babies are present, which look like little tubers off the large one, you can propagate into a new one. Simply snap them off and follow the same process into their own pot.
6. Remove any new leaves or buds by pinching them off; this will promote more root growth.
7. Now you are ready to plant! Place the rhizome with the cut end against the pot at a 45º angle with the tip that has leaves slightly above the surface. You want the lily to grow horizontally across the pot.
8. Add three aquatic plant food tables around the edge of the pot.
9. Finally, pack with soil and top it off with gravel.
10. Place the lily back into the pond. Slowly immerse at an angle so the soil does not all come out.
Maintaining Water Lilies
Once the water lilies have been chosen and taken to the pond, place the potted plants in the ideal water depth of between 18” to 24”. Do not place them in depth of more than 30”, or put blocks under plants to raise their level if the water is deeper than 30”. It is also best if you do not place the water lilies in areas of flowing water. Water lilies do best in still water. If placed near areas of flowing water, you will eventually notice the leaves of the lilies turning brown or spotted in areas. This is partially due to water deposits or rust deposits in the water.
Soon after placing your new plant in the pond, you may notice a few of the lily’s leaves looking wilted. This is due to stress from the repotting, packaging and handling. These leaves will soon turn brown and disintegrate. In the meantime, new leaves will be growing to replace the stressed old ones. This process is normal and usually takes about one to two weeks for the plant to be green and healthy once more. Soon afterwards, blooms should be forming once again.
To maintain the water lilies each season, they should be fertilized with one Agri-Form time-release tables (21 gram, 20-10-5) once a month from May through October. (This amount of fertilizer is based on the plant being potted in less than a five-gallon container.) The fertilizer keeps the lilies blooming and their leaves green.
Most water lilies go dormant sometime around November or December. (Dormancy may be later in areas of the southernmost part of Texas.) Their leaves will turn brown and disintegrate. There will only be very small leaves sitting close to the soil surface. DO NOT DISTURB THE PLANT DURING THE DORMANT SEASON. Hardy lilies will come out of dormancy about late February or early March and tropical lilies will usually come out of dormancy in mid to late April.
Hardy water lilies seem to bloom the most often and look their best during early spring and early fall when the temperature is cooler. Do not be surprised if the hardy lilies have fewer or no blooms during the hottest part of the summer, especially the red flowers. The reds tend to bloom less often; and when they do bloom, the petals of the blooms will look withered. Usually this is due to the very hot sun. If the red lilies are in an area of partial shade during the hot months, they will do much better.
On the other hand, tropical water lilies thrive on the heat; therefore, they will usually bloom constantly during the hottest part of the summer. The more direct sunlight given to the tropical plants, the more they bloom and grow. Tropicals do not come out of dormancy until the water temperature is consistently about 68 to 70 degrees. This is usually mid to late April in most part of central and south Texas.
In late spring or early summer, after dormancy, the water lilies will probably need to be maintained by being split and repotted. Most hardy lilies grow horizontally across the planting container. When repotting a hardy lily, break off and discard any old part of the rhizome that does not obtain crowns and new growths. Then place the broken or cut end of the rhizome against the pot with crowns facing center of pot. This will give them the room they need to grow properly. (The crown is where the stems and roots connect. The crowns are new leaves that are forming.) Firm the soil around the rhizome leaving the crowns exposed. Begin repotting and splitting tropical water lilies after they have come back from dormancy and grown new leaves. Make sure the water temperature is consistently 68 to 70 degrees before this is attempted. Repotting a tropical lily too early will cause the plant a long delay in growth and blooming or could possibly kill it. When repotting a tropical lily, it is best to break off any old leaves or roots that will not grow any longer. Be sure to place the plant in the center of the pot. Tropicals grow from the center outward, unlike the hardies.
For repotting both hardy and tropical water lilies, it is best to use good rich garden soil with WELL ROTTED composted cow manure at the rate of four parts of garden soil to one part manure. DO NOT use packaged potting soil; they are not suitable for water lily culture, and some materials in the potting soil will float to the surface of the water and foul the water. Fill the container half full of the soil and manure mixture and add one Agri-Form fertilizer tablet, pushing the tablet down into the soil mixture as far as possible. Fill the container to within 3” to 4” of the top with good garden soil only. Remember: Plant the lily upright. Plant hardy lilies to one side of the pot with the old rhizome that has been cut or broken next to the pot with the new growths facing the center of the pot. Plant the tropical in the center of the container. Firm the soil around the roots making sure that the crowns are exposed.
REMEMBER: IF YOU COVER THE CROWNS, THE PLANT WILL DIE!
