Indoor water gardens

As the water garden plant life withers in the gloomy short days of our long winter and an icy grip draws a veil over the whole scene, many of us are already yearning to be back amongst the bounteous activity that surrounds a water garden in early summer. An expensive winter holiday in a tropical paradise in the southern hemisphere can bring temporary respite but on return things only seem worse. Now you want to have a piece of that tropical paradise closer to home.

So what is to be done? Well, save the money on a few of those air tickets and build yourself a conservatory. If you already have a conservatory, I need not tell you the next step. That’s right, build yourself a water garden indoors.

Opportunities and ambitions for water gardens indoors

A pond in the conservatory increases the range of plants that you can grow even without any extra heating. If you were to heat it then possibilities multiply, but it is not necessarily how much heat you can muster, but consistency of temperature.

Any water feature, no matter how large or small, provides a focal point and extra humidity for any of those plants that might appreciate it. Even a small tub in a conservatory could be central to a group of plants put together in mutual appreciation of a micro climate with the added humidity from the water( and without creating any upheaval ).

In fact you dont really have to have a real water garden; just a fountain feature will provide some extra humidity. There are the huge range of plants that need that extra humidity of the waterside to flourish; exotics from the Amazon, New Guinea, Africa, Florida carnivorous plants, bromeliads and ‘air plants’. You can then grow your own little bit of jungle.

Water lily lovers

However, you may have the ambition to grow water lilies, the types that you have previously only seen at Kew gardens or in pictures. There are species and cultivars of lilies that are so beautiful and so fragrant you can understand how they became the symbols of purity and enlightenment for great religions of the East. Here you can sample the difference between the sacred Lotus of the East, the Nelumbo species and cultivars with their ‘watering can rose’ type seed heads and the largest and showiest lilies of all, the Tropical Day Blooming cultivars that come in all the colours of the rainbow.

For those of you that never get to see your gardens during the day because you are working so hard to pay for their upkeep, there are the truly mysterious night flowering varieties of waterlilies . These specialities all require a lot of heat to flower and that can be expensive.

But even without heat you can get the most out of plants that you can only just get by with in an average British summer, for instance, you can get Water Hyacinth to flower to perfection and you overwinter Water Lettuce and harvest nuts from your Water Chestnuts.

For you fish fanciers the more delicate and highly bred forms of goldfish and shubunkins will appreciate a home away from the strife of any inclement winter.

Heritage and water-liles and other aquatic plants

There is a well worn path of experimentation and much hard earned knowledge that comes down to us a from the Victorian times, an age when nothing seemed impossible. The 1st Duke of Devonshire was the first man to indulge himself in the cultivation of aquatic plants indoors at his splendid country seat of Chatsworth House . It was his head gardener Joseph Paxton in 1849 who was the first to produce a flowering plant of the enormous Victoria regia lily, Victoria amazonica, which is no mean feat even today.

During the latter part of the 19th century Joseph Marliac-Latour was the first man to successfully to breed hardy lilies of many shades and hues by crossing tropical species with the hardy indigenous Nymphaea alba , its sports and a Mexican half hardy species, N. mexicana. What he achieved was wondrous but he never succeeded in his ambition to breed a hardy blue Water Lily. Blue lilies still remain very much exclusively for the tropical environment.

Today the work of Marliac-Latour has been built upon by the likes of Perry D. Slocum, Martin E. Randig and Kenneth Landon in the United States. Their aims are different. They are breeding for ideals of perfection rather than hardiness. Therefore if you want to appreciate a lot of what they have produced over recent decades or you want to grow the Tropical species you either need to live near them in frost free southern States or have a heated conservatory.

What do you need to provide for indoor water garden care and success

Water needs to be on tap to top up the pond when necessary. You need shading for those few occasions that the sun does appear, to prevent fleshy foliage from scorching.

On the whole the pond or water container does not need to be more than half a metre deep.

The main consideration is the amount of heat you intend to provide and this is probably strictly governed by what you can afford. The amount of heat you provide will give you three levels of possibility or zones on a geographical plant map.

• You may consider that providing a FROST FREE conservatory is the best you can guarantee with a minimum temperature of 4oC (40oF). You can halve the cost of maintaining this with double or triple glazing.
• A TEMPERATE climate could be maintained with a winter minimum temperature of 10oC(50oF) at approximately twice the cost.
• What would be considered WARM at 15oC(60oF) winter minimum temperature would cost 5 times as much as maintaining frost free conditions.

Add to this the fact that Tropical lilies (if you are interested in them) require 24-29oC (75-85oF) to grow properly. Below 21oC/70oF they become dormant. If it is your ambition to grow them then it may be necessary to heat the water as well.

Alternatively compromise, only heat to temperate levels and treat the exotic lilies like half-hardy annuals by only planting them in mid June.

Lighting requirements are such that in order to flower many of the lilies require more than 4hrs direct sunlight per day. Some can survive with less although they do not flourish. For the larger tropical lilies, lighting can be a problem and it may be necessary to have supplementary Mercury lamps to entice them to flower. Nelumbo Lotus being a case in point.

As a general rule the hardier plants, including the marginal plants, seem to require the most sunlight. In glass house conditions they also seem much more prone to pests compared to the same species out of doors.

How to plant aquatic plants in a conservatory pond

The planting requirements are similar for ponds out of doors with oxygenators being even more important for water quality, shade and aeration.

All plants must be planted in aquatic baskets in the usual way. When you see the speed of growth of some of these things then you will realise why.

Planting tropical species

They will arrive in moist packaging material from which they should be removed immediately.

Protect them from drafts and direct sunlight. They can be stored temporarily by floating them on the pond water (if it is up to the required temperature) with their roots and stems being shaded with wet newspaper.

Carefully plant them in hessian lined containers in aquatic soil or a heavy loam fortified with bonemeal. Do not pack the soil too tightly around the roots. Cover the soil with gravel and place at the required depth.

For Water-Lilies

Spread out the roots of the tuber in a hole in the soil prepared to take it and gently fill around with soil making sure the growing point is easily visible. Top of with an inch of pea shingle. Lower them into the water to a depth of about 15-30 cm ensuring that the leaves of the plant are floating. Only lower them to their ultimate planting depth as the plant becomes more established. If the water is too cool, they may become dormant. Feed the plants at least once in the season with bonemeal or slow release pellets.

If you are planting up a small container like a half barrel or sarcophagus you will find that all but the largest of the tropical lilies will adapt to the smaller environment by just growing smaller. (Dont take my word for it - check with your supplier)

Maintenance & propagation tropical water-lilies

The tubers of the plants look like a walnut and new tubers appear around the old one. Remove them and repot every other year.

If you cannot maintain adequate growing temperatures all through the year you can overwinter them. As the plants go dormant when the water cools, take the tubers out and rinse them in tepid water to clean them off. Then put them into large jars of moist but drained sand. The lid of the jar must be well punctured and the lilies must sit with the growing point upwards.

Store them at a temperature of 13oC / 55oF with an absolute minimum of 10oC. Replant them when you can maintain a consistent temperature for growth. This may be anywhere between mid to late May or June even in a heated conservatory. I would personally have a ‘Dry run’ to see how I could perform with the heating for a winter season before I invested in a real tropicals.

Temperate plants that appreciate extra humidity

Min winter temp10oC/50oF

Agapanthus, Alocasia, Asplenium, Brugmansia, Callistemon, Crossandra, Cryptanthus, Cyperus, Fatsia, Feijoa, Grevillea, Hibiscus, Hoya, Leucodendron, Ludwigia, Mandevilla, Monstera, Myriophyllum, Nephrolepsis, Odontoglossum, Pilea, Sasa, Sorghum, Sparmannia, Strelitzia, Thalia, Zantedeshia.

Warm house and tropical plants that appreciate extra humidity

Min winter temp15oC / 60oF:

Alternanthera, Anthurium, Caladium, Calathea, Chamaedorea, Chlorophytum, Clerodendron, Columnea, Cordyline, Dracaena, Episcia, Guzmania (and all other Bromeliads), Hypoestes, New Guinea Impatiens, Maranta, Nepenthes (and other carnivorous plants), Plumeria, Salvinia, Schefflera, Spathiphyllum. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

Hardy water-lilies (Nymphaea) for most conservatory conditions

Ones can bloom with as little as 3 to 4 hours direct sunlight:

N. ‘Attraction’, N. ‘Camanche’, N. x marliacea ‘Carnea’, N. ‘Charlene Strawn’, N. x marliacea ‘Chromatella’, N. ‘Gloriosa’, N. ‘Helvola’, N. ‘James Brydon’, N. ‘Masaniello, N. ‘Sirius’, N. ‘Virginiana’.

Hardy water plants performing well in conservatories

Aponogeton distachyos - blooms in partial shade and in winter.
Peltandra virginica and P. alba. - Arrow Arums.
Sagittaria latifolia - Arrowhead
Scirpus lacustris ssp.tabernaemontani ‘Zebrinus’
Typha minima
Zantedeschia aethiopica.

Water plants that perform well in temperate conditions

Alocasia, Cannas, Colocasia (light shade), Cyperus (mostly quite large especially C. papyrus), Eichornia crassipes (Water Hyacinth), Myriophyllum (Parrots Feather), Pistia stratiotes(Water Lettuce), Thalia dealbata (relative of the ‘Prayer Plant’ or Maranta), Trapa natans (Water Chestnut).

Water plants that perform well in tropical conditions

• Hymenocallis narcissiflora, Xanthosoma nigrum
• Tropical water lilies suitable for the conservatory
• Nelumbo -Lotus species and cultivars, can be propagated by division or seed. Germinate at 21oC submerged in water.
• Nelumbo lutea -Blue-green leaves, fragrant yellow flowers, spread 90cm.
• Nelumbo nucifera - Anise fragrance, pink flowers with a yellow centre. Spread 90cms -150cms. Recommended.
• Nelumbo nucifera ‘Rosa Plena’ - huge double pink version.
• Nelumbo ‘Mrs Perry Slocum’. Flowers peach-yellow at the base and pink at the tips.
  For small tub Feature:
• Nelumbo ‘Momo Botan’. Very fragrant double cherry pink flowers up to 30cms across.

Hardy water lilies for small tub features

Any small to medium lily will do as the blooms and petals shrink in the restricted conditions. The following will not need water heating but they will require good lighting

Reliable ones recommended to me are N. x marliacea ‘Chromatella’, N. ‘Aurora’, N. ‘Indiana’, N. ‘Sioux’. These last three are ‘Changeables’, so called because the colour of the flower changes or deepens as it emerges each day.Also the Pygmy varieties -with white ,yellow or pink flowers and N. x Helvola.

Tropical water lilies suitable for the conservatory requiring heated water

• Nymphaea capansis and its Hybrids. Highly scented blue flowers up out of the water.
• Night Bloomers :N. ‘Red Flare’ - Intense Ruby red. Faint pungent fragrance.
• N. ‘H.C. Haarstick’ - very free flowering, pungent red.
• N. ‘Juno’ - Free flowering fragrant white.
• N. ‘Trudy Slocum’ Free flowering seedling of the above.

Recommended Day Flowering Tropicals:

• Nymphaea colorata - Soft blue yellow centres. Suitable for tubs. Will tolerate temperature drop to 18oC /65oF.
• Nymphaea ‘Margaret Mary’ - Another blue. Delightful fragrance and always in flower.
• Nymphaea ‘Paul Stetson’ - Sky Blue ,fragrant can be kept small by planting in a 25cm plastic pot.
• Nymphaea ‘Persian Lilac’- Yellow centred pink flowers. Delightful fragrance.

Tropical oxygenator aquatic plants

• Lagarosiphon major (Elodea crispa) is the best.
• Egeria densa (Elodea densa). A large soft floppy version of the above.
• Ludwigia repens x palustris
• Myriophyllum aquaticum.

Anne Swithinbank has also written books exclusively about Conservatory gardening

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