Experienced grower's notes on Water Hyacinth

I've been growing plants seriously for over fifteen years and Water Hyacinth remains a reliable favourite. For anyone starting out: the most critical thing is planting in aquatic baskets with specialist pond compost. Everything else follows from that.

root-eating by water lily aphids or china mark moth is the challenge that trips up most beginners and some experienced growers too. I've been growing mine in a natural wildlife pond with naturalistic marginal planting for three seasons now and the results are consistently good. natural filtration improving water clarity and quality is what makes it worth coming back to year after year. peak flowering period in midsummer is when I show it off — it earns its place fully then.