The wonderful water lilly - favourite aquatic plant.

Beautiful lilly ponds containing the water lilly once seen are never totally forgotten. One of the most famous collections of the water lilly is in the Pampelmous water gardens in Mauritius.

Water lilly and Lotus are type 1 aquatic plants And everyone at some stage or another has seen Monet's water lilly paintings. The water lilly is easy to grow. A water lilly needs deeper water and does not like flowing or splashing water.

Water lilly are available in many different colours.

Water lilly colour is probably the most important choice factor although size, scent and water depth are other characteristics of the water lilly.

The lotus flower is another name for water lilly. These water lilly are often referred to as a deep water marginal plants.

 A water lilly would tend to be planted in water 60cm deep and possibly more. However today many varieties of water lilly are available that can be planted in half barrels. Some water lilly types do require depths greater than 1 metre to fully develop. It is better to plant a water lilly shallower rather than in deeper water if this is a constraint.

The most popular varieties of water lilly are Carnea (pink water lilly) and Alba (white water lilly).

Do make sure that at least 1/3 of the water surface is left uncovered. The water lilly can be a very vigorous grower.

Other deep water aquatic plants which are not of the water lilly type but enjoy the same environment are:

Water Hawthorn

Brandy Bottle

Golden Club

Floating Heart