Trumpet vine is horribly invasive. Have you researched it? I just wanted to make you aware before you got stuck with something you may not have wanted. Mints and wisteria can be pretty aggressive too.

Yep it's algae but it's alled cyanobacteria because it's a strange combination of plant and animal. And yep it really is a bacteria. It's also called blue-green algae. Sometimes it's green and sometimes it's reddish brown in color. It can get really thick and bubbles form in it. I've seen it several inches thick with so many bubbles forming and popping that it sounds like a giant bowl of Rice Crispies. Controlling the phosphorus level in your pond will keep it down, calcium bentonite sprinkled on top of it will slowly kill it and a lot of floating plants will also keep it down. Floating plants like water hyacinth, pennywort, watercress, bogbeans, yellow monkey flower. Anything that has a massive root system that floats. Lily pads don't count as floating plants. As for beneficial bacteria? Well it seems that somewhere down the line somebody started a rumor that beneficial bacteria kills algae and does all kinds of other strange things. The beneficial bacteria does two things and of course there are two separate types. The first type eats ammonia (fish poop) and excretes NITRITES. The second type eats nitrites and excretes NITRATES. This cycle converts poop into plant food. That is the ONLY thing that the beneficial bacteria do. Nothing else.

Hi Kareen, Could you list what varieties you have, perhaps send a pm?

Hi! I'm looking for someone who lives in So. Cal between Ventura and Los Angeles county for in person trading. It has to be in person because I'm not very good at mailing water plants and having them arrive alive. I have water hyacinth to trade. They are very hardy and over-wintered in the pond. (I know I'm in a warm zone, but this year was our coldest winter. I have tangerine and avocado trees that died this year, and the WH surrived.) I also have some weird water lettuce. They looked like lettuce last summer and I brought one in to live in the aquarium over winter (the outside ones died). Well, they are now flat, linkedleaves, not cupped like lettuce. I'll try to post a picture in the pond gallery. I'm looking for floating plants - floating hearts, parrots feather, etc. Amy