You didn't say if you have some shade. If so, impatiens will work in the pond as will hostas.

No, no shade. I am going to put up a "sun sail" for afternoon shade but the last 2 summers I had no shade and had to fight to keep any plants going.

I really want to try Hostas in a shady spot in my yard though!

I got some pond plants off Ebay but becuase nothing lasts I need some cheap replacement ideas.

You can grow someland plants in a pond - be sure to keep the crown of the plant above the wter level. "Maybe" if you can get some large plants to grow, ie. Iris, then they can help shade other areas of the pond from at least some of the day's sun - just a thought.

What about small trees/shrubs around the pond to create shade around the pond, at least it may shade the sun

Gingers, canna lily and iris can all be planted in pots and partially submerged. I would try a pet store aquarium department something like pet smart has water plants and so do the lowes. Good luck

I've had similar issues here in the southeast. No pond stores with a 150 mi radium & Lowe's has stopped carrying them (despite my calls to the mgr). Even then, their prices were a bit steep considering the quality of the plants. Someone here recommended dragonflyaquatics to me serveral yrs ago. I've ordered from them online for the past three years. Their prices are good, plants arrive healthy and they have excellent customer service.

As for the shade issue, my *quick fix* was to plant a large clump of ornamental grass on the west side of my puddle to protect it from harsh afternoon sun. It's roughly 7' tall & provides enough shade to allow a few plants to survive the sun. That, along with some elephants ears on one side of the pond did the trick. I even snipped some pothos from my houseplant & plopped it in. It grows like a weed in the new shady corner as does a hosta.

I've experimented with some terrestrial plants in my yard with limited success. The impatiens will live but not thrive, meaning they continue blooming but never increase i size. After several failed attempts w/watercress, I discovered (by accident) that it does well on my [tiny] falls in the winter. Got a small bunch at the gro store for under $1.00 and it's still thriving after 3 yrs.

Spiderwort does well in a pot with the crown above water. WARNING: It is highly invasive here & I would NOT have attempted this if my futile attempts to eradicate it from my yard had been suCCessful. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. I use a low, wide clay pot filled with gravel as it gets tall enough to be top-heavy & I quickly tired of fishing it out. It is lovely albeit ornery:)

Oh, one more...when my elephant ears reach a decent size, I stick a *clipping* in a gravel pot on a crate in my upper puddle. It gets 1-2' tall every year & the large leaves help a bit with the shade.

Experiment with what you have. I have had success with plants expert gardners say are impossible to grow in the pond. Have fun and good luck.

~digger

Here is a link that might be useful: terrestrial plants in pond

Tropical waterlilies thrive in heat and sun, so do taros, cannas, cyperus (umbrella grass), papyrus, Louisiana iris, water hyacinth, water lettuce (both invasive and not allowed in some states)

Try to connect with other people with ponds in your area, many will have plants to share. There are those who trade online too.

Online nurseries are usually less than local.

Thanks for the new suggestions. My newest success is Asparagus fern. The terrestrial plant link- didnt find that when searching, lots of good suggestions there, thanks.

Cant plant anything to the west, east or north (cement, concrete block wall, brick pathed path) only to the south where I do have a huge purple grass bush that I cant think of the name of and some yellow & orange cannas.

Unfortunatley Elephant ears will only grow in a lot of shade in our heat. In fact where I had them well established became less shady due to taking out a huge wall of Pyrocantha 20 ft away and the extra sun fried them. It was still indirest sun too.

The combo of hot, dry & extreme sun doesnt allow for the same plants others can grow in hot & sunny. Sometimes persistance does pay off, a crepe myrtle looked almost dead for 4 summers and now is looking pretty good (not in pond).

thanks all

I have hosta's growing in full sun bare root directly in my pond that are doing fine. They are the lighter (golden colored) hostas which generally do better in sun than their darker counterparts. I am not sure how they will do come mid summer when it is 100+ degrees here but by then the plants around them should be large enough to offer some shade. I have them in the center of some canna lilies and tall reed grasses. All planted bare root in the pond with baseball size rocks holding there roots in places.

I am told many shade loving plants can survive in full sun if they stay wet at all times.

Some plants that might do well elephant ears, creeping jenny, water lilies, iris's, day lilies, hosta's, mint, reed grasses, water hyacinths, watercress, sweet flag grass

I grew up in Phoenix so I'm familiar with Vegas weather. :)

I have ponding friends in Phoenix who do very well with tropical waterlilies in full sun. I thought they had their taros in full sun too but it has been a couple years since I saw their ponds. I know Egyptian papyrus will take full sun.

It isn't just the heat, 7% humidity I think is even worse.

For a few years I've been experimenting with marginals and other plants growth in a water tight container. I've been trying to learn what works where.

Cannas, Iris and tomato all slowly go down hill through summer in full sun. Pretty ugly, but alive. Much better if shaded part of the day. Too much shade and growth isn't good, few if any blooms. In a perfect world shade could be added in summer and full sun the rest of the year. Tomato was pretty worthless though.

Along the line of Egyptian papyrus I've found Umbrella Palm (maybe Cyperus alternifolius or Cyperus involucratus, not sure) did super all summer in full sun. I got it out of a neighbor's yard. A surprising number of marginals are grown here in yards. Many marginals are adapted to store water for lean periods.

Following that line I've been using nut sedge with very good results. Bright green, full when planted in mass, all summer full sun. It's a mondograss look alike.

I'm trying mint right now and so far so good.

Giant Reed, Arundo donax does great.

Here some strangeness...I've been growing a several Chilean mesquite trees from seed in 5 gal buckets, clay soil, no drainage. These are watered everyday, but not to the point of standing surface water. When I've removed one from a pot there were roots down to the bottom of the bucket in standing water. Long term I assume some bacteria is going to get the upper hand, but it's been over a year and so far they're doing very well. Same for a few Fan Palms.

Elephant's Food, Portulacaria afra doing well in no drainage. And it can be Bonsai.

Pencil cactus, Euphorbia tirucalli, (not a real cactus) has done well no drainage.

I would try any plant. Cactus is on my todo list.

As McKool said, crown above water level for marginals is best, but really true for these non-marginals. And I can't expect these are always going to do great, rot is an issue. But if I can get some good years out of them I'm going for it.

Gardening here is like being on another planet. I threw away my Sunset Western Gardener book which I relied on in San Jose CA.

Thanks everyone.
I am finding that some plants that were wilting in the sun are fine in the same exposure in the pond so thanks for that!

So why can a plant that shouldnt be overwatered in soil tolerate being soaked in a pond? Or are most plants accepting of overwatering and I just dont know that because I live in the desert and nothing stays soggy if not in the pond?

Now I want to try everything which means I need a bog!

Smiles,
Rebecca

I have Portulacaria in my greenhouse to remind me of Phoenix. Cyperus, Bougainvillea, Mandevillea and Hibiscus too. :)

My horticulture class in high school in Phoenix used the Sunset Western Garden Book as our textbook as it has zone 13 for Phoenix. So many new plants are available now in the 30 years since then. I can no longer drive around town and name every plant I see in Latin and English.

I seem to recall a big pot of Equisetum in the pond at the Valley Garden Center on 15th Ave that was in sun, it was stunning. There is a Phoenix pond society.

Here is a link that might be useful: Greater Phoenix Pond Society

There is a Las Vegas Koi Club, some may have watergardens with plants and have extras.

Here is a link that might be useful: Las Vegas Koi Club

Many of the rushes do well in our heat (Phoemix), as well as most cyperus family plants. Water bacopa loves the heat and Yerba de Mansa is actually native to the southwest and will bloom off and on throughout the summer. Any warm area needs to have tropical lilies though. They more than make up for all the other difficulties we go through trying to grow in the desert.