Exotic, unusual aquatic plants can give a garden pond a particularly exquisite style. The price for putting beauties from distant countries in the pond is usually the necessary relocation in winter. We show how to do it.
Not all plants can overwinter in the pond
Beautiful but sensitive to cold
Are you dreaming of an elegant lotus, delicate water poppies or papyrus with a Mediterranean look in your pond? Then just have the courage to design an exclusive oasis! However, it should be borne in mind that these exotic beauties are more difficult to cultivate in our latitudes because of their tropical or subtropical origin. They cannot stay outside in winter, so they must be planted out in summer and brought inside in the fall.
Here is a list of attractive but not hardy pond plants:
- Lotus Flower - majestic, tall, creamy white flowers
- Algae fern - cute scaled, finely lobed, densely growing floating leaves
- Shell Flower - Structurally attractive, shell-shaped, hollowed leaf rosettes on water
- Water poppy - pastel yellow, delicate funnel flowers
- Biennial water spike - flat, oval floating leaves, upright white spike flowers
- Papyrus - African swamp perennial, exotic appearance with delicate clusters of leaves
The hibernation
Overwintering these exotic pond plants can be a bit time-consuming. After all, they cannot simply be placed inside with the planter like potted plants that are sensitive to the cold - after all, they also need their watery living conditions indoors. With marsh grasses such as papyrus, you can still work with a transplant into the bucket and a lot of watering.
This is more difficult with floating plants from the shallow and deep water zones. They can now really only survive fully immersed in water. Aquarists are of course fine - they can at least put smaller floating plants such as the water hyacinth or the water thousand leaf in the aquarium.
For taller plants like the lotus flower, you'll need a larger tub or bucket filled with some substrate and water. Place the vessel in a cool, moderately bright room at 2-10°C and regularly top up with evaporated water.