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This month in the garden...

 

"The best way to make sure you're removing a weed and not a valuable plant? If it comes out of the ground easily it's a valuable plant."

Anonymous

 

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This Month in the Garden (November 2010)...

Lotus pods

Lotus (Nelumbo) are popular plants with water gardeners. Native to Asia and Australia, the plants grow in shallow ponds, lagoons and bogs. All parts of the plant are used for food - the leaves and stems, seeds, and the rhizomes (roots) which are filled with air channels and resemble Swiss cheese when sliced.

The lotus was considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians and still has religious significance for both Hindus and Buddhists. In areas where the lotus are not harvested or are not native they can become invasive, spreading so rapidly they fill the wetlands where they grow.

Lotus produce both aerial leaves and flowers. In some species the leaves may be three feet wide and the flowers may soar twelve feet above the water. This is the seed pod of Nelumbo ‘Mrs. Perry D Slocum,’ which holds its flowers on five foot tall stems. Each of the chambers in the pod hold a single seed. Properly dried, the seed heads are used in flower arrangements.


This Month in the Garden Archive:

November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July
2010
June 2010
May
2010

April 2010
March 2010
February 2010

January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April
2009

March 2009

 

Port Washington Garden Club, PO Box 492, Port Washington, Wisconsin 53074
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