International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society WATER GARDEN JOURNAL SUMMER Vol. 29, No. 2 2014 P. 2 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 2 Water Garden Journal IN THIS ISSUE 03 President’s Letter President Mike Swize previews a busy summer ahead. 04 Club Corner Vicki Aber describes clubs volunteer- ing at local public water gardens. 05 Home Gardening Primer Protecting pond fi sh from predators. 06 Book Review Two new water garden books are reviewed. 07 IWGS 2014 Symposium An overview of the upcoming IWGS The Denver Botanic Gardens in Denver, Colorado, USA, the 2014 symposium. location of the 2014 IWGS Annual Symposium. Photo courtesy 08 Before-After of Tamara Kilbane. Transforming a swimming pool to a natural water pond. 09 Search for the Blue Lotus Misleading and unethical online plant sellers promise the impossible. 10 Grower’s Corner The miracle of seeds long forgotten is explored by David Curtright. 12 Project How to create a table-top container water garden is detailed by Soni Fors- man. 13 Events Calendar Water garden events from around the world in the coming months. Goldfi sh Bowl container water 14 Touching Your Water Garden garden to be planted with Doug Rose details his experiences as Acorus gramineus “Ogon’ a blind water gardener. (golden sweetfl ag); Myosotis scorpiodies (blue water forget- Floating island garden photo On the Cover me-not); and Lobelia chinensis by Pierre E.G. Dapaepe of Waterlily Nymphaea violacea at the (Chinese creeping lobelia). Riverside Aquatics, www. Denver Botanic Gardens. Photo by Photo by Soni Forsman. riversideaquatics.co.za. Tamara Kilbane. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 3 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 2 President’s Letter A Busy Summer Season Ahead Hello everyone, as I write this article it is only a few days away from the offi cial start of summer, and what a busy summer it will be for the IWGS. First we have our New Waterlily Competition in full swing at Denver Botanic Gardens. The 2014 contest is shaping up to be another excellent one with 31 entries! The contest plants will be on display until they are offi cially judged by a select panel in early September and the public online voting will start in (??) and run through late August. Be sure to check out the IWGS website to vote for your favorite. Second up on the list is the 2014 Shanghai International Waterlily Exhibition and the 2nd Shanghai Lotus Ex- hibition Symposium. This symposium will be held at Guyi Gardens in Shanghai. The IWGS is a co-sponsor of the event. James Allison and I will be traveling to Shanghai as the guests of Guyi Gardens. James and I along with Diake Tian will give presentations at the symposium and to give advice on the waterlily collection at Guyi Gardens Finally is the 2014 IWGS Symposium, to be held in beautiful Denver Colorado. Aug 14th -17th. The Sympo- sium will include visits to one of the top botanic gardens in North America, Denver Botanic Gardens. They are well-known for their strong tradition of beautiful aquatic plant displays. To our great fortune, this year’s visit will coincide with a display by internationally renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly, whose work will be featured throughout the grounds of Denver Botanic Gardens. For more information on the symposium, please refer to pages 6 of this issue or check out the IWGS website at www.IWGS.org. Have a great summer, Michael Swize IWGS President [email protected] P. 4 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 2 Water Garden Journal Club Corner Volunteering Together by Vicki Aber Clubs exist for many purposes. Mostly it is social, a way to share your hobby with like-minded people. Another is education, longtime hobbyists sharing information with newer members or the public in general and often get- ting new information back. Another possible purpose is volunteerism. It is very satisfying to see people admiring a public display, either in a public garden, park, or even natural body of water and know you had a hand in mak- ing it beautiful. Our club organizes helpers at Denver Botanic Gardens and Hudson Gardens. We have also had a hand in parks and a natural body of water. It is really not a diffi cult chore to set this up. Someone needs to be the organizer and initially recruit volunteers. After a while, in our case anyway, word gets out how rewarding the work is and the volunteers arrive with a minimal amount of arm twisting. The person in charge also needs to liaise with the offi cial in charge of the location where the work will be done. Time and number of volunteers are determined and arranged. It helps to feed the workers; we usually provide donuts since it is often a morning work session. Our club has been doing this with Denver Botanic Gardens for years. The main work session is several weeks in the spring and then again in the fall. Workers meet on Sunday morning and stay until the work is done. Tamara Kilbane is the curator of the water gardens and she assigns the tasks. Other individuals volunteer at various other times during the year as their schedule allows. Tamara makes the work fun and has a vast storehouse of knowledge to share. Hudson Gardens is a little different. Bob Hoffman has been volunteering there for years. They have learned what a great asset he is and pretty much given him free reign with the water features. He has some helpers from the club and elsewhere that get together when they need to and get the work done. Aside from the pleasure of knowing you had a hand in such a magnifi cent display, there are many other ben- efi ts. There is no better way to learn the ins and outs of the hobby than by doing. You learn how to plant, when to plant, and how to care for the plants and water features. You learn a ton about the plants. The only down-side is that it gives you lots of ideas of what you want in your own pond. This often leads to expanding the pond or building another one; you get the picture. When you run out of space in your own yard, you still have the public garden to play in. Every year we have a Water Blossom Festival. We get together to acknowledge the volunteers and to admire the water features. This year, our festival coincides with the IWGS Symposium. We are very excited to share all the great things that have been happening at Denver Botanic Gardens and Hudson Gardens with a much larger group. Please join us for the symposium it is really shaping up to be a great time. About the Author Vicki Aber is the newest IWGS board member. She is also a member of the Colorado Water Garden Society (CWGS) and has served there as a board member and an offi cer, including the position of president. She can be contacted via email at [email protected]. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 5 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 2 Home Gardening Primer How to Deter Visiting Pond Predators Everyone Has Enemies There are many predators that love to hunt fi sh. And when we give them shiny gold targets to go for, it makes their jobs even easier. Two of the usual sus- pects in the missing fi sh line-up are the raccoon and the heron. There are others, but these are the two most prevalent in the hobby. For the raccoon, you have to fi rst remember he doesn’t mind getting his hands wet, but will probably not pur- posely go for a swim to catch a fi sh. He can be held at bay by the way the pond is designed. A plant shelf that is too shallow will help him snag a fi sh every time. Predator Tip Provide your fi sh with plenty of hiding spots including fi sh caves, bridge, and plant cover. Keeping Them Safe For the heron, things get a little more challenging. They are very crafty and smart birds and you should not underestimate them. There are many methods Another decoy on the market is a motion-activated available to keep them or scare them away from your sprinkler called a Scarecrow (picturedpictured above). When pond – from plastic heron statue replicas to fl oating the predator gets close enough, the motion sensor will alligator decoys and motion-activated sprinkler. These activate, and the visitor will get a quick blast of water options to ward him off all offer varying levels of suc- that is quite startling. (Warning: this works on human cess for every water garden hobbyist. visitors too!) Life Without Fish? Never! In early spring, these birds return to your area and look for feeding grounds. As they fl y overhead to see where Perhaps the most important thing to remember is to the fi sh are, your colorful fi sh stand out like a fast have fun with your fi sh, and to remember that all of food restaurant. Your fi rst defense is to use a decoy of these occurrences are case specifi c. You may never see some sort, whether it is heron or alligator decoy. They a heron or raccoon in your backyard, your fi sh may be work better if you keep moving them around the pond disinterested in your plants, and there may be no bul- to fool the heron into thinking they are real.