Winter warriors

[razornick]

As my pond plants begin to fade for the winter months, my pond is becoming barren. Does anyone have suggestions for aquatic plants that will continue to perform through to spring? Horsetail, sweet flag, miniature rush and papyrus still look OK. Floating plants just hanging on while cannas, water lilies are in decline. I'm also worried about the taros. Mild frosts to low 30's at night at the coldest part of winter in Los Angeles area.

 

[DrDave]

Set up something like this in your garage. I will be warmer there than by your pond.

 

[razornick]

thanks, does the water need to circulate?

 

[DrDave]

Yes it does. I use a 145 GPH pump from Harbor Freight.

 

[Chef Dave]

One of the neat things about living in Arizona is that it's easy to find all sorts of different rocks. To add color to my pond, I've been going on rock hounding expeditions into the nearby Gila mountain range. The inclusion of a few stones and small boulders has added splashes of red and orange to the pond. It amazes me how vibrant some of these colors are when they're submerged. When left on the side of the pond, these rocks look dull and listless, but put them under water and their colors really brighten up. I've also added a few large artificial aquarium plants next to the boulders to provide colorful accents.

 

[Fraxinus85]

one of the best winter water garden plants is the water hawthorn (the botanical name is Aponogeton); it's pretty much a replacement water lily for winter. the leaves are narrower and a deeper glossy green and the flowers not as showy as water lilies, but they sure are fragrant! they love the cold and are best suited for shade in hotter climates; mine tends to stay evergreen unless it gets up past 100 degrees F. hope that helps! :banana: