Blooming Water Hyacinth At Our Doorsteps!

What a pleasant surprise this morning! Our water hyacinth plant bloomed lovely flowers! It is a lovely flower stem with clusters of pale lavender flowers, stained darker blue on the top petals. With our warm weather, it blooms continuously. Once pollination occurs, the flower withers and a seed pod begins to form. We certainly hope this will happen!

Bloated Floaters!

Water hyacinths are water plants that float on the water surface. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinths may rise above the surface of the water as much as 1 metre in height. Their roots grow below the water surface but do not enter the soil. Their roots are often well-liked by tadpoles or fish fry and various aquatic bugs as a habitat.

Did you know that water hyacinths are one of the world’s fastest growing plants?

It can double its size in a matter of weeks. As a result, they can grow so fast and crowd out other aquatic plants. Nevertheless, they are also very useful. Water hyacinths are used as organic fertilizer and animal feed, and can even be used in perfume and cologne products. In addition, the roots absorb impurities, and can lock up floating particles from the water, thereby “purifying” the water. Hence, it has been used to treat waste water in farms and resorts.

Sources:
National Parks Singapore – https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/Special-Pages/plant-detail.aspx?id=1984
Full Service Aquatics – https://fullserviceaquatics.com/aquatic-plants/water-hyacinth-in-and-out-of-your-water-garden/