Plant Description

Red Stem, Thalia Geniculata Ruminoides, Alligator Flag or Red Stemmed Thalia, is an excellent pond plant, is fast growing in the heat. Lovely broad green leaves on Red Stem Thalia are complemented with bright red stems. Red Stem Thalia grows 5 - 8 feet tall or taller, and looks great when planted in containers and used as a focal point in your pond! Red Stem Thalia makes an excellent pond plant!

Height  Grows 5 - 8 feet tall

Width  3 - 6 foot spread or wider

Sunlight Requirements  Full sun to part shade

Moisture Requirements  Wet, grows well with water above the roots or in moist soil in your terrestrial garden ( Must be watered during hot, dry spells)

Blooms  Small, purple, three petaled flowers bloom all summer into fall

Fertilize  Fertilize in the pond with Waterlily World Fertilizer Tabs, June through August

Zone  Hardy in zones 8a - 10b

 FUN FACT:  Also known as Alligator Flag-- as the leaves would shake when there was alligator movement beneath the Red Stemmed Thalia, alerting people nearby.

Planting Instructions

Plant in moist, loamy soil, in very large containers or tubs and place up to 12 inches below the surface of the water, place a few heavy rocks in the bottom of the container to keep the pot from being overturned in high wind, because this plant gets so tall.  Use large containers--5 to 25 gallons, the bigger the better as you don't want it to fall over in a windy thunderstorm. Grows well in full sun to shade. Fertilize June through August with  slow release Waterlily World Fertilizer Tabs + Humates.
Cut back and treat as a houseplant north of zone 9 in winter in a south facing window.