This month I will write about the latest craze: indoor water gardens. Some of the centerpieces I put together for the High on the Desert Gardening & Landscaping Conference a few years ago were just that. A number of plants are suitable to be grown in vases. The only difficulty is the availability of the plants and the price. Water plants are more expensive than regular houseplants. But, if you look around and visit a few aquarium stores, you can find a nice variety of suitable plants. Better if you have a pond, like me you can bring some of the plants in for this purpose. A so called "Betta vase" or a clear glass container can be used for growing aquatics bare root. If you want to step up, you can use a ten-gallon aquarium, it is a great choice, inexpensive, and a nice conversation piece. Begin with some glass pebbles or aquarium gravel; the color choice is endless and up to you. Now you definitely need a submerged, oxygenating plant like Anacharis (Egeria densa, Canadian Pondweed) Hornwort or Cabomba. These plants stay completely submerged, helping the other plants with giving up oxygen in the daytime and keeping algae growth down. Another attractive plant for this purpose is Myriophyllum (Parrots Feather) which grows submerged although the tip is held above water. These plants are true aquatics.



Now you need something for height. There are lots of marginal plants which may be used. Some of the choices are: Umbrella Palm (Cyperus alternifolius), also available in a miniature variety, Elephant Ears or Taro (Colocasia esculenta), Bluebell (Ruellia britaniana), Arrowhead (Sagittaria), and miniature Papyrus. Any of these plants are good choices.

Finally, as filler, use floating plants like Water Hyathint (Eichhornia), Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), Duck weed (Lemnia minor) and Frogbit. You can even grow Water Irises in vases and even certain Water Lilies. There is a variety of miniature, hardy or tropical lilies available. For indoor use I would go with the tropical kind. Even for the miniatures the container should be a little bigger than a vase; a 10 gallon aquarium will do fine. Keep in mind the water lilies need at least six hours of bright light to bloom, but be careful with direct sun which could cook them coming through a window. The water garden in a vase needs to be fertilized, with half strength liquid fertilizer. Do not forget water exchanges from time to time and always use filtered water. Why not try a water garden in a vase and have fun with it. Please never include a live fish in this arrangement; it is not a suitable environment for fish.

Angel Rutherford