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Water Plants
and water gardening
NB: Equipment such as pumps, filters, pond liners, preformed ponds, waterfalls, fountains etc are covered on the Water Features page.
This page will cover water plants, marginal pond plants and products such as specialised planting pots and baskets for aquatic plants, fertilisers and water treatments (e.g to control algae, mosquitoes or pH of water).
News
Floating Gardens
On the Chicago River in Illinois, USA, an eco-park is being developed with floating gardens attached along the shoreline. Although the main purpose of the park is urban beautification, researchers found that even an installation of this scale could make small but measurable improvements to nitrate and phosphate levels. This demonstrates the potential of floating gardens to serve the community and environment above the waterline, while working to clean up city waste or agricultural runoff below it. Source: Floating Gardens: More than Just a Pretty Place (October 2020)
Older news at bottom of page.Where to buy water plants or accessories
If you have a nursery operation selling aquatic plants or bog plants suitable for pools, ponds, barrels, dams, bog gardens etc in Qld, and you're either located in Queensland or supply plants to this region, please get in touch about listing on this page. These plants include waterlillies and lotus, as well as marginal (bog) plants. Also suppliers of fertilisers, special pots, barley straw, algae control products, mosquito control products etc associated with growing such plants may advertise on this page.
More Information
Some water plants are serious environmental weeds, or have the potential to become so. It may be illegal to grow certain plants in your locality. If in doubt, consult with relevant authorities. Only buy from reputable nurseries in your area.Always make sure that your pond plants cannot reach waterways (e.g. through overflow in heavy rain). Of course, gardeners should always try to prevent any plants escaping from their gardens.
Other Information Online
Possible misspellings: Bali straw (Barley Straw).
Older News
Natural cleansers inspire lake restoration
Floating islands formed from recycled plastic and planted with papyrus are being deployed to clean the waters of Lake Naivasha, Kenya. Papyrus once grew naturally around the lake, but has been lost to human settlement and the actions of livestock. The artificial islands will be anchored in the Malewa River to catch silt before it enters the lake. The plants should also support a variety of wildlife both above and below the waterline. The region's booming commercial cut flower industry is helping to fund such initiatives. Source: Novel plastic-and-papyrus restoration project (September 2012)
Salvinia inspires engineersIn another example of plant design inspiring industrial advance, the aquatic weed Salvinia has helped engineers develop a new plastic coating. The leaf is covered with specialised hairs which help the leaf cling to the water's surface (aiding stability) while at the same time trapping air to assist buoyancy. Mimicking this arrangement has led to a coating that could be developed for use on watercraft with similar effect. Learn more at the Ohio State University website: Plant with "eggbeater" texture inspires waterproof coating (November 2011)
Help for Bli Bli pond
Refurbishments to improve water flow and deter nesting ibis and egrets will help address stagnation and algal blooms problems in Bli Bli pond. Sedimentation, bird waste and inadequate flushing have contributed to the poor health of the pond, which was created 50 years ago. Paperbark trees have also suffered, due to the water level being consistently too high.Council to nurse Bli Bli pond back to health. (July 2010)
Tiny waterlilly rescued
The work of botanic gardens has saved a rare waterlily, thought to be the world's smallest, from probable extinction. After its discovery in Rwanda in 1985, specimens were kept alive in botanic gardens in Germany. All attempts to reproduce the plants from seed and grow to maturity like other waterlillies were unsuccessful until a horticulturist at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew discovered the key. By more closely matching the damp edges of the freshwater hot spring from which they came, the plants have flowered and set seed in cultivation at last. Nymphaea thermarum has only been found in one location, and since its discovery all known wild plants have been lost due over-use of the water source. More at the Kew website: Smallest waterlily in the world brought back from the brink of extinction at Kew Gardens (May 2010)
Aquatic plant family's secret revealed
An international team of scientists have discovered that the aquatic plant family Hydatellaceae, many of which occur in Australia, are more closely related to waterlillies than they are to grasses. While the leaves are grass-like and the flower parts also much reduced, new research into pollen, seeds and germination have indicated that the evolutionary history of this family may be quite different than previously believed. Read more here: New-found relatives among the waterlillies
