Last year when I started my pond, for better or worse, I did the following:
1) got duckweed and rushes (kept the rushes in pots)from a local pond. I was advised to *never* introduce cattails.

2) I bought watercress from a local grocery store and put it in the stream section of my water feature (it does prefer flowing water). It thrived.

3) I bought a couple of lily pod bulbs from a botanic garden pring sale (not especially cheap). The good ting about wild plants is that you know that they are hardy to your area.

The risk that you run whenever you introduce new plants, regardless of whether they are wild or cultivated, is that you may also introdcue a bunch of hitchhikers. In my case, New Zealand mud snails (an invasive species) came along for the ride with the wild plants. However, like the duckweed, they had disappeared by August. I don't know if they will come reappear this year. They did help control the algae. Shortly after I introduced some water hyacinths from a garden shop, I discovered aphids on the lily pods. Somehow at least one leach found its way into my pond. My guess is that it came with a visiting duck, but I honestly don't know.

Good luck.

The Aquatics plants at Lowe's and Walmart are the cheapest plants you will find unless you go out and gather some from a local pond or swamp. Or you can find someone near you to give you some. Even on the plant exchange for Postage only you will have to pay that much. Lowe's and Wal Mart usually put theirs on sale later in the season. Texaswaterlilies have good plants and cheaper prices than some, but then you have to pay for shipping also. Glenda

Agreed regarding watercress. Super-cheap, as its sold by the pound at the grocery, and super-easy to grow also.

If you're in the south, check out the water morning glory, Ipomoea aquatica.

Also, many aquarium stores have a pond section and carry some neat aquatics. Make friends with the clerks and they might give you some fast growers.

Beware of Petco's "aquarium and terrarium" plants, which come in a clear tube with gel at the bottom. Some of them aren't aquatic plants, but there's no way to tell which are which from the packaging.

Sometimes you can find pond starter package deals on Ebay.
Be careful when buying on Ebay. Check out the sellers feedback. There are some good Ebay sellers but there are also bad sellers.
If you have other types of plants you can trade them for pond plants with other ponders on forums.

Try Craig's List or Free-cycle in your area. Or post a notice on the local grocery store bulletin board that you're looking for pond plants. I prefer to give away my excess (what little I have) rather than compost them. Last year I found out a client I've known for 15 years had a pond and 18!! water lilies that needed dividing! He gave me 5 and I passed on 2 to other newbies.

There are also lots of terrestrial plants that can live with wet feet, like impatiens ($1.49 for a 4pk), sweet potato vine, etc. Here's a link to some...

Here is a link that might be useful: Unconventional Pond Plants - archived

Thank You all so very much for your wonderful advice, I didnt realize how much knowledge that I lacked when it came to pond planting and things that can be done. Thank You all again, I cant wait to get started on some of these wonderful ideas.

The worst performing plants I have purchased have been from Lowe's and Home Depot. Since I bought my first group I have noticed on return trips that the pond plants get soaked some days and utterly dried out others. They just get abused and it has taken 2 seasons for one of the lilies I got from them to do more than put a leaf or two up.

I got my well performing plants from a local grower, a nursery and over the internet. I might have paid 5-10 bucks more per plant, but I have thrown out 4 or five 8 dollar plants from Lowes and HD so I think buying established well cared for plants is actually cheaper.

I got a couple of hardy waterlilies last year for half price at Home Depot (I think they were $5 each). I kept them in a tub on the deck until the pond was finished (4th of July) and they did great! One was much bigger than the other but both flowered. They overwintered in the pond and are doing great now.
BasilB

Wal Mart has some plants. Some as a package deal some separate plants. I just got 2 changeable lilies. $5. kinda small tubers. Took them out of the toss it in the pond netting. Does not work for lilies at all. They are in a small QT tank right now. Time will tell.

I get a lot of my plants from local lakes. Most people with lake front property are happy to get rid of aquatic plants as they get in the way of swimming, fishing, and boating. If there is a lake near you, try ringing a few door bells. You may find all the plants you need.

I prefer local plants because they are definitely adaptable to the climate and will survive the winter months with little or no care.

I quarantine for a few weeks in a plastic tub as you should do with all plants. When you pick plants yourself, you know exactly what type of environment they came from.

If you have any nice land plants, you can always try trading for plants on Gardenweb. I got lots of lotus and water lilies that way a few years ago.

You might also check to see if there is a local garden club where you could connect with other people with water features. For example, in Denver, there is the Colorado Water Garden Society. Next weekend they are having a plant swap and a couple of weeks later, a plant sale. If you can find something like that in your area, you will get access to plants and local advice.

I have had a hell of a lot better luck getting stuff from the plant exchange on americanponders that I have off the crap on ebay! Why belittle someone starting out for not wanting to spend a lot of money on a plant if they don't even know if it will survive or not? There is no one on the plant exchanges forcing you to take anything. It is usually people that have had to trim or cut back plants because they are running out of room and are willing to help out someone new by sending the excess to them. Usually they will do this simply for the price of postage. Like me they would rather give it away than throw it away.

If you are selling stuff on ebay, great, I hope you make a fortune. I personally haven't had luck with plants from there and wont do it again. I agree that doing some research is a good idea, and if you find a "muct have" plant, then get it from a nursery. If you are like me and like to experiment and try new things, plant exchanges are a great way to go.

Derrick

I have an over abundance of chinese water lotus plants. You want them come and get them. ( the neighbor panted them in our pond and they took over to the point the ducks won't even land. we are in connecticut get in touch with us we have a boat avaliable. Also does anyone have a way to control or get rid of these. we want our ducks and geese and open pond back desperate Thanks in advance

quick question sicne we are on this topic.

with the season winding down, is it a good idea to get a few plants and keep them in the house in a pot of water durning the fall and winter then put them in the garden in the spring? I am about to break ground and put the pond in, but I feel it is to late in the season to plant. I am in NY/NJ area

I don't know where you live, but in Colorado or nearby states, www.waterplants.com would be a great choice. the aquatic plant farm is near Sugar City, 20 minutes east of Pueblo. I actually visited the farm and received first-hand expert advice from Victor Plawski, the owner. I viewed a multitude of waterlilys of all different types and picked out the most prolific tropicals and hardies. Now I have lilies in my pond that have enormous pads and blooms everywhere; I even had some mailed to me and they are doing great also. I bought all kinds of marginals for my bog filter and they are doing great too. It gives me confidence to buy plants from zone 5, rather than some tropical state down south.

I bought one unlabeled waterlily from Lowe's. It is doing fine, but it turned out to be a dwarf yellow bloom hardy called "helvola". I think that Lowe's must be selling dwarf varieties because of their small preformed ponds.

The prices at waterplants.com are much lower than the local pond stores and the plants are as good as they get.

My best tropical lilies are Star of Zanzibar and Star of Siam. My best Hardies are "Colorado" and "Mangkola Ubol" (an Asian variety). They are doing especially great with the water temperatures in Colorado Springs, CO. I get only 6 hours of full sun a day until the pond gets shaded by houses.

My tropicals will not survive the winter, but I will buy new ones in the spring. They are well worth the price to consider them as annuals. They send up 5 times as many blooms as a hardy and the pads are over 1 foot in diameter; covering an area at least 6' across.

Both American Ponders and Garden Web have aquatic plant exchanges. American Ponders allows selling and both have folks who'll send for postage.

Waterlilies purchased from big box stores are often not labeled correctly.

I agree Leeanne!
Some of THE BEST trades I have had were either here on GardenWeb Exchanges (not just pond plants but ALL garden plants) or at American Ponders.
That is how I acquired my first Colorado, one of THE BEST blooming hardy water lilies out there!
All these lilies were acquired by trade and postage, not purchased. . .

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:D

I agree, American Ponders is probably about one of the best places/forums out there to buy/sell/trade plants. Its the only place I used this year for buying and trading plants.