Marginal Aquatics - Floral
| These Plant Profiles provide an introduction to some of the more popular marginal aquatics that are principally grown for floral effect. However, the selecting of marginal plants for flowers or foliage is very arbitrary, for many good floral kinds, like the Canna glauca cultivars, have attractive foliage as well. So if a particular plant is not included here browse the Marginal Plants:Foliage profiles.
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 Canna 'Erebus'
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 Iris laevigata
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There are many distinct groups of plants amongst the marginal aquatics that are grown principally for their blossoms. However, the largest and unquestionably most important of all are the aquatic irises. Although they do not have quite as a long a season of flower as many of their contemporaries, they do provide a great spectacle. In addition to their lovely blossoms, there are some attractive foliage kinds as well. The most startling is Iris laevigata 'Variegata', with cream and green banded sword-like leaves and bright blue summer blossoms.
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| In most gardens it is the marginal plants that herald the arrival of spring. For all, except the most tropical of climates, the various Caltha species or Marsh Marigolds provide a great opening spring show. There are a number of different kinds, from the compact, fully double-flowered Caltha palustris ‘Flore Pleno’, to the giant C.polypetala and the white-flowering C.palustris ‘Alba’.
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 Caltha palustris
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| These are in bloom before the rest of the water garden has awakened and are tolerant of all manner of unpredictable spring weather. Late summer-flowering marginals are dominated by the lovely Pickerel Rush, Pontederia cordata and its cousin P.lanceolata.
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 Pontederia cordata.
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Their spikes of ultramarine flowers are the highlight of the pond margins at that time of the year. There are now also a number of other attractive colour selections available. These are all excellent companions for the pink-flowered Flowering Rush, Butomus umbellatus, which inevitably spreads its broad heads of blossoms in unison. This well-restrained plant is also available in a white-flowered selection. A great accompaniment for the yellow-flowered Mimulus luteus, a summer-flowering plant that carries its blossoms through until early autumn. Carpeting the shallows throughout the summer are other scrambling floral beauties.
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For example the heavily fragrant Mentha aquatica, or Water Mint, a truly aquatic relative of our common kitchen mint. This, together with its close relative Mentha cervina, (formerly well-known as Preslia cervina) and the European Brooklime, Veronica beccabunga, are all colourful marginal plants that help to soften the area where the starkness of the pond edge meets the water.
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 Mentha aquatica
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