Easy Monet
there are dozens of varieties of nymphaea, or waterlily, the beautiful flowers immortalised by the French impressionist painter Claude monet.
there are miniatures – ideal for shallow ponds and tubs – and others that demand a 60-90cm depth of water, so make sure you pick the ideal one for your pond, otherwise they’ll underperform, or become coarse and congested. Ideal for a medium-sized lily pond are the double white, fragrant ‘gonnere’, double pink, streaked orange and red ‘Fire Crest’, blood red ‘Froebelii’ and bright yellow ‘texas Dawn’.
Because they thrive in warm water, you will need to help acclimatise them to the colder temperatures of deep water by initially setting the planting baskets 12cm deep on a plinth of bricks, with their leaves floating on the surface. gradually, over several weeks, lower them to the bottom of the pond.