My new pond plants

[Mgessert]

After reading your recommendations, I recently ordered American Frogbit, fairy moss, and some ornamental ginger from Play It Koi. To get free shipping, I bought some fish food as well. My pond has improved greatly since I found this forum, and I really appreciate your input!

 

[TheFishGuy]

It looks like an aquatic garden bed, I love it!

 

[Mgessert]

My plants are thriving, and I’m wondering what the best water depth is for the ginger, to encourage flowering, Any suggestions?

 

[Hound Heaven]

My plants are thriving, and I’m wondering what the best water depth is for the ginger, to encourage flowering, Any suggestions?

Not sure if we have the same ginger or not, but I have the Butterfly ginger in my bog and the top is just barely above water. Last year it got nearly 5 foot tall I had to divide it by the end of the season.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Same as Hound Heaven. My butterfly ginger does best when the top of the tuber is just above the water.

 

[Mgessert]

Thank you both! I’ll leave it alone then.

 

[Mgessert]

The goldfish have developed a taste for the frogbit. I feed them greens from my vegetable garden every day, and they have algae to eat, but I guess they wanted more variety. I’ve removed some to its own bowl for safe keeping, and will have to dole it out sparingly I guess. It provided such nice cover until they decimated it. Bad fish.

 

[Mgessert]

I took your advice to free my thriving plants from their pots and they were, indeed, root bound. Someone had recommended a planter like this, so I ordered one and set the ginger and corkscrew rush in it with river rock and pea gravel. I think they will appreciate it. No blooms on my ginger or blue flag iris yet though.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Nice. My ginger doesn't bloom until well into fall, though, so yours might still be working on developing buds. My iris (I have several different varieties, most of which I have no idea specifically what they are!) sometimes just don't bloom, or bloom well, so perhaps yours are having an 'off' year. ??

 

[Mgessert]

Here is a native swamp hibiscus I planted this spring in a boggy area of my yard. It’s very happy with all the rain we’ve had.

 

[Faebinder]

I have a hardy hibiscus in my raised pond. It grows like crazy and dies every winter. It's sitting on the surface of the pond water so the roots are safe in the water and dont drown.

Those things are amazing.

 

[Faebinder]

A Picture is worth a thousand words. This is today. The bricks are the bog next to the pond. If you zoom you may even see the violet cardinalis flowers.

 

[addy1]

Beautiful! I have one like that near the pond, always comes back, but this year just one stem grew.

 

[Mgessert]

My butterfly ginger finally bloomed!

 

[BKHpondcritters]

My butterfly ginger finally bloomed!

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Woo Hoo! Mine just started as well. Don't they smell heavenly?

 

[Hound Heaven]

My butterfly ginger finally bloomed!

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Mine too, I'm so in love with the smell

 

[Mgessert]

And look at this one! I didn’t know taro would flower.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

And look at this one! I didn’t know taro would flower.

View attachment 154164

Yup! When they're really happy they do.

 

[Mgessert]

My blue flag Iris is blooming this year, for the first time. Yay!