Positively, do the water lillies next year !!!

fred

Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia) takes a while to get established but once it does can be 'led' into the water and does very well for me. I also use it in a cpl of small pots in my water fall and both the leaves and roots trail nicely.
Will

Try Pennywort. It spreads rapidly, loves hot weather, is not bothered by direct sun or warm water, and is hardy enough to survive our Oklahoma winters. They don't need soil, just tuck them into the rocks at the edge of the pond or stream.

They spread by sending out runners, so they are a bit aggressive, but they're easy to pull up and I love the way they look. Here's my Pennywort tucked into the rocks at the edge of the stream before I thinned it out yesterday. The bigger plant clump on the left is blue pickerel. I have it in a bog pocket beside the stream, and it needs to be thinned. The plant on the right with blue spikes is perennial blue salvia (not an aquatic), and of course one of my banana plants.

{{gwi:229346}}

Thanks, Fred, Will and Nancy. I will try them all. Nancy, your plants look gorgeous. Will the blue pickerel survive OK winters? I love your salvia and I have them on my list now for pondside.

A friend gave me a good bunch of rocks and yesterday I worked almost 10 hours straight and my fingertips are raw. Ouch. But, its looking better, if only I could figure out the plants.

Thanks again, Vickie

Yes, pickerel will survive our OK winters with no trouble. As they die back in the fall, just trim them down to about an inch or so, and they'll come back in the spring on new stems. I really need to pull my pickerel out and divide it. It's jumping the pot.

I got the blue salvia at Lowes. There are two varieties -- the annual and the perennial. Mine is the perennial, so it comes back every year. It gets nice and bushy and is perfect for the pond's edge.

One that I've heard is good for nutrient uptake is Water Celery and it's variegated counter-part. I've got the var. in my pond and it's just exploded, sending out runners in all directions. It stays fairly short, but it's quick growing and would probably be able to support itself over the water (mine hasn't gotten that far yet - it's cascading over a short rock barrier and along the edge of the stream right now).

Another one that I've had good success with is Bacopa Monnerei aka Moneywort. I had gotten a couple plants from the local pet store (sold as an aquarium plant), and planted it in a couple of the plant baskets on the stream edge. The initial leaves melted a bit, but once it got used to growing above the water it took off and did a bang-up job of covering the pots and cascading down and along the stream. It's also blooming now with small bluish-white flowers that are about 3/8" in diameter. This has done a fairly decent job of floating out on the water, but can look sparse unless a bunch of stems are planted. I don't think it'll winter-over up here in zone 6, so I don't know if it'll handle zone 7 or not.

Where does everyone buy their plants? And, do you suppose it is too late now to try a couple of kinds? My list is getting longer each day. LOL.

I don't think anyone's mentioned ornamental sweet potato vine. It won't overwinter, but LOVES hot weather and sends roots and vines out into the water. I've seen it growing very well at the Pond Pro store in Shawnee, OK.

Mine is planted directly in gravel right next to the waterfall, where it stays constantly wet. I've had a hard time keeping it out of the stream above the waterfall and consequently it has taken over the little footbridge where I keep trying to "train" it to grow. About once a week I tear out the roots that grow into the stream as well. Thank goodness it is an annual or it would probably rival Kudzu. :-)
{{gwi:229347}}

Sherry

Prairie Bogger, sweet potato vines I can grow. Here is a picture of mine on each side of the falls. One is the regular chartrese colored, and the other is my favorite, 'Blackie'. They do grow wild and I am grateful. Amazingly, I picked these up about a month ago, looking very sad, in little 3" pots. They aren't sad now. They have grown about a 6 foot diameter path. I had been keeping them out of the water, but if they will float on top, I will let them be. Will they?

{{gwi:229348}}

By the way, I love the rock work on your pond. As you can see, mine is still a work in progress. Thank you.