Plant Encyclopedia: Water Lily

January 23, 2018 by Kasi Smith Leave a Comment

Plant Care Basics

Grow Zone Recommendation: The water lily is recommended for USDA growing zones 3 to 11. However, there are two types: hardy and tropical. The hardy variety will survive winters if planted below the freezing line in a water feature. Tropical water lines must be stored over the winter or planted and grown as annual plants, like your snapdragons.

Sunlight Needs: Like most aquatic plants, water lilies need at least 4 to 6 hours of direct sunlight per day to thrive. However, there are some varieties that will grow well in 3 to 4 hours of direct sunlight.

Watering Needs: Obviously, water lilies are aquatic plants and must be grown in the water.

Average Size: A water lily plant system will grow from 3 to 12 feet wide.

Foliage Color: Foliage is chartreuse or gold in color. Flowers bloom in fall and summer, and may be white, red, pink, blue, or orange.

Must Know Plant Care Tips: Generally speaking, the more sunlight your water lilies get, the more they will bloom and flourish. Tropical water lilies would be planted in pots that are at least 10″ around. Use a 10 to 14 inch fabric pot will be required for each plant. Fill it about half full with a loam garden soil, then add 3 or 4 tablets of fertilizer and fill the pot the rest of the way, til you’re about 2″ from the top. Set tubers upright with the roots gently buried in the soil. Leave the top of the tuber exposed and cover it with an inch or two of pea gravel or sand.

Plant Problem Solver: Water lilies are perfect, of course, for water gardens where you want brilliant color and have good sunlight. If yo plant them in shady conditions, you may get foliage but very few flowers.

Pretty Pairings: You can plant water lilies with other aquatic plants such as lotus, common water hyacinth, water lettuce, neptunia, and lucky 4-leaf clover.

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