Plant Golden Club – Crown Under Water

Plant golden club with the crown about 6 inches under water, in a basket of heavy loam. Split a crowded rhizome in spring if you want more plants.

Plant the crown about 6 inches under water

Golden Club goes in as a rhizome or a potted plant, not as a dry-bed transplant. For a water garden, plant it in a mesh basket of heavy loam so you can set the depth and lift the clump later. [1] Keep the crown about 6 inches under the water to start. Six to 18 inches is the usual range. Leaves stand above the water toward the shallow end, and they float as you go deeper. [2] Fill the basket with heavy loam or pond muck, set the plant so the crown sits near the rim, and top with a little washed gravel so the soil does not wash out. Contractile roots pull the rhizome deeper on their own, so do not bury the crown at planting. [3] Plant straight into mud at the pond edge only if you want a colony you can live with. The sun and never-dry plan for the season is on How to Grow Golden Club.

1. Keep the rhizome wet from the shop to the pond. Do not let it dry on a bench.
2. Fill a mesh pond basket with heavy loam or muck.
3. Set the plant so the crown sits near the rim, then top with a little washed gravel.
4. Lower the basket until the crown is about 6 inches under water. Move it deeper later if you want floating leaves.

Split a crowded rhizome in spring

Division is how this plant multiplies in a garden. In spring, lift a crowded clump, keep roots on each piece, and replant at once in a fresh basket of heavy loam. Wear gloves, because the sap can irritate skin.

1. Lift a crowded clump in spring so you can see the rhizomes.
2. Cut a piece that has roots and at least one growing point.
3. Replant at once in a fresh basket of heavy loam, and keep the rhizome wet while it takes.
4. Start the new basket in shallow water, then set the crown about 6 inches under water once the leaves hold.

Sow seed as soon as it ripens

If you start from berries, collect the gummy seeds in mid-summer and sow them the same week onto wet muck. Keep the trays under a few inches of water until the seedlings are big enough to pot on. [4] Do not let the seed dry in a packet. Shop plants are usually a rhizome, and that is the faster start.

1. Collect the gummy seeds in mid-summer.
2. Sow them at once onto wet muck. Do not store them dry.
3. Keep the tray under a few inches of water until the seedlings are firm enough to handle.
4. Pot each seedling into loam that stays wet, then move it to the pond the next warm season.

If the first leaves rot underwater, the crown was set too deep. Reset it about 6 inches under the surface and keep the mix wet.