Snowflakes in July
A marginal plant that will add a splash to your pond!
Is your pond only a foot deep? Or do you have a shallow area you just don't know what to do with? I'll show you why yellow water snowflakes just might fit the bill.
If water lilies are the stars of the show, then water snowflakes definitely add a supporting role. Especially if you’re looking for a fast grower to fill a shallow area of your pond. You can grow these lily-like plants in as little as 4 inches of water, although they will tolerate up to two feet. Leaves are light green with a hint of brown and flowers are tiny with a star-shape.
Yellow water snowflake (Nymphoides germinata) is hardy to minus 20 degrees farenheight. So, after the first frost sink your plant in the deepest part of the pond, and bring it back up after the danger of frost is over in the spring.
This floater spreads easily with runners that form roots along the way. You can easily take a cutting and simply plant it somewhere else. But be careful. These babies grow fast and if you have a small pond, you could find your self with a sea of green and yellow!
Not a lot of nurseries carry yellow snowflake, maybe because people aren’t as familiar with this petite plant as they are with lilies. But with a little searching you can find them on line. Plant snowflake anytime, but the best opportunity would be mid spring or early summer when the shoots can get off to a running start. In fact, if they get too overgrown you might need to cut them back by the middle of summer.
Because they are fast spreaders, you might want to plant your snowflake in a wide pot filled with 100 percent ground clay(fragrance-free kitty litter) or aquatic media you buy at a pond store. They are heavy feeders, so if you don’t have a lot of fish waste in your pond, you’ll probably want to invest in some aquatic fertilizer tablets that you sink deep into the pot. Be sure to fertilize once every two weeks if you like to see a lot of blooms. But with enough fish waste in your water garden, you can forget the fertilizer.
If you don’t have a pond, don’t worry. Some gardeners have had luck planting them in very wet soil. If you have a boggy area of your yard that just won’t drain, yellow snowflake might be the answer.
Water snowflakes may not razzle dazzle like lilies do. They may not even play the lead role in your water garden, but as far as understudies go, you can’t beat them. Especially if you have a shallow, wide shelf in your pond, or a tub garden, yellow water snowflake will definitely steal the show .
