Marginal Aquatics - Foliage
| The Plant Profiles that follow give a brief introduction to some of the more popular and interesting groups of marginal aquatics that are principally grown for their foliage effect. However, the selecting of marginal plants as foliage or flowering is very arbitrary, for many good foliage kinds have attractive blossoms as well. So it is possible that a plant that is also of floral merit, may well have been included with those with foliage attributes.
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 Thalia dealbata
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 Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani 'Zebrinus'
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Reeds and rushes comprise one of the most important groups of marginal aquatics for foliage effect. Some are traditional rushes with green grassy foliage while others are barred or variegated with cream, gold and green. A number have tassel-like brown flowers of little merit, but others like the various species of Typha exhibit thick brown poker-like fruiting heads. This group of aquatic plants not only provides many visual attributes for the water garden, but a number of species are also important for stream-side and natural pond bank stabilisation. The thick mats of roots tightly bind the soil together and resist erosion. Sedges are like reeds and rushes, except rather more grass-like. Many of the Carex species are mistaken for coarse grasses.
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| However, the so-called Umbrella Grasses, or Cyperus, look quite different. A number are very well-known, amongst these the magnificent tropical Papyrus of the River Nile, Cyperus papyrus, and the Umbrella Grass of the living room, Cyperus alternifolius. These are very resilient, but some may need controlling a little, as they mostly spread freely by underground root systems. This makes them invaluable for colonising the soil between the water's edge and the bog garden. In large bodies of water any over-exuberance can be controlled by a technique known as soil sculpting.
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 Cyperus Papyrus
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 Acorus calamus
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Not all foliage marginal aquatic plants are reed or rush-like, the Acorus, for instance having foliage like an Iris, but strange small horn-like flowers. Acorus calamus and its cultivar ‘Variegatus’ both have leaves that smell of tangerines if crushed, while those of the Polypora or Fishwort, Houttuynia cordata, possess an unpleasant odour that is more likely to be associated with cats. Several produce edible roots, those of the tropical Colocasia being used in various ways in Asian cuisine. While the egg-shaped winter turions, or tuber-like structures, of several of the frost-hardy Sagittaria species are considered a delicacy by waterfowl.
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A number have interesting foliage shapes, the Sagittaria, for example, having arrow-shaped leaves of various dimensions. Known quite appropriately as Arrowheads, these also produce attractive spires of white blossoms. The flowers of the Corkscrew Rush, Juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’ are insignificant, but the bizarre growth pattern of this strange mutation of the common Soft Rush, makes it a prime candidate for the flower arranger’s garden. The slender needle-like stems instead of being stiff and vertical, twist and contort in exactly the manner of a corkscrew.
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 Sagittaria sagittifolia var. leuconeura
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