Pontederia – Pickerel Rush
| The Pickerel Rush, Pontederia cordata, is one of the finest marginal aquatics. It will grow happily in very wet conditions, or up to 25cm of water, and will even tolerate variation between the two. A plant of noble proportions, attaining a height of around 90cm when in a situation to its liking, it produces numerous stems, each consisting of an oval or lance-shaped shiny green leaf, and a leafy bract from which a spike of soft blue flowers appears during late summer. There are several colour forms, including soft pale pink and a pure white-flowered ones, although these are not as striking as the natural blue. These colour variations have mostly been selected from wild populations.
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 Pontederia cordata
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Pontederia cordata var.alba is white, 'Singapore Pink', rose-pink, while 'Spoon River' is an up and coming neat-growing cultivar, with elongated leaves and mid-blue flower spikes. Pontederia lanceolata is similar in many respects to P.cordata, but with taller lance-shaped foliage. This can attain a height of 1.2m when growing contentedly. Pontederia is planted during spring and summer, in either a heavy loam soil, or an aquatic planting compost. Top-dress the compost mix with fine washed gravel to prevent the compost from dispersing in the water. These are excellent for planting directly in natural water features being of restrained and easily managed growth.
Routine care consists of the general manicuring of plants, removing faded leaves and flower spikes,together with administering a feed during the summer using an aquatic plant fertilizer. Propagation is from spring or summer division. Seed is an alternative, but is of very erratic germination. However, it emerges freely if removed from the fruiting spike while still green, and then sown immediately in a tray of mud. This is then placed in a container with the surface of the mud just covered by water.
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