Description of Hottonia palustris (Water Violet)

Hottonia palustris is water violet, a UK native oxygenator with pretty lilac flowers. It grows in shallow water and slow ditches, and it is useful if you want something that helps water quality while still flowering.

Appearance

It has fine, feathery submerged leaves and sends up flower stems above the water in late spring and early summer. Flowers are pale lilac with a yellow centre. It tends to form loose patches rather than a tight clump.

Care Guide

It likes clean, still or slow-moving water. In very nutrient-rich ponds it can get smothered by algae.

• Sun: Sun to part shade.
• Soil: It can root in mud on a shallow shelf or grow as a floating rooted plant.
• Water: Shallow water suits it best.
• Management: Thin if it becomes too dense, and clear blanket weed if it smothers growth.
• Overwintering: It usually dies back in winter and returns from submerged parts.

Planting tip: place it in a small basket of mud and sink it on a shallow shelf so it can root and stay put.

Suitability for Bog Garden

This suits bog gardens when you have open water or a pond shelf. It is not a compost-bed bog plant. Use it to add flowers in the water itself and to give cover for pond life.

It pairs well with marginal planting because it keeps the pond side looking alive too.

FAQ