Plants for Indoor Water Features

Water lilies are the quintessential flowering water plant.tropical water garden image by green308 from Fotolia.com

Adding plants to an indoor water feature is an easy and economical way to keep water clean and fresh. Many exotic plants used in water gardens are also considered invasive and can have serious consequences if they infest waterways or other native ecosystems. For this reason, never introduce nonnative aquatic plants into natural ponds or streams.

Floating Plants

Floating plants float freely though water with their roots dangling beneath. These plants are an important addition to any water garden as they keep excess nutrients in the water from forming algae, and provide a home for fish. Perhaps the most popular floating plant for indoor water gardens is the water lily. Many water lily varieties including the hybrid 'Helvola' are particularly suited to small tub gardens as small as 2 gal. Other choices for floating plants including the water lettuce, named for its resemblance to floating heads of lettuce; the water hyacinth, with its blue hyacinth-like blooms floating atop air filled stems; and the Fairy Water Lily, displaying small water flowers and kidney-shaped leaves.

Oxygenators are plants that take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the water. Pond weed, parrot's feather and arrowhead are all examples of oxygenating plants suitable for growing indoors. These plants are especially important if you intend to keep fish as a part of your water feature. Oxygenating plants also remove excess nutrients from the water, and as a result keep down algal growth. Many of these plants, like Canadian pond weed and purple loosestrife, are considered invasive in the United States and it is important to keep them isolated to your indoor garden and away from natural bodies of water.

Emergent plants typically have hard, woody stems that reach below the water and take root in the soil underneath. For this reason, plants of this type require a nutrient-rich soil substrate to approximate a natural setting that is one part soil and three parts builder's or aquarium sand. Water snowflake and Sagittaria species are two emergent plants well tailored to indoor water features. The water snowflake, scientific name Nymphoides indica has evergreen foliage and flowers that are white or near white. The most common species of Sagittaria for indoor water features is arrowhead, also known as bull tongue. They are perennial plants that can range in height from 1 to 4 feet tall. They display flowers above the water line that range in color from white to pink.