I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I'll give it a shot... First of all, there is no one-size-fits-all watering schedule a grower can keep when it comes to containerized plants. Each plant will use water, and water will evaporate, at a different rates... based upon plant type, size, pot size, location, medium used, weather, humidity, etc... So, any potted plant should only be watered when it needs to be watered. I use a combination of my finger/sense of touch, and the wooden skewer method, to determine the moisture content within each pot. Even when soil feels dry to the touch near the surface, there could be plenty of moisture deeper within the pot, hence insertion of a wooden skewer to test for moisture, and a rather dry feeling medium may even contain moisture molecules at a small percentage that we can't feel with our own sense of touch. The Tulips, Lilies, Allium, and Hyacinthoides can be kept potted, and the pots buried up the rim in a garden, then mulched for the winter... as long as they're buried at their recommended depth, those types of bulbs are hardy to northern climes. However, squirrels and other rodents love to feast on them, so once the pots are buried, you may want to lay some screen over them before mulching... then remember to remove it early enough so the new shoots can get through. Some of the other plant types you mention are not hardy to your zone 5, and will require being kept in relative warmth. I don't think covering anything that sits up on a pedestal will do much good, as windchills can be quite devastating to plant roots that don't have the protection of being at ground level or buried, and protected with mulch of some kind. Hopefully, someone with more knowledge of your various plant types will be along to help... I'm in zone 5b, and bring all my tender potted plants indoors for winter, and try to place them where they will get the most light, treating them more as houseplants that are just resting for winter. Anything hardy to my zone either gets planted and mulched, or goes into an unheated, and otherwise unused, garage building once dormant. I group my potted perennials and shrubs together in plastic baby pools inside the garage, and I close up the building until early spring. I will check occasionally to see if the soil is dry, and if so, I will spread a few shovels full of snow over them to simulate nature and its winter moisture source. When dormancy breaks in spring, I begin opening the east facing garage doors to let in light, and as soon as I feel the weather is stable enough, I bring everything back outside for another growing season. I don't know how much I've helped you, but I wish you luck. :-)

Happt Birthday dln949! And you're killin'me with this question! I'm just starting to enjoy all my lush growth of summer, it's too soon to be thinking of winter! I'm near Morris, MN (west central). My pond is 5'x5'x28" deep. I trim my lilies back and sink leave them on the bottom. Most of the marginals can be left where they are, but I sink my potted ones just to be safe. Parrot feather is an annual here. I have goldfish/comets and I leave them in the pond. I cover 2/3's of the surface with foam board on strips of wood to cut the wind chill factor, throw in a 1000w tank heater and a small aquarium airstone and hope for the best. Two years ago I tried a 100w de-icer and we had a brutal winter and I lost my fish, but no plants. Be sure your pond is really clean before ice-up, no dead vegetation to rot. And stop feeding the fish when the water hits 50F. Feel free to ask if you have more questions! S

Gunnera doesn't really like saturated soil conditions, it prefers its crown growing above the water table. It will probably grow berserk at room temperatures when you improve its soil conditions You might need a bigger pot for Gunnera All the plants will cope fine with cool frost free well lit conditions, no need for extra heat. 70's temps are likely to get them growing too big and fast indoors The lime green arrowhead may well be, arrowhead... only pickerel is likely to be confused with it

If you have not already Goggled a search for âÂÂplant rust diseaseâ I would suggest you start there. There is a lot of general information on the web. You should not need to discard your rhizomes but the fungal pathogens will likely persist in the soil. I do not believe the pathogens will seriously impact the dormant rhizomes. Canna rust typically attacks the foliage. You may choose to over-winter the rhizomes in their pots this winter, but I would definitely discard the soil and wash the containers early next spring before dividing and replanting. Under the right conditions, rust pathogens can easily be air transported from outside sources. Prevention is the main consideration. You need to consider the cause of the rust in your canna situation; otherwise you may continue to experience the same occurrence in the coming years. Sanitation and good air circulation for the growing plants should be considered. From your description, I suspect your pots were overcrowded. Potted cannas usually need to be divided each season. Foliage that remains wet in the evening contributes to ideal conditions for canna rust. Only use overhead watering early in the day to allow the foliage to dry. There is not much we can do about prolonged rainy periods but the canna leaves do have a wax like covering that generally aids in preventing prolonged damp foliage; providing there is adequate air circulation. Hope this may be helpful. Regards, Kent