First job on the list was to move some large plastic buckets off the patio. One has been home to my original pond, sadly missed. The second bucket home to a trio of very special water lilies.
I have to say, it does turn the stomach somewhat, dealing with pond sludge at that hour of the day. Ah well. I'm hoping to squeeze in a raised pond somewhere in the garden this year, so I'm hoping for a lot more of this;
and this...
The above are utterly awesome new exotic hybrids, brought to us by James Knock at Wayside Aquatics. A visit to James in mid-summer, is to fall in love with water gardening. The selection is mouthwatering.An account of the Kirk Strawn Waterlily hybrids by James Knock can be found here.
Below is my original dwarf lily - still very pretty.
Certainly worth rummaging around in the mud for!
6 comments:
Hey Rob,
Glad I found your blog! :)
I have a miniature waterlily from James too. Its kept in a tiny bowl- and sadly this may be the reason why it hasnt flowered yet! Its called Little Sue and meant to have orange flowers. I think i may replace it with a more free flowered version- any recommendations?
Cheers
Owen
Hi Owen,
How tiny is the bowl? I've had three of James's waterlilies flower all summer in a bucket no bigger than the average kitchen sink!
I'd suggest the one in the picture at the top. The colours change according to temperature - all sunset colours. It's a bit dark now to go and find the label in the sludge in freezing water(!). But I'll find the name for you and let you know.
See ya,
Rob
I was looking this morning and it really is a small bowl its in- id say about 25cm in diameter and 30cm tall. It was just a ceramic pot with the hole filled in.
The water used to evaporate quickly in the summer!
Did you feed your plants much?
Cheers
Owen
Hey Owen,
I eat cereal from a bowl bigger than that! Maybe try a bigger bowl - worth a go!
I did use a fair bit of osmocote slow release in the potting mix. Not sure if it helped or not. Like to think it did!
Rob
Hi, Rob, look forward to hearing about the progress of your raised pond. Those fabulous water lilies definitely deserve a home. I usually go to Lilies Water Gardens in Newdigate (take the Sutton by-pass road and it's the other side of the M25). They're good, and the last time I was there I persuaded them to sell me one of their plastic stock tanks for £10 to make a new pond...
Vctoria - that is brilliant! I will certainly visit them this spring, they're not far at all. £10 for a plastic stock tank? I wonder how persuasive you had to be...?
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