Okay, so water in the garden is great. Or will be, I’m sure. But small – 2½ft x 1½ft – tubs of water in direct sunshine is a potential for disaster, or so the internet tells me, so in order for The Puddles not to turn into the prime algae breeding ground of the local neighbourhood I took a drastic step and ordered some plants… I know; that’s SO unlike me, right?
Initially I wanted some yellow floating-heart (nymphoides peltata), since the leaves of this aquatic is supposedly the source of the 9 hearts in the national Danish coat of arms. However, the nursery I really wanted to buy from – great reputation for quality AND service – was out of this plant so instead I went for this:
Frogbit – hydrocharis morsus ranea
In many ways I think this is a better choice. It does have a rather vigorous growth habit, but in the small puddles it will be easy to manage. Like the yellow floating-heart it’s a floating plant, fully hardy and native to Denmark, but I think it’s perhaps safer to go for a white flower than a yellow, since white goes with anything. And of course the floating foliage is just as pretty – VERY important!
Nymphaea ‘Perrys Baby Red’
I also ordered a nymphaea ‘Walter Pagels’ (a dwarf variety), mainly because of it’s hardiness credentials but also because water lilies are just gorgeous. The ‘Walter Pagels’ is a lovely pale cream – bordering on white – but for this reason I guess I’m happy that the nursery e-mailed me yesterday to say that it had gone out of stock and they would not be able to deliver it for at least 3 weeks. However, when I wrote them to ask them to either come up with suggestions for substitutes of similar growth habits or to just add one more frogbit they came back with several options.
I went for the ‘Perrys baby red’ water lily. In the dug-down tubs of The Puddles it should be fully hardy unless we have a really severe winter, and if I make a lid for its puddle for the coldest months I can be completely sure it can overwinter outside.
So there will be one puddle with a red water lily and two puddles with white frogbits. I’m thinking the red water lily needs to be the furthest from the ‘rhapsody in blue’ roses that will stand between The Puddles and the rest of The Ambitious Border so it can shine on its own, surrounded only by green foliage and subtle white flower umbels.
I want the puddles to be wildlife friendly, of course, and the aquatics are clearly bound to help. However, I also want them to be vignettes of the rivers and lakes I’ve passed through many holidays in kayak; there’s something very elegant about slicing through a patch of blooming water lilies in a racing kayak.
Nuphar lutea
(Mind you, I haven’t bought that one, since it needs far deeper waters than The Puddles can provide…)
I had to read all the previous posts to understand The Puddles, but I do love water lilies, especially the red, and hope what you purchase will do great. I have been without internet and had to catch up on reading your blog. I got home after an eight hour drive and to relax, got in a little reading.
I hope to be able to show actual pictures of The Puddles some time this weekend…
The frogbit at least should be a safe bet, since it grows wild here in Denmark and tends to grow on shallow water – like my puddles will provide. The nymphaea could potentially be killed off by frost if it’s a hard winter, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
An eight-hour drive would be almost impossible in this country; you can get from one end of the country to the other in 3-5 hours, depending on whether you decide to go East-West or North-South… It sounds rather exhausting!
The red water lily is awesome– You will need some frogs. I hope you get the kind that wear little gold crowns for hats…
*WARNING! Corny comment!*
But Linnie, I’ve already found my Flâneur Prince, so there’s no need for me to kiss any more frogs…
I love looking at water plants…the water lily sounds wonderful
I hope it will be… They say it should be planted in aquatic clay, but since our soil 8 inches down is pure clay I’m guessing this will be good enough for the water lily if mixed with a tiny amount of garden soil.
That water lily is gorgeous. I had considered one for my own new pond but baulked at the price. I’m often nervous buying new plants, worried that I’ll kill them and that panic is made worse the higher the price tag. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’ve got the balance right in my own pond as it has started to take on a slightly murky look. Mmmmm, may need to speak to an expert before it turns into green soup!
The price of the water lily was about a third of the price of a night out on the town in Copenhagen – on a budget – so it didn’t seem like such an extravagance. I mean, I rarely go out on a full-on night out, so surely I can spend my money on plants. (And then have a nice glass of supermarket wine while enjoying my garden…)
And The Puddles will have perfectly clear water and no green soup tendencies whatsoever. Of course! (Mind you, not so clear water that you can see it’s just black plastic builder’s tubs…)
It’s going to be a wonderful puddle! Your choices look great.
Thank you so much.
And yes, it WILL be wonderful! I used one of the tubs – that I haven’t dug down yet – as a tester to see how the water surface will look, and having left that tub for a week it now hosts 5 water beetles, though God knows how they found it, sitting in the middle of the paved courtyard as it was…
Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out – lovely water lilies!
I’m actually more pleased with the “substitute” than with the water lily I originally ordered, so so far it’s all turning out for the best. (Mind you, this does mean I’ll have to get those puddles sorted out so the plants have a place to go when they arrive… Better get the spade out! After all, it’s 7am and what better time to do a spot of digging?)
That red water lilly is going to be spectacular. And now I want one! This is the problem with reading blogs.
I do hope so. It arrived safely on Saturday and is currently sitting in a bucket in my bathroom in the city apartment… Bathroom with miniature pond; how’s that for a design feature?
Cutting edge! You could start a trend.
Still, it IS a bit impractical that I have to move my bucket of plants every time I need to use the shower…