Episode: #8 21/10/2006
Presenter: Neville Passmore

Ponds, billabongs and rock pools all look a bit lifeless without plants. There is a good variety of possibilities and aquatic plants are generally quick to establish and easy to look after as long as their number one requirement is met; water.

Water lilies are one of the most popular families and breeders are pumping out new varieties all the time, plus the flowers are drop dead gorgeous. By the way, the blooms are edible so drop a few petals into a salad and wait for the surprised look when you serve the dish.

Plant out divisions right now into a specific net pot and they can go straight into gravel which basically anchors the roots and allow easy root movement as the plant grows.

Push a couple of specific aquatic plant tablets into the gravel to feed the plants. Repeat this treatment every spring and that is about all they need.

Drop the pot gently into the water and if it is a bit deeper than the height of the plant don?t worry, the leaves will stretch up over a few days to reach the surface. One meter is about the maximum depth to try them in.

There are two main tribes of water lily. Tropicals are often perfumed and can include blue and deep red colours, these suit warm climate gardens. Hardies, for cooler parts of the state usually come in shades of yellow and pink.

Another flowering beauty that can be readily cultivated in a pond is the water iris. There are also a number of forms with the most spectacular being the Louisiana?s.

Aquatic irises only grow in the shallows and need to have part of their foliage out of water. They grow as a margin plant also meaning the edge of a pool where they may just be in mud for part of the year rather than always immersed.

Aquatic edibles come in a range of types and one example is the Lebanese Water Cress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum). It is a fast growing aquatic or bog side garden specimen. The foliage is edible as a stir fry vegetable or in salads where the peppery flavour adds real zing.

To feed use a special purpose tablet which can be dropped into the water or better still pushed into the gravel. You can buy them from a specialist water garden store or online at the garden gurus shop for delivery to your doorstep.