Product Overview
Miniature (aka Dwarf) Cattail (Typha minima)
One of our best sellers! Miniature Cattail has attractive blue-green foliage and will get about 2' tall. Cute spherical catkins that are about the size of a quarter appear in August. It can be divided in the spring. Excellent choice for container gardens and small ponds. Usually grows a dense crop of catkins once runners fill the pot. Unlike our other cattails, Typha minima does not develop catkins in the very Southern parts of the US, as it is native to Siberia and requires a long daylength to set bloom. If you want catkins in the South, we recommend a different species such as Typha latifolia or T. laxmanni. Cattails multiply by underground runners.
Tip--when preparing for winter, never cut cattail leaves off below the maximum (summer or winter) water level in the pond. Odd as it sounds, this allows water and pathogens to penetrate into the rhizome and roots, and will usually cause cattails to die. In fact, savvy landscape professionals who know this will intentionally cut back cattails to limit their range or even eliminate them completely. This is also true of some other pond plants, including lotus and aquatic cannas, but cattails are particularly susceptible.
Hardiness Zone: 3-10 (needs partial shade and running water in hot desert regions)
Planting Container: We recommend a 10" x 6" fabric pot to grow a regular sized plant, or a 12.5" x 7" fabric pot to grow a grouping of specimen sized plants. Click on any fabric pot link to read about why fabric pots work better than hard plastic pots!
Light Requirements: full sun to part shade
Height: 12"-18" - Spread: Running Rhizomes
Water Depth: Moist soil or water to 4" deep (Maximum water depth is for mature bog plants) If cutting back for winter, do not cut foliage to below maximum water level
FERTILIZING: For best health and growth, we recommend fertilizing regularly (unless using the plants in a plant filtration system!). Use Pondtabbs 20 count, 60 count, or 300 count for fast release, or Aquascape 6 count or 12 count capsules for slow release (once a year) fertilizing. Aquascape is preferred for low maintenance, but Pondtabbs are useful in Spring when Aquascape is slow to start in low temperatures. Pondtabbs are also useful for a quick extra nutrient push for extra bloom, and for mid-summer fertilizing of a new plant (we don't recommend using slow release fertilizer in mid-summer or later in cold climates, as plants should run out of fertilizer at the end of the year to encourage dormancy in cold climates).
Plants are shipped bare root or in starter pots, and will require planting upon arrival. For in depth planting and care instructions visit our Planting and Care Instructions for Shallow Water and Bog Plants.
For information on using plants for pond filtration, please read our blog on this topic!
