yellow pond-lily
Nuphar lutea
RHS Plants for Pollinators
USDA zones4 to 10
SunHandles full sun to partial shade
WaterHandles moist to wet soil
Size6 to 24 inches tall3 to 6 feet wide
- Habit
- Herb
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer, autumn
- Bloom color
- Greenish-yellow
- Foliage color
- Green
- Soil types
- Sand, loam, clay
- Soil pH
- Acid, alkaline, neutral
Garden uses
Attracts
Notes
Yellow pond-lily (Nuphar lutea) is an aquatic perennial for pollinator gardens and low maintenance ponds. It is hardy to USDA zone 4, or down to -30°F (-34°C). This plant likes full sun to part shade and moist to wet, sandy, loamy, or clay soil. It can grow in water up to 16 in. deep. It sits low on the menu for deer. Ducks eat the seeds.
Pairs well with Swamp milkweed, Standing Ovation little bluestem, and Inkberry.
Native range
Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, and 8 more places. See all 12
Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, Altay, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, NW. Balkan Pen., Sardegna, Türkiye, Xinjiang, and Yakutiya.