A friend brought by some floating water hyacinth that she says hava a beautiful bloom, are non-invasive and die out at first frost. I'm in mid-Missouri and wonder if anybody has experience with these. I have a one-acre pond and I sure don't want some invasive species to take over the pond.

git1...I LOVE the water hyacinth in Missouri....here in Missouri, it poses very little danger and loads of summer benefits in a pond! In warmer climates it is or can indeed be considered highly invasive!

In a one acre pond, too much coverage is very easily removed manually if needed. I used loops of 1/2" cheap black plastic tubing made into "rings" using a single splice to keep them in certain areas of my pond.

Rainman said it all..one of my favorites here.....get em started early and they will give all kinds of benefits then they die....no problems at all.

Just to emphasize the referenced geography. Pond-owners in temperate regions (where winter-time freezing temperatures are not sustained for several days or weeks) should avoid waterhyacinth - or otherwise risk learning why it has earned the nickname "Fatal Beauty".

I had debated putting some in my pond as I have it in my tank outside. I think I would not have a problem either since it got -31 last year at the pond.

What are the benefits of having it in a pond?

Thanks

I think that might be cold enough to kill it.

The benefits are same as most floating plants. They utilize a lot of nutrients that are in a pond, lowering the nutrient load. They provide shade too, but if a pond is covered with them it's not a good thing either.

This illustration is somewhat dated, but gives the approximate geography where waterhyacinth is able to overwinter (under "normal conditions" - whatever that is).


And, here's what waterhyacinth is capable of doing - unless wintertime hard-freeze conditions or herbicide treatments keep it in check.

I think the biggest benefits I am seeing in my new pond is the shade, plus the cover from the root system The fhm fry love it, you cant beat it when its blooming and it helps the nutrient load

Interesting, as you can tell by looking at the map Kelly posted above, here in California water hyacinth is a highly invasive plant. So much so that in July of 2011 the California Department of Food and Agriculture released a South American bug (Megamelus Scutellaris aka the water hopper) as a biological control agent. Supposedly this bug feeds only on the water hyacinth.

If you think its bad here, check out what it did to Africa.