Garden Features

Aquatic Garden

When the Aquatic Garden was first opened in 1909, it was christened "white city" because of its brick appearance. In the original design, the central tank had hot water pipes that were intended to give the water lilies an early start. The use of these pipes was discontinued long ago, and the water lilies are now grown at ambient outside water temperature.

Currently there are 145 accessions in the Aquatic Garden, representing 116 different taxa. Forty of these are different varieties of water lily, which are housed in the central tank. The corner tanks are used to display marginal aquatics such as sedges and rushes, the "flowering rush" (Butomus umbellatus) and "bog bean" (Menyanthes trifoliata).

The long, narrow tanks alongside the central tank were formerly used to display the garden's collection of British native bog plants. These plants are now displayed in the Rock Garden, and the tanks display floating aquatics.

All of the plants in the Aquatic Garden are displayed in containers, which allow for ease of maintenance. The best time to come and see the Aquatic Garden is at the height of summer, when the water lilies and aquatic plants are in full flower.

The Aquatic Garden is number 2 on the Visitor Map.