Native Plants

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Saturday - April 28, 2012

From: Topeka, KS
Region: Midwest
Topic: Water Gardens
Title: Perennial plants for full sun around pond
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I am looking for full sun perennial plants for the exterior of a water pond. Planting suggestions?

ANSWER:

You can find these yourself by going to our Native Plant Database and doing a COMBINATION SEARCH, choosing "Kansas" under Select State or Province, "Sun - 6 or more hours" under Light Requirement and "Wet - saturated" under Soil Moisture. This will give you more than 100 choices, but you can limit it by other characteristics by using the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option on the sidebar. Most of these will grow in the water as well as the very moist area at the edge of your pond. Here are some suggestions from that list:

Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed)

Equisetum hyemale (Canuela) will tend to "take over" unless you confine it in a container.

Hibiscus moscheutos (Crimsoneyed rosemallow)

Iris brevicaulis (Zigzag iris)

Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal flower)

Pontederia cordata (Pickerelweed)

Typha latifolia (Broadleaf cattail) is another plant that "take over" unless confined to a container.

Verbena hastata (Swamp verbena)

If you want plants that grow in slightly drier areas, then you can modify your search to "Moist - soils looks and feels damp" under Soil Moisture.