Best Floating Plants for a Water Garden

Floating plants are some of the hardest water garden plants to choose between because there are so many different varieties and each one belongs in a specific environment. There are four very easy to care for floating plants that I have had very good luck with in my own water garden and come highly recommended from those with lots of experience with water gardens.

Just like any other flower you add to your garden though, it is important that you add only those floating plants that your water garden can maintain. Each of these four floating plants need to be cared for, but with a little time, they are very manageable.

Water Lettuce
Water lettuce is probably the most recognized floating water garden plant, and this is because it is very easy to grow, spreads quickly and provides your garden with interesting foliage. Water lettuce is interesting in that it is one of the only water plants that is fuzzy, which when paired with a spiral design on the leaves, makes it a very ornamental addition. It is important to remember that water lettuce is a very invasive floating plant so you will need to monitor it closely and remove overgrowth as needed.

Water Hyacinth
The water hyacinth creates headaches for those with natural ponds and forest preserve management, because like so many other floating plants, water hyacinth is a non-native invasive plant. But, its quick proliferation, colorful flowers and weird air filled pockets are what make it attractive to water gardeners. The water hyacinth almost reminds me of floating pool toys because the air filled balloons rest on the water, like a tripod, and a thick stalk protrudes up with light pink to deep purple blooms. Like water lettuce, these floating flowers need to be closely monitored.

Water Soldier
I love the name of this floating plant, and its name is what first convinced me that I needed to add it to my own water garden. After I had purchased water soldier I found out that it is an incredibly beneficial plant to have in my garden because it oxygenates the water for me. In addition to flowering, this floating water garden plant is great and self maintenance as it pulls itself to the bottom of a pond when winter approaches and then comes back up just below the surface in the summer.

Fairy Moss
A great option if you enjoy container water gardening is the delicate fairy moss which will cover the surface of a container or small pond. I like to keep these floating plants in the pond that I have my goldfish in because they will eat them, but not enough to take out the entire plants. True to their name, the plant resembles moss, just floating on the surface of water.