Silverthorpe Aquatics

Water Lilies: During season they are sold both bare root and potted, in standard or extra large sizes. All our water lilies are mature healthy plants and great value for money. If you choose the extra large option, you're guaranteed to receive the biggest / most mature water plants that we have available at the time. In the height of season this will mean the water plants with the most leaves & flowers and at the beginning of season it means the water plants with the biggest rhizomes.

Potted water lilies are delivered to you in 3-litre aquatic baskets (Pygmaeas in 2-litre baskets) with handles and labels, ready to put into your pond. Water Lilies don't like moving water so please put your water lilies as far away from water features as possible. There are other plants that don't mind moving water, such as Aponogeton Distachoys (Water Hawthorn), a Deep Water Marginal. Water Lilies should be lowered into your pond in stages if possible, depending on their size / maturity. For instance, start them off on your marginal shelves and move them to deeper areas of the pond (as per the water depth guidelines in the description and on the label) as they grow. In winter months please make sure your lilies are deep enough under water not to come into contact with a frozen pond surface.

Bare Root Water Lilies should be potted in 3-litre aquatic baskets or larger, except for Pygmaea lilies, which can be potted in 2-litre aquatic baskets. You can use aquatic soil or heavy garden soil and should always use a slow release fertilizer.

Whilst we provide details with regards to preferred water depth and pond size, please remember that there is an awful lot of conflicting and confusing information out there. The information provided on our website is based on a few books and on the labels we provide with the plants, but in our experience water lilies are much more adaptable than these guidelines suggest. For instance, small lilies will grow much bigger in big ponds than they will in small ponds.

Marginal Plants: Bare root marginal plants come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and at the height of season, if you choose bare root plants, some of the longer stems / leaves may be removed. This will in no way deter your plant from reaching its full glorious potential. Potted marginal plants (Xtra large) come in 3-litre aquatic baskets and are large mature plants. These are often specimen varieties and are well worth buying if you want instant results. Bare Root Marginal Plants can be potted in 2-litre aquatic baskets or you can put more than one plant in a 3-litre aquatic basket. 1-litre aquatic baskets are also available but these are only recommended for small ponds with limited space on the marginal shelves.

Floating plants are not generally available early in the season as they prefer warmer weather.

Oxygenating plants are available all year round and generally sold bunched, depending on the plant. These bunches can be dropped straight into your pond, or you can pot them as you would marginal plants.

Information supplied about our plants: Sometimes we'll share bits of interesting information with you, such as that a plant is edible. Please remember that we are not in the business of selling food and as such do not make any guarantees to the culinary adventurous! Also, some plants are poisonous and this may not always be noted, so please take care. Our information comes from our own experience and various other sources. If you see anything you don't agree with we'd be happy to hear from you.

Ramshorn Snails (only supplied to UK customers) are cold water snails and so will be quite happy in any pond. They also adjust well to aquariums, even tropical aquariums. They do like to hide under leaves and take a little while to adjust to their new surroundings. Be gentle with your Ramshorn Snails as their shells can be quite brittle.

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