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Water Lilly and Tropical Lillies


Pond owners say the Water Lilly plant is a must have when choosing your water garden plants. They come in many varieties and make a beautiful addititon to your Koi pond designs.

Water lillies bloom throughout the summer months, and many have mottled or speckled foliage. They are quick to root and they provide cover and shade for your Koi fish.

When building your Koi garden pond one thing to keep in mind if you want Water lillies is, they must have at least six hours of sunlight per day.

In colder climates and backyard ponds with limited sunlight, lillies can be raised off the bottom to the warmer surface water (6 to 10 inches deep) in the summer months to trick them into believing they are closer to the sun, which will extend the growing season and induce more flowering.


Repotting Your Water Lillies

Water Lillies will perform best in big water containers with plenty of fertilizer. You will need to repot them every two to three years. When repotting, start with a fresh tuber from the old clump and discard rotten pieces.

When you repot your water lilly make sure you give an initial dose of aquatic plant fertilizer. When the roots reach into the lower one-third of the overall soil volume, it will take in the additional nutrition. Most water lillies perform well in 18 to 36 inches of water. Dwarf lilies prefer to be in the range of 18 to 24 inches.

Hardy Water Lily

Hardy water lillies reward the owner year after year with plentiful foliage and flowers colored white, yellow, peach, pink, and red.

There are a number of different tuber types, the favored being those that have compact, clump forming, or marliac type tubers. They are more content in a water containers and less likely to jump the pot and keep gong.


Tropical Lillies

Tropical Lillies have bigger leaves then the water lilly and, are often serrated around the edges, with vibrant markings.

They hold their flowers well above the water’s surface. Tropical lilies can be wintered indoors, or the tubers can be collected after frost and stored in damp sand at 45 to 50F. Day-blooming tropical lillies generally out perform hardy water lillies and night bloomers.

Some day blooming tropical lilies are:

  • Nymphaea King of Siam These produce large, dark purple flowers
  • Nymphaea Panama Pacific These are also purple and remain a favorite of water gardeners.


Night Bloomers

Night Bloomers are usually the last Water Lilly to begin flowering for the season. The flowers on the night bloomers open in late afternoon and close the following morning.

Night bloomers flowers are larger then the day bloomers. The only colors night bloomers have available are white, red and pink. The white and pink night bloomers are the best at catching the moon light. Reds are the most popular night bloomer because of its intense color.

Some night bloomers are:

  • Nymphaea ‘Antares’ – It has rich, dark red flowers deep olive leaves
  • Nymphaea ‘Wood’s White Knight’ – the flower is pure white
  • Nymphaea ‘Rose de Noche’ – This is an excellent night bloomer with rich pink flowers.

Koi Fish and Lillies

Koi fish and water lillies are a natural combination and it happens that the Koi fish do not unduly bother with the lillies so these are often a feature of their ponds. They have the extra benefit of providing shade for the Koi fish during warm weather and the Koi fish will browse under their spread leaves nibbling any attached grubs and insects on these.

Lillies are available in many cultivated varieties and include types that are best planted in shallow water (dwarf lillies), those which prefer the mid-levels and finally the true deep water species. It is always better if lillies are placed into baskets so that their substrate does not get sc attered all over the pond, and the growing media can be covered with suitably sized pepples that are too large for Koi fish to dislodge.

Lillies are available in very many colors these days and a visit to your Koi fish dealer or horticulturist will reveal the types recommended for your area and size of your pond.

One thing to keep in mind when deciding on lillies for you Koi fish pond is that lillies rarely compliment the Koi, in most cases they can actually detract from the Koi fish because they compete with them for color. The backdrop for Koi is best seen in Japanese gardens which feature many shades of greens and browns, and these are usually in the form of conifers and small trees.









Garden Pond Liners | Installing Pond Liners | Backyard Waterfalls | Spring Maintenance | History of Koi | Nishikigoi | Butterfly Koi Gallery | Water Garden Fish stocking | Feeding Koi | Breeding Koi | Water Lilly | Hornwort and Duckweed | Pond Algae Control | Koi Clubs | Koi Information | Pond Filtration | Lotus Flower | Fish Pond Care | Carp Fish | Koi Fish Pictures | Koi gardens | Koi Breeds | Pond Lighting | Grass Carp | Parrot Feather | UV Clarifier | Asagi-Shusui Koi | Butterfly Koi | Koi Care | Showa Koi | Japanese Koi Fish | Backyard ponds | Fancy Goldfish | Kohaku | Dictionary Nishikigoi Terms | Celestial Eye Goldfish | Quarantine Tank Outdoor Koi Pond | Our Favorite Links | Collecting Rainwater | Shubunkins and Comet Goldfish | Azolla | Build a Fish Pond | Toxic Plants










Water Lillies Variety

These are some varieties of Water Lillies:

  • Adventure Victoria~it is a night bloomer and one of the largest water lillies flowers in the world.
  • Albert Greenberg~is a tropical day bloomer with multi-colored pads that contribute its beauty in our ponds.
  • Arc En Ceil~is a multi-colored leaved hardy
  • Blue Gigantea Anecphya~is a blue day blooming Australian tropical lilly
  • Colorado~Another hardy water lily that blooms in spring.
  • Daubenayna~This day blooming small tropical lily is so viviparous that it's producing new plantlets before it gets to a mature size. It is perfect for small tubs on decks and is always producing flowers.
  • Drector George Moore~this is a tropical day bloomer its flowers are large and beautiful.
  • Ganna Walska~is a viviparous tropical day bloomer with multi-colored pads.
  • Islamorada~is a tropical day bloomer
  • Joey Tomocik~is a bright yellow hardy water lily.
  • Longwood Victoria~It is a night bloomer, and has large spikes on the underside of its pads and stems.
  • Mrs. George Hitchcock~is a beautifl night bloomer and grows very well in 5-gallon pots. It produces large seed pods and has vibrant colors of red and pink.
  • Niemi's Opal~is a relatively new hybrid with many colors.
  • Pamela~Pamela produces large tubers in the Fall from which many small plantlets will grow. It is a flourishing day bloomer.
  • Partytime~Partytimes parentage is unknown but it is viviparous and supplies us plantlets on its pads starting in July.
  • Pink Beauty~is sturdy hardy and will come up every year.
  • Red Cup~is day blooming tropical lilly whose parentage goes back to the Red Flare. It produces many tubers for the winter and many flowers in the summer.
  • Sunrise~Light yellow hardy water lily
  • Tina~Tina is a small, viviparous tropical lilly that grows plantlets on its pads during the summer. Its blue is delightful and constantly produces flowers for its audience
  • White Anecphya~This is an Australian lily with large pads and constant 10 inch flowers it is a day bloomer and opens early in the morning.
  • Woods White Knight~This Woods White Night is a prolific night bloomer and always produces very large, 10 inch flowers every year. Its flowers stick out at least 15 inches out of the water when it is mature in August.


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If you would like to see more Koi Fish Pictures Click on the link for the Koi Gallery. Click Here for the Butterfly Koi Gallery.

Thanks and Happy Ponding



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