Oxygenators. This word speaks for itself actually. It helps to maintain the water cleaner and in good health for the pond dwellers by producing oxygen into the water. That is crucial if you want your fish to have a contented life whilst they're in your pond.

Pistia (Water Lettuce)

This truly is a simple plant to recognise but it really is a tricky one to grow. It doesn't thrive in summer if the temperature is below average for the time of year and also it is promptly killed by frost in the winter months. Pistia stratioles is one you can usually find available, this one is not really worthy of the hassle unless you want to grow uncommon plants. The Lettuce- like leaves are felted and form a floating rosette on the surface of your water. The roots are feathery and are a haven for spawning fish, the little greenish flowers don't have any ornamental significance. Before the first frosts of the autumn the plants have to get lifted and moved indoors. Put them back in to your pond at the end of May.

Stratiotes (Water Soldier)

Stratiotes aloides is really a native plant which looks somewhat similar to a Pineapple top floating in the water. The sword-like leaves have jagged edges and it comes to the surface only at flowering time when white three-petteled flowers appear. When flowering is over the growth sinks to the bottom of your pond and it overwinters as dormant buds. In late spring the young plants move upwards, but then stay below the surface when not in flower. Male blooms are borne in clusters, the female ones are solitary. A remarkable plant, but it may be invasive where the surroundings are favourable.

Trapa (Water Chestnut)

Trapa natans bears dark green serrated leaves at the end of swollen stems, each of the rosettes generating tiny white flowers during the summer. The novel feature of this plant is the flowers are followed by 1 inch wide spiny fruits. These black 'nuts' fall to the bottom of your pond where they overwinter and produce new plants during the spring. The plants are annuals plus they donot survive the late frosts of autumn. At least, that is what many of the catalogues say, but in actual fact, the plant only flowers during a warm summer and the fruits are rarely produced in the english conditions.

Utricularia (Bladderwort)

The Bladderworts are an odd plant for the reason that they aren't easy to find because very few suppliers who offer them for sale and they are carnivorous. The thinly divided foliage floats just below the surface and the bladders on the leaves and stems trap minute aquatic animals. This captured microscopic fauna dies and is then digested. Yellow flowers appear in late summer before the plant dies down, surviving over the cold months of winter as dormant buds at the bottom of the pond. During the spring these transform young plants which then rise to the surface and the cycle begins all over again. Ultricularia vulgaris is the one to try to find - the Antirrhinum-like flowers are deep yellow in colour.