The small pool in the forest had lots of white water lilies.
This is the Village pool near my house, managed by the Forest Department.It is full of the wild Floating Lace Plant Aponogeton natans , used as an ornamental aquatic plant by pond owners. The tubers of the Floating Lace plant are used by the villagers as a vegetable.
This is my pocket pond, where I grow reluctant pink waterlilies and Sweet Flag. Although this 'pond' is in the best position in my garden where the waterlilies get the maximum sun, they give me one flower in two years! I have added the Sweet Flag Acorus calamus to give it a point of interest. The rhizomes of the Sweet Flag is a valued by the practitioners of Ayurveda. A piece of the dried rhizome can be kept in the book shelf to repel insects.The frog on the rock is made of stone.
Lotusleaf waterlilies need to be fertilized every 4-6 weeks to get blooms every month. There are special tablets that you push down into the soil of the pot you have growing the lily. If you can't get hold of the tablets you can use osmocote slow release fertilizer. You have to lift the pot out of the water and pull back the sides of the plant, then sprinkle the osmocote around the roots of the plant. Do not let the fertilizer get into the water or else you will have an algae bloom. Give each plant about 1-2 tbs depending on the size of the pot. In about 2-3 weeks you will see a big difference.
ReplyDeleteYour lily pond is neat! Have you any fish/frog in there to control mosquitoes, the bug bane of the tropics? Malaria, filaria, dengue, and now chikungunya.....shudder!
ReplyDeleteThere's so much to learn every time I come here. The Floating Lace plant is new to me. You've got one lovely pool and a cute frog! Glad to read Helen's comment about fertilizing the water lilies.
ReplyDeleteHelen, thank you very much for your tip. I'll try using the slow release fertiliser.
ReplyDeleteShailaja, I had plenty of those tiny mosquito eating frogs in my pool, but now they seem to have disappeared. I'll have to get some more. There are plenty of real frogs, though.
Kanak, thanks for your encouraging comment.