Echinodorus bleherae is one of the most sought-after aquatic plants in the world. They are mainly found in aquariums; it is a magnificent and undemanding plant.

However, for it to grow well and provide you with all the visual pleasure possible, there are certain parameters to respect, such as temperature, pH, water hardness, and iron supply.

Can it grow in water gardens?

To know this, we must go back to the origin of its discovery in 1961 in Brazil in the town of Peixe Boi, near Belém. Amanda Flora Hilda Bleher and her 4 children moved there, and their passion was focused on aquatic plants.

Amanda's son, Heiko Bleher, discovered this plant in a swamp back in 1962 and showed it to his mother. They cultivated it together. Subsequently, Karel Rataj, an educated and famous botanist from the Czech Republic, began to look into aquaristics and studied aquatic plants, particularly those from the Amazon. He became interested in Echinodorus in general and published a book on no fewer than 47 species of Echinodorus. In his book, he described some of the findings of the Bleher family, including Echinodorus bleherae, named after Amanda's family name.

You can imagine that this South American plant, growing in the swamps of South America, could very well adapt to water gardens. However, it likes warm tropical regions. So, if you live in the tropics, it is quite feasible.

It lives submerged, but it must also be able to benefit from sunlight; that is why it prefers shallow water, a maximum of 60 cm.

If you therefore wish for your plant to flourish in your pond, you should also know that it prefers water with a temperature ranging from 25 to 28 degrees Celsius. They require a pH around 6.5–7.5, and water hardness should be around 3 to 11.

They are perfectly suited to the aquarium habitat; they are even highly sought after for aquariums, but if you live in a warmer region, it will be able to develop and flourish perfectly in your garden pond. Under the right conditions, it has rapid growth. It can reach 60 cm in height and create beautiful clusters and even flowers.

If you wish to install superb plants in your pond without making any mistakes, we recommend a book in our shop: Aquatic & Wetland Plants

It was written by Éric Lenoir, a nurseryman specializing in aquatic environments. This work presents more than 400 species and varieties of plants adapted to ponds, lakes, and rivers, as well as those found on damp soils, such as flooded meadows, marshes, and banks. It covers the most beautiful horticultural varieties for creating a water garden, but also the most surprising wild species for composing gardens focused on natural planting.

To improve your skills in water gardening, we have assembled the best books in our library, all written by experts in their fields of research.