When we started looking for pond plants, the nursery suggested a number of plants that I later learned weren’t native to North America.
As always, do your own research and go to a reputable, knowledgeable native plant nursery.
This shows the parrot feather and the water hyacinth.
I don’t have many photos of many of the invasive plants since I didn’t take many photos before we eradicated them.
Sweet flag (Acorus calamus)
So far, we’ve left it on our Emergents page.
Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)
For a while, we also had water hyacinth , an interesting plant with an air bladder. It currently cannot overwinter here in Central New York, but in a future of climate change, who knows? I doubt it could be harmful at the moment, but I think it’s important to establish viable landscapes now instead of waiting until it’s an emergency.
Yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus)
Another non-native plant they sold me was yellow flag iris . Some states are reporting that this plant has become a nuisance.
Parrot feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum)
Parrot feather is potentially invasive to waterways. Although my pond doesn’t connect to a waterway, parrot feather will grow in soil as well, and so it could eventually move out of my yard.
We removed all of these plants from our pond.
LESSON: I learned to research first and buy later. I now know that garden centers will sell anything people will buy and that many garden center workers don’t know the difference between native and non-native plants!
Resources
- Penn State Extension:
- NYS DEC:
Reflections
We travel together, passengers on a little space ship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil, committed for our safety to its security and peace, preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I will say, the love we give our fragile craft.
~ Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965)