I have my bog bean planted in soil in pots as it sends out long runners so may be seeking other places to pot itself. It's one of the earliest plants in my pond to green up. The ice left this weekend and the plant is already greening. Some plants don't like fast moving water. I've heard watercress likes it and I got some last year but it didn't like my pond or something as failed to thrive. I've found that when I plant parrot feather in dirt it gets bushier and grows faster than if just stuck amongst the rocks along the edge. My iris that were planted in gravel havn't done as well as the ones planted in dirt in pots although on another pond site on vege filters the guy swore by Iris bare rooted in gravel as long as the water was moving through the roots was better for filtration than any other plants he had tried. So I guess bottom line is try both.

Hey missa7, are you in the Tulsa area? I hit Hardscape frequently for various reasons. They do have a lot of cool stuff, not just water pond stuff. They are pretty much the only game in town for pond plants here. BUT, I do find them pricey on a lot of things ($15 for parrot feather???), however, like any business, you can come across a good deal/unusual finds there. Really cool place!! If some entrenpeneur (sorry, haven't figured out spell check on this site)opened up a real water plant place anywhere close to Tulsa, they would make a killing.

Your zone will make a difference in what winters over. I live in Utah, and am in zone 5. Winters here can get down to 0 degrees. I've planted bareroot -- just sticking the washed off roots between rocks -- chameleon plant, penny wart, and another fern-like plant, as well as iris. All of these have successfully wintered over for the past 4 years. And the chameleon plant pleasantly surprised me this spring by producing white flowers. Looks very pretty in the streams leading to the pond. Each spring I've bare root planted impatiens, as well as the standard water lettuce and water hyacinths, and this year, I'm trying coleus. Be sure to try bare root planting of watercress (buy it from the grocery store). It's fun to watch it grow and spread in the streams. Watercress does best in water that is more still. If you live in a zone that doesn't get much winter, watercress might take over, but here in Utah that doesn't happen. I'm convinced you can successfully experiment with many, many plants, and get a wide variety of looks using the bare root approach -- for both annuals and perennials.

I can send you a nice package of Parrot Feather, Anacharis, PennyWort,Azolla, and FrogBit for some of your Cherry Bell Campanula, Miscznthus Grass and starts of Porceliine Berry Vine. LMK Xjaxx Jack jatoni@sc.rr.com