Water Gardening: Dicouraged, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Bonnie, that's right, both water lettuce and water hyacinth are Class 1 invasive exotics in Florida. They are also in several other states.

But, to be honest, I think it's sort of a non-issue as long as you are careful not to intentionally let any get loose into natural waterways. Your pond is a 'closed' system other than the possibility of a bird carrying seeds or plant parts away. Very unlikely. I must come clean and confess that the iris in my pond are also an invasive species. But because they almost never bloom I am not in the least worried that they are spreading around. I am systematically replacing them with Louisiana Iris but I'm worried if I pull them all out at once the water quality will suffer! Also they are very vigorous - the rhizomes are as thick as my wrist, when I hack them out of the pond in the spring.

There is so much of both water lettuce and water hyacinth around here, you wouldn't believe. The ditches are blooming with water hyacinth, and just down the road from me the Red Bug Slough Preserve has water half covered with water lettuce. The cold weather set it back some, but did not kill it all off.

That being said, I'd strongly recommend you look at something native like Blue Flag iris, or Water Canna aka 'Alligator Flag'. They are great filter plants. Stay green and nice looking all winter, even through the cold, too!