There is nothing more exotic and beautiful than having the lotus flower grace the grounds around your home.
It’s very interesting to watch 
Aquatic gardening and landscaping that include flowers, greenery, and perhaps fish promote a peaceful environment.
This environment is exactly what one needs to escape in after the daily grind.
Lotus Specifics
Hardiness Zone
|
American (Asiatic) Water Lotus |
Zones 4-11 |
|
Sacred or Indian Lotus |
Zones 8-12 |
For more detailed hardiness zone information, check to see what your specific variety is and compare to the hardiness zone chart.
Heat Zone
|
American (Asiatic) Water Lotus |
Zones 12-1 |
|
Sacred or Indian Lotus |
Zones 12-3 |
For more detailed heat zone information, check to see what your specific variety is and compare it to the heat zone chart.
Flowering
- June/July – Sept./Oct.
- Begins flowering in the second summer
Plant Details
- Grows 3-6 feet above water
- Grows Rapidly
- Full Sun with Light Shade
- Fully Aquatic
- pH: 4.6
- Roots are fragile
- Water Temperature: 73-80 degrees
Koi Ponds with Lotus Flowers
Container Ideas for a Koi Pond
- Preformed container (dropped into dug-out hole, and landscaped)
- Old bathtub (dropped into dug-out hole, lined, and landscaped)
- Tractor tire (lined and landscaped)
- Cattle water trough (dropped into dug-out hole, and landscaped)
- Upcycled metal boat (sit above ground, and landscaped)
- Upcycled wine barrel (sit above ground on patio)
- Large planter (no holes in bottom, sit above ground on patio)
Koi Fish
The most important thing in keeping healthy koi is maintaining good water quality and having good water filtration in your pond.
Koi require more oxygen than other fish such as goldfish, and it can be difficult to maintain the delicate balance of water quality for both fish and plants.
Overcrowding (having too many koi) can result in dead fish. The fish-to-water ratio for koi is 1” of fish for every 10 gallons of water.
Ideally, koi do best in larger ponds and do not do well in small containers.
If you do wish to have a small patio size container using goldfish may be a better option.
Regardless of how many koi you place in your pond, be sure to protect it from predators.
Adding Plants
Adding aquatic plants, including the lotus flower, to your koi pond benefits the koi in providing shade as well as oxygenating the water.
Plants are also great for keeping algae in check.
Koi fish love to eat the roots of plants, so be sure to place a plant shelf in between the plants and water to prevent the destruction of the plants.
The beauty of lotus flowers brings life to the surface of the water as the lotus reaches up to 8 feet above the water and can be as wide as 12 inches.
Because lotus’ are such a large plant, they do best in larger ponds. You can purchase dwarf lotus’ for small patio water gardens.
When planting lotus’ in ponds, place them in a sturdy container (free of holes). Submerge the plant (including container) 18” deep into the water.
For existing ponds, planting lotus flowers may be a bit of a challenge if the pond is large and deep.
As the lotus flower continues to add a quiet beauty to our world, we stop to ponder its unassuming presence and the stillness and peace it adds to any garden or landscape.
Life is Better When You Garden™
