What's Blooming Now - August 3, 2011

Water Plants Star in August

We are happy to say there is still plenty of bloom here at White River Gardens despite the heat and drought-like conditions of July, but we still hope August will be a little more forgiving to our plant life.  Despite the stresses to most of our plant collection, this time of year is a peak time for our aquatic plant life. 

We encourage our visitors to visit the stream and stream pool in the Virginia Fairbanks Sun Garden as well as the Clowes Water Garden.  The lotus in the stream pool has already bloomed once in late July, but appears to have another bloom on standby.  The lotus blooms are hard to catch as they only last about a day and then start to fade.  Keep checking and you might get lucky! You may also check out the lotus bog in the Hilbert Conservatory to better your chances of seeing a lotus bloom.

This is a great time of year for the tropical water lilies.  The heat of July has helped the water to stay warm enough and allowed these colorful beauties to thrive.  ‘Leopardess’ is a beautiful blue and yellow flower with red and green variegated leaves.  You can find ‘Leopardess’ in the stream pool, but look to the Clowes pools for some additional colorful lilies.  Another tropical lily we enjoy showcasing is the Amazon Victoria Lily.  You will find this giant in the farthest east Clowes pool.  The leaves are growing by the day and there is word a bloom will be soon to come!

Some other aquatic standouts are our hardy water lilies in the stream pool (believed to be the cultivar ‘Grapefruit’), water hyacinth, and cannas to name a few pool residents.  The water hyacinth is a floating plant with a beautiful light purple bloom.  We have used cannas both in the stream pool and in the Clowes pools as a marginal plant (water’s edge).  Cannas are a beautiful tropical addition to the water garden, but are kept in their pots and elevated to keep the base of the plant no more than several inches below the water line.  The variety ‘Orange King Humbert’ can be found in the stream pool. 

Some other water loving plants that you may not notice as much, but are still beautiful are pickerel weed and arrowhead.  Both of these plants are blooming in the stream pool and both are hardy to our zone.   Also, a beauty, but maybe not as noticeable, is a swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) used as a marginal plant in the Clowes pools and also hardy to our zone.