Nuphar lutea
Yellow Water Lily
Common names: Yellow Pond Lily, Mummel
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Flowering
- Jun–Aug
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Origin
- Native to Germany
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The Yellow Water Lily (Nuphar lutea) is a native floating-leaf plant that roots in marshes, ponds, and slow-moving waters. From the lakebed it produces leather‑like, heart‑shaped floating leaves and, from June to August, round, bright yellow flowers that rise to the surface. The plant grows vigorously and requires ample space and water depth; small ornamental ponds are quickly overtaken. All parts of the plant, especially the thick rhizome, are toxic and should not be ingested. In many parts of Germany the species is protected, so it should only be used as a cultivated pond plant, not harvested from the wild.
Care instructions
Plant the rhizome in a potting basket filled with loamy pond soil and submerge it in 60 to 150 cm of water. The Yellow Water Lily prefers a sunny to partially shaded, calm location with no strong currents. In late summer remove yellowed leaves and faded stems to reduce nutrient runoff. Every three to four years, divide the rhizome to keep the growth compact and the flowering abundant. The plant survives winter beneath the water surface as long as the roots do not freeze.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringJun–Aug
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
moist, nutrient-rich, loamy, humus-rich
The yellow water-lily roots in the muddy bed of a pond or stream, not in ordinary garden soil. Choose a nutrient-rich, loamy-humus substrate with some clay in it that holds well in a planting basket on the pond bottom. It prefers low-lime to neutral water over hard, strongly chalky water. A water-saturated environment all year round is important, because on land the rootstock dries out quickly.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Apr–Jun
In spring, put small portions of slow-release fertiliser for pond plants, as tablets or cones, directly into the planting basket, so that the nutrients are released slowly into the substrate instead of ending up in the open water. This keeps algae growth in check. A thin layer of clay or special pond soil over the root additionally binds nutrients. From midsummer the natural nutrient reserve in the pond is usually enough, and further feeding is then not necessary.
Overwintering
The yellow water-lily is hardy and comes through winter with its rootstock on the bottom of the water, as long as that does not freeze solid. In shallow ponds under about 80 cm depth it helps to set the planting basket somewhat deeper before the first frost. The leaves above the surface die back by themselves in autumn and can be cut off so that they do not rot in the water. In spring the plant reliably sprouts again from the rhizome.
Propagation
Methods
- Division
- From seed
The easiest method is dividing the rhizome in spring or early summer, when you lift the planting basket out of the water anyway. Cut off a strong piece with at least one growth bud and set it in its own basket with loamy-humus soil. Sowing from seed is possible, but takes much longer and needs constantly moist, cool conditions for germination. For a garden pond, division is therefore the more reliable and quicker choice.
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