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.

I have water hyacinth and some weird, dwarf water lettuce. I'm looking for other floating water plants. I'd like to do an inperson exchange, not through the mail. I have pictures on the Aquatic Plant Exchange. Thanks, Amy

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