Water Garden - Aquatic Flora

Aquatic Flora

Water garden plants are divided into three main categories: submerged, marginal, and floating.

• Submerged plants are those that live almost completely under the water, sometimes with leaves or flowers that grow to the surface such as with the water lily. These plants are placed in a pond or container usually 1–2 ft (0.30–0.61 m) below the water surface. Some of these plants are called oxygenators because they create oxygen for the fish that live in a pond. Examples of submerged plants are:
  • Water lily (Hardy and Tropical)
  • Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum)
• Marginal plants are those that live with their roots under the water but the rest of the plant above the surface. These are usually placed so that the top of the pot is at or barely below the water level. Examples of these are:
  • Iris or Flag (Iris spp.)
  • Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus fluitans)
  • Bulrush (Scirpus lacustris)
  • Cattail (Typha latifolia)
  • Taro (Colocasia esculenta)
  • Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)
  • Lotus (Nelumbo spp.)
  • Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
• Floating plants are those that are not anchored to the soil at all, but are free-floating on the surface. In water gardening, these are often used as a provider of shade to reduce algae growth in a pond. These are often extremely fast growing/multiplying. Examples of these are:
  • Mosquito ferns (Azolla spp.)
  • Water-spangle (Salvinia spp.)
  • Water-clover (Marsilea vestita)
  • Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
  • Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Some areas of the United States do not allow certain of these plants to be sold or kept as they have become invasive species in warmer areas of the country, such as Florida and California.