Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Pond Plants, Cyperus




The umbrella palm or cyperus accents the beauty of other aquatics. Stems rise two to four feet high to display ribbon like masses of four to eight inch long leaves. In the summer not particularly appealing and very small green flowers appear. Soon the blooms turn caramel, contrasting nicely with the umbrella-shaped foliage. A Madagascar native, the Umbrella Palm likes marshy ground or shallow water and full sun. It also does well indoors planted in moist soil.

Cyperus is probably one of the hardiest pond plants. Be careful planting it in soil. I have seen it break up foundations of houses because of it's umm, very strong growth habit.

2 comments:

Deann Johnson said...

Jan-
found your site today...not quite sure how, but love it : ) I've gone back and read through all of your plant posts, but I still don't think I have a grasp on how to plant correctly- right in aquatic soil? regular soil then the aquatic on the top? some basic insight would be really appreciated.

Jan Goldfield said...

Hi Deann,
You can pot plants up in most anything. It doesn't have to be aquatic plant soil. It can be clay, gravel or sand. Put the plant in. Don't cover the crown. Put gravel over the clay or sand or whatever so the fish don't uproot the plant. Put the pot in the water so the top of the pot is about an inch below the surface of the water.You are good to go.