- Approximate height: 150cm (60 inches)
- Recommended water depth over crown of plant: 8 - 30cm (3 - 12 inches)
- Flowering time: July to September
- Flower colour: Blue
- Supplied either as a bare-root plant or in a solid 1 litre pot - for best results we recommend potting on using a 3 - 5 litre pot
This magnificent species is the giant of the family, fantastic for the larger pond. The flowers are a softer blue than those of the common pickerel plant, and are produced in great quantities in late summer. Like all the pickerel plants, the flowers are very attractive to bees and are produced at a time of year when other pond plants are fading.
Because this is a later plant, it isn't usually available in pots early in the year - it over-winters as a rhizome but puts down a new set of roots each year. Early in the year it can be bought bare root. If you have purchased a bare-root specimen, plant it in the place of your choice with the rhizome almost, but not quite, covered in soil. If planting in a pot, place the cut end of the rhizome against the edge of your pot (so that the 'growing' end has the most space).
Note that the RHS' preferred name for this species is Monochoria hastata, but there is disagreement about whether M. hastata is the same plant or not. In the UK this plant is always known as Pontederia dilatata.
If designing a planting scheme, we recommend approximately 1 Pontederia dilatata plant per 1½ square feet of ground or per 1½ linear feet of pond edge. Read more here on how to pot and care for your plant.