- Approximate height: 20cm (8 inches)
- Recommended water depth over crown of plant: 2½ - 10cm (1 - 4 inches)
- Flowering time: April/May - June
- Flower colour: White
- Supplied bare root - for best results we recommend potting on using a 3 - 4 litre pot
This British native species is a useful plant for softening and disguising the pond edge, with long, horizontal, branching stems that float across the water surface. These send up soft green, three-lobed leaves and, in late spring, attractive white flowers with delicately fringed petals and an unusual, almost frothy, appearance. Unlike many pond plants, bog bean will grow in shade, although flowering is best in sun or partial shade. It forms its flower buds very early in the season, so to enjoy the blooms it is best planted the year before.
Menyanthes trifoliata is on the RHS’ Plants for Pollinators list.
Since Menyanthes plants like to grow horizontally, we only supply them bare root (they tend to 'jump' small mail order pots very quickly). For the same reason, we recommend a 3 or 4 litre pot because these will have a wide opening, but a 2 litre pot would be enough if it has an opening of around 20cm. Plant your bare-root plant with the cut end of the rhizome against the edge of your pot (so that the 'growing' end has the most space) and have the rhizome itself almost, but not quite, covered in soil.
If designing a planting scheme, we recommend approximately 1 Menyanthes trifoliata plant per two square feet of ground or per two linear feet of pond edge. Read more here on how to pot and care for your plant.