Water lily alternatives?

[Lisak1]

Good question! I would have answered no, but now I realize I've not looked at it that close before! I have some about to bloom today, so I'll have to check and see!

 

[j.w]

Love those pretty little Floating Hearts and do they have to be potted or do their roots just float around freely?

 

[cas]

I have them they bloom most of the summer

Yes. Mine are still blooming too!

 

[addy1]

Love those pretty little Floating Hearts and do they have to be potted or do their roots just float around freely?

They float with runners hanging down, roots etc, if the root finds dirt it anchors itself.

 

[Ronfire]

I have not found any here in BC.

 

[Lisak1]

Would you look at that - they are kind of frilly!

 

[addy1]

Yeppers love the little fringe

 

[Stickleback]

Your profile picture has water hawthorn and that really seems to have beautiful leaves and interesting flowers and mine seem to prefer the cooler conditions and are only now entering summer dormancy having bloomed consistently since April... Think they are going to be hard to beat. What about something like frogbit or ( if conditions warmer) marsilea mutica ( floating four leaf clover). These have smaller leaves than a lily but still interesting and provide good cover?? One I'm going to try as well is amphibious bistort, the leaves look like the hawthorn a bit but I love their fluffy pink mini bottlebrush flowers.

 

[dinm]

Nymphoides peltata or floating hearts is pretty good. I was looking at the pond today and I saw that one of the branches of it went into gravel, it apparently rooted there and essentially created a new plant. Compared to a water lily I really find it much more attractive. No big mess to deal with, easy to plant in gravel. My pond is around 1000 gallons, more or less, so I don't find having a big rhizome there in water attractive, its very nasty to deal with in my experience, but Floating Hearts I received in mail more or less with the roots and I put it in the deepest part of the pond.

 

[Lisak1]

Older thread @Stickleback and @dinm . I don't think we've seen @Joshaeus here for quite some time.