Wintering pond plants indoors

[Lisa K]

Hi everyone! This is my first year winterizing my pond plants so I hope I am doing things correctly! Thought I would post here as I know that you guys will be able to answer my questions.
My pond is only about 2.5 ft. deep and and we are having freezes now. Due to this fact, I cut my water lily and water iris back and moved them indoors a couple weeks ago before the first frost. They are in a tote with water in a dim/dark room and I cut them back before bringing them in. My lily now has small red leaves. Is this normal? As for my water iris, it appears that it has grown some after trimming back and those leaves are yellow. Have I done anything wrong here, I have babied that iris all summer and hate to lose it now. Your thoughts?

 

[TheFishGuy]

I think the lily just hasn't triggered its winter response to go dormant, so it is still attempting to make new growth, nothing wrong as far as I know.

Not sure on the iris though.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Does your iris need to be brought in? I thought most of them were very hardy. What zone are you in and what kind of iris is it?
I'm not sure about the lily since I only do hardy ones that stay in the pond.

 

[Lisa K]

Does your iris need to be brought in? I thought most of them were very hardy. What zone are you in and what kind of iris is it?
I'm not sure about the lily since I only do hardy ones that stay in the pond.

I am WV, Zone 6 I believe? The iris is a Louisiana gamecock I think? (Deep purple with yellow)
Sometimes my pond freezes solid in the winter so I thought I should bring it in?

 

[mrsclem]

Hi Lisa K- I have the Louisiana gamecock iris in my bog. It freezes every year and it comes back. If your pond freezes solid then bringing the lily in is good as the roots cannot freeze. I have 2 100gal. stock tanks planted with hardy lilies. Not sure how much they freeze but they have survived the winters here.

 

[Lisa K]

Thanks! Do you think I should be alarmed at the yellow leaves its grown or just cut them back again? Should I feed it?

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I am WV, Zone 6 I believe? The iris is a Louisiana gamecock I think? (Deep purple with yellow)
Sometimes my pond freezes solid in the winter so I thought I should bring it in?

Black Gamecock is perennially hardy to zone 4, so... you really don't have to bring it in (if you're in zone 6) Sometimes trying to provide a warmer winter climate for a native (perennially hardy) plant can do more harm than good. Think of it like any of your garden perennials. Once fall/winter hits with its frosts & freezing temperatures the plants settle back & go dormant for the rest of the season.

 

[Mmathis]

I would think both plants would do fine if you left them in your pond. Don’t quote me on that, but it’s what I would do.

 

[Lisak1]

Is your lily hardy? Then put it back in the pond where it will stay under the ice. Same for your iris - that one will be fine. Definitely hardy. I'd suggest you consider naturalizing that one next spring, but for this winter you can drop it in the pond where the crown will stay just under the ice. Alternatively you could bury that one in the garden and then dig it up again in the spring.

 

[addy1]

I have a shallow stream pond with a lily that is about 6 inches under the surface. It has survived our winters just fine. We are 6a, the ponds do freeze on the surface, a few times a good deep layer of ice. I would put your lily and iris back in the pond.