I just purchased 2 small Water Hyacinths today for my bird bath. I've never seen a Water Hyacinth before so I'm not all that certain about them and have a couple of questions please? Do they prefer sun, shade or both (morning shade, afternoon sun?) Do I need to feed them anything? How often do I need to change the water in my birdbath? Do Water Hyacinths produce flowers? If so, what color? Are they perennials? Annuals? Will birds still come around the birdbath? Thanks for all your help.
They prefer sun vs shade nope when it gets empty via evaporation, or every few days I would think. yes, for a day or two, light blue. Annuals most likely. :D
Perfect! Thanks Jimmy. I think I will enjoy these. I'm looking forward to seeing the flowers. Next year my husband is going to put a small pond in our backyard and I will add be sure to add a few water hyacinths.
Eichhornia crassipes. An infamous plant renowned for its invasive capacity in subtropical and tropical areas. A cooler site might slow down its growth rate a bit, but it'll still fill a bird bath in a very short time and leave no space for birds to have their baths. It won't survice a BC winter though. Flowers: http://humanflowerproject.com/images/uploads/water-hyacinth-in-japanese-.jpg
"It won't survive a BC winter though" It does here and chokes every thing it grows in, Lakes and rivers. So be careful if your climate is suitable and it is just thrown out make sure it is not near a water way. In fact I think it is banned as a nursery item. Liz
Oh, man! Here they have what is considered an "ideal" climate (they're natives here) and if the farmers leave their rice paddies untended for three days they end up with hectares of the stuff! There are areas of the country that are still flooded, and the water hyacinths have taken over to the point where it's difficult to get a canoe through. The Army has switched to hovercraft for the areas that are most choked. Lechugin (spanish common name) is considered a noxious weed here in its endemic range! Don't let it get the upper hand on you.
indeed, as I stated before, an annual here. we get frost, Eichornia cant survive frost, hence, annual, non invasive in the long term. :)
