Pond Side Perennials
Unfortunately, it is not all-inclusive and the thing you should watch for in picking your plants is that while some members of a family love the damp soils, some other members might not.
A perfect example of this is Coreopsis or butter daisy. C. rosea does very well in damp situations. C. verticillata also survives quite nicely with a lot of water but C. lanceolata (commonly found in garden centers) will not grow well at all when kept damp. Or, rather I should say that it might grow well for a while but it won't overwinter in damp soils.
So when looking for pond side perennials, do ensure your choices fit your situation. Here's a good starting point with this list of plants. Note that some of them are linked to growing instructions and these numbers will continue to increase as I build up the sites. Please use the search box below to check on specific plants.
Gunnera
Japanese Rush Acorus
Smaller and daintier than the Sweet Flag, another good little plant for that special spot
Bog Rosemary
Andromeda or Bog Rosemary is a fine woody plant for always-damp, acidic
soils. Rock hardy.
Arundo donax
Arundo donax or Giant Reed is a dynamite bog garden plant for a large garden. Can be invasive spreader in warm areas
Japanese Iris
Iris for the pond side garden come in several different species. One of the stateliest - and most intriguing are the Japanese Iris
Forget Me Not
These are NOT the same plant as your shade loving perennial forget-me-not. Myosotis scorpoides or Aquatic Forget Me Nots are wonderful blue flowering spring plants for the bog or shallow water.
Northern Pampas Grass
Saccharum or Northern Pampas Grass is easily grown if you follow one growing rule.
Spiderwort
Tradescantia or spiderwort is a fine pond side perennial and is one of those plants that bloom almost all summer if happy and one that doesn't appear in most gardens. Here's how to grow it.
Need to ask a question about Pondside Perennials
If you want to ask a question, please do so here. Please give as many details as possible - the more details we share, the more likely it is that you'll get a helpfuli answer for your climate and problem.
I do try to answer as many questions every week as possible but I can't make any guarantees I can answer every one.
If you do have a picture, please feel free to upload it.
Read What Others Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Dividing a papyrus,
How and when does one divide a papyrus? Any recommendation on the size of the plant? What diameter?
Does it matter? Does one cut with a knife down through
...
Overwintering Gunnera I bought a gunnera in a pot and kept in in my pond in about an inch or so of water where it didn't get much sunlight. (My pond is not in a full sun location....
Ducks!!!
Do you know of any plants which the ducks will not consider a buffet?
Doug says - ducks usually aren't a problem in ornamental ponds but can present ...
koi pond pergola Hello. We are from southwestern PA and built our pond 4 years ago. We have no shade in the yard and, therefore, an ongoing battle with algae. Pond plants ...
A grave question Can you suggest what we might do with that mound of earth created when we dug out our very small pond in a pot? We can't keep fish obviously, but would ...
planting on wet soil When your garden backs up to a pond how worried should you be about planting? Can you plant your tradtional perenials like a hydrangea,echancia butterfly ...
boggy site and winter
Hi,
I have a slope in my backyard which ends in a contiuously boggy spot. Instead of trying to get rid of the water, I would like to use it and grow plants ...
Pond side plants (dry and sunny areas) We have constructed a large pond and waterfall (using liners - so no damp areas) and have just finished phase II, two terraced areas next to the falls....
Japanese Iris
