Water plant care and cultivation tips
| Meeting Date | Thu, May 12, 2005 7:00 PM - Thu, May 12, 2005 9:00 PM |
will be the date of our second meeting for 2005. Once again, long-time PPWGS member and water gardening expert Suzy Oligmueller, owner of Water's Edge, will share water plant care and cultivation tips with her fellow members at the May 12 meeting. As an added bonus, each attending member will leave the meeting with a free plant courtesy of Suzy. Each year, Suzy's innovative ideas and knowledge of water plants prove helpful to seasoned and rookie ponders. Water's Edge carries more than 50 hardy plants and many tropicals. Visit her website at www.watersedgecolorado.com.
The
Pikes Peak Water Garden Society meetings are held every 2nd Thursday from April
to September. Most meetings start at 7:00 PM and wrap up around 9:00 to
9:30 PM.
This
year our meetings will once again be held at the Mountain View Church of Christ
located at 1080 East La Salle Street. This is at the west end of
Constitution Avenue on the southwest corner.
Enter
through the east door on the north side of the church.
To see a
map for the meeting location, click on the Link Below
Mountain
View Church of Christ
Meeting Minutes
Pikes Peak Water Garden Society
General Meeting Minutes
May 12, 2005
Meeting called to order at 7:34 PM by Dick Williams, Treasure, at the Mountain View Church of Christ. 87 people were in attendance.
Dick presented the treasurers report, currently the club has $5,479.98 total club funds.
Dick then read off the 14 volunteers that helped repot 160 water lilies at the Union Printers Home on Saturday. The volunteers were
Dick then asked all of the board members for input or announcements.
Steve – reminded everyone that the Sedalia workshop would be held on the following Saturday.
Betty – reminded everyone that she has stuff to sell.
LaNell – reminded everyone about the plant sale and workshop.
Jock – no comment
Dick then introduced our speaker for the night from Waters Edge, Suzy Oligmueller.
Suzy then started her presentation on water plants focused upon new plants and plants that she did not think were common to PPWGS members.
Make sure you have the correct tools to do the job, hand shovel, garden sheers, knives and or small saws, small tub, hose with spray nozzle are just a few of the main tools that will be needed.
Remove the plant from the pot and remove all of the old soil. Trim off any brown roots and tops that may exist.
Many plants can be potted in panty hose within the rock. This will help to hide the “pot” for many marginal plants.
When zebra rush turns all green it needs to be re-potted to regain its color.
Some plants have major crowns that need to be protected, like water lilies.
Canna and Cattail type roots need careful splitting. Make sure you get the roots that grow over the surface of the pot along with the root system. If you cut straight down on these types of plants you will not get the required roots to keep the division alive. Also plants like Canna can not have their tops cut off because the next leaf comes from the inside of the previous leaf.
Water iris grow over and out of their pots. They can be trimmed off the top. You may want to wait until after they bloom or divide very early in the spring. They are very hardy and a very good filter plant. Can over winter in stream that is dry during the winter.
Taro spread by runners that grow across the top of the soil.
Water celery has multiple crowns. Forked pieces can be floated in water until they sprout roots.
Water lilies need to be cut because the rhizome is very hard and brittle. Rhizome sections with no signs of growth need to be removed and discarded. Place tuber at side of pot heading across the pot. Do not bury the crown, it will rot if place under the soil.
Snail egg strips are laid in a C pattern while frogs and toads lay eggs in clumps or lines.
Suzy then showed many new plants or plants that are not as common around here. For each plant she talked about how to grow it and where to place it in a water garden.
Next was a question and answer session for Suzy.
How late can you split marginals?
By mid July most can still recover before winter. Water Lilies need to be done by mid June to allow them to recover. Fertilize marginals every other month and lilies monthly.
What rate of fertilizer should be used for water plants?
No one knew?
How do you grow Water Hyacinth?
They need murky water to do well and may or may not flower. Water temperature is not as much of a factor as air temperature.
What are good plants to put in a stream?
You have to be careful because many will block the stream causing it to overflow. Iris, rush, water celery if monitored, can all be put in a stream.
What about parrots feather in the stream?
It can get stringy and may not look the best.
What plants detour raccoons?
Water lettuce is poisonous and you should avoid touching your eyes when handling it.
How do you build a floating ring?
Start with a Styrofoam ring, cover it with some type of UV tolerant material like shade cloth. Put a small amount of pea gravel in the center to keep from floating to high out of the water. Fertilize heavy in the spring to keep green. If you get a large ring it can break if lifted by the sides.
Door prizes were given to the following:
PPWGS visor donated by Scott and Bev Fallis to Jon Dukeman
Rose Bridge Healing Therapies session donated by Jennifer Bowers to Rose Carson
Mystery Zone water fogger to Loren Yukawa
Frog Crossing yard sign to Mike Schwab
Tranquility Fountain to Kathy Dukeman
Fertilizer tabs to Phil Goulding
The following door prizes were donated by Suzy from the Waters Edge
Chameleon Plant to Kay Gagnon
Corkscrew Rush to Nancy Corbett
Corkscrew Rush to Frank
Corkscrew Rush to Mary Bucher
Floating Ring to Ted Bellringer
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted
Steve Carson
Secretary