These Herbs are All Wet

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Four-leaf water clover (Marsilea quadrifolia) is a small herb that grows in shallow pools, edges of ponds, containers or on wet banks. The rhizome is slender and creeping. If grown in shallow water, the leaves stick up above the water about 3 or 4 inches but if grown in deeper water, the leaves appear to be floating. The leaves close at night.

The shoots and leaves are rich in Vitamin A and the Thai people enjoy them as a raw vegetable, generally by dipping them in hot sauces, such as nam phrik kapi — a shrimp paste sauce with chiles — or nam phrik plaa raa — a fermented fish sauce with fresh chiles. The flavor of the four-leaf water clover is tart and pleasantly astringent, a bit like French sorrel. When you use water clover in soups, add it just before serving to preserve the delicate flavor.

Attractive and graceful, Vietnamese cilantro (Polygonum odoratum) is a tasty herb for Asian dishes or salsas. Easily grown in damp garden soil in a sunny site, it is equally happy in a pot half submerged in the water garden, where it can drape over the pot’s edge and float in the water. This plant will put out rootlets much like watercress. Harvest it often, as the fresh, new tops taste noticeably better than the older leaves and shoots.

More Water Garden Plants for the Table

Water mint (Mentha aquatica) grows on the edges of ponds and water gardens. The leaves and flowers are delightful flavorings for ice cream, mint juleps, syrups and sorbets.

Chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata), a plant we think of as just a pretty plant for the water garden, is considered a vegetable in many Asian countries. The leaves are lemony with a slightly bitter flavor and combine well in the balance of hot, bitter, sweet and sour flavors in many Asian dishes.

Giant water lily (Victoria amazonica). The dried seeds are popped like popcorn.

Fragrant water lily (Nymphaea odorata). The tender young flowers, young leaves and flower buds are all edible (young flowers raw, other parts cooked).

Rice (Oryza sativa). Yes, you can grow rice in your water garden.

Water chestnuts (Eleocharis spp.). You can grow water chestnuts but they’re a slow-growing crop that might take years to reach harvest.

Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica). Also known as kang kong, its leaves and growing tips are eaten steamed like other greens. Can be grown in a pot, partially submerged, or in wet soil.

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale). Watercress requires running water for growth. It floats on the surface along the edges of moving streams, with tiny rootlets that reach into the rocks and soil. It is delicious added to salads, dips and sandwiches.

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