I've never known it to grow totally submerged. Only as a marginal. I think the leaves won't come out on the stem under water. It will grow from a pot across the top of the water.

They mean 4 - 6" above the water's surface. It is somewhat possible to grow P.F. submerged, but the leaf structure underwater is much different than above the surface.

The P.F. in my pond had managed to root within the rocks that the previous owner had put at the bottom of the pond (has since been cleaned up and re-organized). I had ripped a lot of the dead foliage out of the pond after that winter, but the roots on the bottom were still alive and sent up new growth once things warmed up. This was in ~2' of water, and it grew straight up to the surface. If I remember right, the stem looked bare, but you could see thread-like leaves when observed up close - needless to say it looked like a totally different plant at that time. It did resume its standard green growth once it cleared the water's surface.

I don't know how the current growth would react to being totally submerged at this point, though.

Thanks for the input, maybe it will have to stay on the pond shelf (with the bottom few inches of the pot in the water). As I said, the plant tag was a bit misleading, a diagram shows it grows 6 to 8 inches above the water but also shows the pot "0 to 36 inches" below the water line which of course means not submerged at all to being submerged 3 feet (which of course isn't accurate).

Hi Glen. I grow parrot's feather every year. Some I just stick under rocks on the pond shelf, some I plant in a pot of gravel in the pond. I've had it 18" down and it grows to the surface. The stuff under water usually doesn't have as many "leaves" but the stuff on the surface seems to spread out more when potted like this. I periodically pinch it back and put the shoots I've pinched off along the edge. I love this plant for giving quick surface cover.

Hi
It will grow either way but submerged leaves have an entirely different structure. Plant has been used in aquariums for decades. Keep an eye on it as it is VERY invasive . Only thing that stops it is complete drying.
Even that takes about two months a flood and it pops up again.lol. They make gorgeous aquarium plants but do require strong light to do well. gary

Parrot's feather not invasive in our climate Glen. Season is too short. I've tried overwintering in my indoor pond but without any luck. Also tried overwintering in aquarium also no luck but didn't have grow lights on either. I buy 3 to 5 bunches a year. I tried the red stemmed parrot's feather last year--it's lovely and finer foilage but couldn't get it to overwinter either. I'm trying to stay away from plants that aren't hardy for our climate. Had a purple taro last year but it got frost before I brought it in. I can't justify spending $20 on a plant that won't make it through our winters. Parrots feather is $3.50 a bunch and there's alot of feather in a bunch!

You can easily overwinter it in your pond. Just put it in the pond lower then the ice and it will be fine.
Mike

I have a parrot feather that has rooted itself to the bottom and it does just fine. It grows up to the surface with no submerged leaves. If the fish would leave it alone it might do better but the seem to like the taste of it. I heat the pond for the winter and it has lived about 3 years in there now, although I lose anything that is within 3" of the surface, even with the heater the top tends to freeze up when it goes below -25

Squirelette, if you don't mind me asking, how deep is your pond and by heating do you mean keeping a hole in the ice open? Just curious.

Update - I got brave and moved my parrot's feather from the pond shelf (where it had just the bottom few inches of the pot in water) to the bottom of the pond (entire plant submerged).

The stems started growing straight up and must have been longer than I thought because within two days they broke through the water surface.

We'll now see what happens to the leaves along the stem which were leaves that originally sprouted above the water.

Thanks for everyone's input. I love the look of the plant below and then poking through the top of the water.

Regards,
glen

My pond is just over 2' deep. I use a stock tank heater(Princess Auto or Co-op) in the winter, it keeps the water just above freezing which allows me to winter the fish and keep some more tender plants in the pond. It is a small pond 5X8 and would freeze solid otherwise. I also keep the spillway running all winter which has allowed me to winter the watercress every year. Between the 2 the pond has never yet frozen completely over although it will only have a couple of 4-8" holes if it stays around -40 for a couple days.

Been following this thread as I just added some PF to my puddle. Is it ok if I butt in and ask squirelette how to winter watercress? That's not something I've managed to do in all these years..

And please do post an update on your submerged PF.

~digger

I don't actually do anything, I have it planted in the rocks in the spillway and around the edges of the pond. The water runs through the spillway all winter and keeps the roots warm. It seems that as long as the roots are under water and don't freeze the plant lives. The tops will die back but it comes back as soon as the weather warms up abit. It usually starts showing green for me in March when there is still snow on the ground and blooms mid April with the crocuses. Hope this helps some