Water lilies

Water lilies are a beautiful addition to the garden. It does not require a pond. Any patio container of atleast 18 inches deep and 18 inches width would be great to start with.

I ordered the Premium Series Water Lily Laydekeri Fulgens kit from HomeDepot website and it was shipped to me in a great shape. The Rhizome looked dry on arrival and I had my questions. The best part with this kit is it provides not only the Rhizome that grows the water lilies but all the needed ingredients. It came with a basket and liner filled with clay into which we submerge the rhizome, fold the liner and pour the pack of pebbles on the top to keep it sealed. The instructions pamplet that it came with is a great resource!

Hubby picked  "Beckett 35 gallon Plastic pond liner" available at HomeDepot stores. For a bigger size and variety, Please search for "pond liners " in the HomeDepot or Lowes website and you will be blessed with something to your needs.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Beckett-35-gal-Plastic-Pond-Liner-PP1035/202206168

Laydekeri fulgens

 Fill the plastic pond liner with water and submerge this basket inside it.  I purchased Aquascape pellets that will need to be fed monthly to the basket (Just push a couple of pellets away from the Rhizome into the clay in the basket). Make sure you take the basket out from the patio container / pond liner and do this as you do not want to open the basket and let the dirt out in the water tank.

I visited a local store that has a great collection ( Pickering valley feed and farm in Exton PA ) for bog plants and ended up buying another Hardy water lily called the Carnea that has  a hardy zone of 3 and requires a depth of 12 to 24 inches.  I would not suggest having more than 2 water lilies in a 35 gallon tank. I also added a couple of bog plants but probably will move it out if needed to accomodate the 2 water lilies as it grows.

The bog plants in the picture are papyrus and the other one has lavender flowers to it. Both the varieties are hardy and will need minimum 6 hours of sun per day. A great idea about where to place the container should be decided when you are able to wake up at sunrise and take a walk around the home to choose the best spot that has sunlight without any shade. The earlier the sun light touches the flowers, the quicker it blooms and you will not have to wait till noon. My flowers are closing by evening even before sunset.


Within a week of this set up, You will probably see tiny larvae which belongs to the mosquitoes (the one that does caterpults in the water). Please keep Summit mosquito dunks handy (pre-order and have it ready). I was not aware of this situation and do not have much time on hand to wait and order the dunks. Hence, I ordered Summit mosquito quick kill bits (tiny balls ) through amazon with one day shipping. 2 tablespoons of that into the water container cleansed it all! I will update about the winter care for these plants and how I handled the situation once I go through my first winter challenge. Stay tuned!