wrote in message
oups.com...
Parrots feather, water lettuce and water hyacinth are frost tender
tropical plants, they make no bulb, corm or rhisome that is capable of
Wintering in freezing conditions. When the temps are freezing, they are
killed. In a sheltered position, some submerged parts that are below
freezing might survive.

## When it starts to freeze at night the parrots feather drops below the
surface. It comes back up above the surface in the spring here in zone 6.

In areas where brief freezes are likely, the bulk of the foliage will
spoil and leave quite a mess in a pond, creating something of a
pollution problem. It can be quite a chore to remove surplus plants
late Summer... At least they shred fairly easy and water hyacinth is
fairly popular to feed to cows or goats...

## I net them out after the first good frost and dump them on the compost
pile.

Water lettuce is capable of wintering indoors in a well lit window in
dish of fertile water, water hyacinth can cope with brief periods of
cold but really needs steady high temps over 70°f and quite strong
light to keep it perky. In poorer conditions it can become leggy, prone
to fungus, generally fizzle out.

## I'm going to try to filter their water to prevent fungus and rot this
winter. And I'm going to wash and spray them to remove any mites/aphid
pests. The window they'll be in faces south.

All rather bothersome to Winter indoors, compared to planting hardy
aquatic perennials, or simply ordering some fresh ones in Spring on
ebay... compare the bother of setting up a plant tray for tropicals
indoors with a parcel of plants for $10 or so on ebay next Spring...

## But you don't know what parasites or diseases they may bring in. That's
chancy.
--
McKoi.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
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