Plant your own Monet-style waterlily pond and enjoy beautiful, ethereal floating flowers all summer long
WORDS: HAZEL SILLVER
THIS MONTH WATERLILIES
PLANTING
Enchanting and long-lived, waterlilies (Nymphaea) are queens of the aquatic plant world. They are best planted in late spring or early summer.
The bowl-shaped blooms float or just above the water from June to September, surrounded by lily pads, which provide shelter for wildlife and help to prevent algae.
They are of course one of the two most famous painted flowers: alongside Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Claude Monet’s Waterlilies are loved the world over. After planting waterlilies in the pond at his home in Giverny, near Paris, in 1894, Monet began to paint them and became obsessed.
He painted them 250 times, some on vast canvases he refused to sell. Today, eight of the largest are displayed in the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris.
Monet favoured pink and red cultivars, including James Brydon and William Falconer.
When selecting waterlilies, choose varieties that suit your pond. Some have enough vigour for lakes, others are sufficiently petite for a barrel, and their hardiness varies.
Buy waterlilies ready-planted in baskets from an aquatic plant supplier. Still and relatively shallow water in sun is ideal; if you have a pump or fountain, position them as far away as possible.
Until they grow big enough to sit on the bottom of the pond, place on bricks so the leaves float on the surface.
Waterlilies die down in autumn and re-sprout in spring. Push a slow-release aquatic food tablet into the basket’s compost every spring. Remove spent flowers and yellowed leaves during summer, then in late autumn cut all the foliage back.
Divide plants every 5 years using a knife (so each piece has roots and at least one shoot) and repot into baskets of aquatic compost topped with shingle.
MAKE A MINI WATERLILY POND
1. Choose a container such as a barrel, large pot, or butler sink. If it isn’t watertight, use pond liner. Place it in a sunny spot and fill with rainwater from a water butt.
2. Select waterlilies that don’t grow too big. Some of the most compact are Pygmaea Helvola, Perry’s Baby Red, India
