The MGS Forum
Gardening in mediterranean climates => Water => Topic started by: Alisdair on July 22, 2011, 03:56:17 PM
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Aponogeton distachyos is indeed a nice plant if you can keep it under strict control. It's sometimes known as "water hawthorn", and the scent of the interesting flowers is to me more like that of hawthorn than the vanilla that it reminds Chantal of.
It is listed as invasive in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and France. You do have to be really strict with it. We planted it in our own little stream (a closed system, so little risk of escapees) in the UK, keeping it to a couple of containers in the stream bed. It quickly took matters into its own hands and moved on, the sharp little corms settling into the mud of most parts of the stream bed. It is fairly easy for me to uproot the seedlings while they have just one leaf, in the spring, but it would be very difficult if it settled into a larger watercourse.
I don't know that it would be any better behaved in warmer mediterranean climates - after all its homeland is in the mediterranean-climate Western Cape of South Africa.
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I divided it this spring and replanted some corms in a bigger container plunged in a big half barrel and sit in shade. Now, the leaves in the new barrel are much bigger than in the other plastic container, and the first flower has just opened this week. It loves shade here in our hot and sunny summers.
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Oh yes, Alisdair, it is invasive, but, by the time I purchased it, I did not know that.
Perhaps, now, there are a lot of Aponogeton in the lake close to the Castle of Ermenonville, where my garden was settled. We were living just behind the Castle and I discovered, when I cleaned the property we bought in 1982, a charming old washtub. It was used 2 or 3 centuries ago by the peasants working for the castle owners. So, I planted many things in this place, without taking care about the consequences of the invasiveness.
We can make a lot of mistakes when we are inexperienced.
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Sorry, I was talking about the Aponogeton. I thought I had changed the subject name, but, obviously, I did not.
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My Aponogeton distachyos disappears in the heat of the summer.
It must be cooling down a bit now, because it has just started growing again.
I have it at the edge of the pond, so that I can get my nose to it easily.
I have been smelling it each time I pass. It is one of my favourite perfumes.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3729/9797024464_7a44a475a2_c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93752583@N02/9797024464/)
sept 2013 006 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93752583@N02/9797024464/) by Daisyincrete (http://www.flickr.com/people/93752583@N02/), on Flickr
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3832/9797004835_22c2610f6f_c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93752583@N02/9797004835/)
sept 2013 007 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93752583@N02/9797004835/) by Daisyincrete (http://www.flickr.com/people/93752583@N02/), on Flickr
Daisy :)
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Stunning pictures Daisy - how do you do it ::)