Winterizing Pickerel Rush

[Kaniff]

Hi,
I'm in in Toronto Canada (zone 5 or 6 I think). Any tips on winterizing pickerel rush? My plan is to cut dead foliage down to the crown and submerge below the freeze line. Anything else I should consider?
Thanks

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @Kaniff ! That's all I do for my pond plants - the secret for me is to make sure they stay below water/ice. The first winter we shut our pond down, which in our pond means the water level drops about 8 inches, and the plants were all exposed. Nothing came back the next year.

 

[sissy]

I live in VA and take mine in my basement and put them in a concrete mixing tub .My neighbor believe it or not uses her tub in her extra bathroom .You have to see it to believe it ,what a laugh .

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Mine will be staying put where it's been all year. The rest of my marginals survived last winter in their spots, so I'll see if my Pickerel Rush can handle it too. I have Royal Pickerel Rush though, so it might handle weather a little differently, I'm not sure.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Pickerel Rush is an extremely hardy plant. (USDA hardiness zone : 3-11).

 

[morewater]

Hi,
I'm in in Toronto Canada (zone 5 or 6 I think). Any tips on winterizing pickerel rush? My plan is to cut dead foliage down to the crown and submerge below the freeze line. Anything else I should consider?
Thanks

Cut it down to nothing. Leave it alone. If it can live on nature's shoreline, it can live in your pond.

 

[morewater]

Hi,
I'm in in Toronto Canada (zone 5 or 6 I think). Any tips on winterizing pickerel rush? My plan is to cut dead foliage down to the crown and submerge below the freeze line. Anything else I should consider?
Thanks

See my reply, I live up the 404 in Newmarket.

 

[addy1]

Mine sits at water level, freezes, comes back every year.

 

[Kaniff]

Ok nice, thanks everyone.

 

[HARO]

Pickerel reed, or rush, or weed, overwinters as turions, small hard growths that form amid the roots of the plant. When the water warms in the spring, these bulbs will start a new plant. You can see these plants growing in wetlands up to Hearst and Chapleau, probably up to the tree-line, areas much colder than Toronto, in water that freezes three feet deep, with absolutely no care from local gardeners. Yours should be OK!
John

 

[sissy]

What about mini cattails

 

[HARO]

Sorry, I believe I had a senior moment there! The plant with the winter turions is ARROWHEAD, not pickerel reed. However, the rest of it still applies.
John

 

[HARO]

What about mini cattails

What about them?
John

 

[sissy]

can you leave them in the pond ,I was thinking of bringing mine in

 

[Meyer Jordan]

What about mini cattails

Typha minima Hardy Zones 3 - 10
They will overwinter just fine left in place.

Side Note- Some cattail specie will not flower unless subjected to a certain period of cold temperatures much like fruit trees.