Spring has sprung, and with this warmer weather comes our first selection of water plants. If you have a water feature with plants, you have probably been waiting for our plants to arrive! Join us at our pond plant oasis.

For those who have been dreaming of installing a water feature, large or small, here are a few tips to follow. There are three main categories of water plants, and each category of plants fulfills a very particular role in your water garden.

A water garden can be as simple as one pot filled with water and a few water plants, or a small bubbling fountain with room for a few floating plants placed in a quiet corner of your garden next to your favorite chair. It can be as elaborate as a large pond with koi, frogs, and other of nature’s creatures. What do they all have in common? Peaceful serenity and quiet beauty.

Once you have decided upon the scale of your water feature and the area of your garden that it will inhabit, the next step is learning about all of the different water plants and their functions--including beauty, of course.

When you choose plants, apply the same rules that you might to any other area of your garden. Consider color, profile, and the eventual size of the plants. Remember to take into account that some water plants are deciduous, just like some trees and shrubs in your garden. You will want to have a good mixture of evergreen and deciduous (dormant in winter). Don't over-fill your water pond with plants, making it too full and crowding out your favorite plants.

Water plants are categorized or grouped into their "home" locations in and around the pond.

The main types are listed here:

Floating plants: These are divided into two types, those with their roots in the soil and leaves floating, and those that truly just float, leaves and roots both. Examples of the latter are water hyacinth and water lettuce.

Oxygenating plants: These plants are submerged beneath the water surface. Many bloom with small flowers above the water. They are much needed, as they take in the carbon dioxide and release oxygen, necessary for the other plants or for pond life such as fish. Pondweeds and eelgrass are two examples.

Marginal/bog plants: These live at the pond's margins, with their "feet" in the shallow water and their "heads" up out of the water. They prefer water that is 2-6 inches deep. Bog plants are marginal plants, too. They prefer to grow in wet, wet soil rather than in the standing water. Among many examples of marginal plants, here are just a few: canna, sedges, cyperus, Houttuynia cordata, irises, juncus and many more.

By Tamara Galbraith

One of the easiest (too easy, for some) perennial herbs to grow is allium schoenoprasum, commonly known as onion chives.

Every herb gardener or fan of the loaded baked potato should have, at the very least, a pot of chives to clip from now and again. In fact, this clumping, grass-like plant is a wonderful seasoning for many foods, including eggs, soups and salads.

Keep the pretty pink flowers clipped off when growing the plant for culinary use, however, to ensure the foliage gets the best flavor. (The flowers make a lovely vinegar.) Removing the flowers also prevents the chives from reseeding and spreading, which some gardeners may find to be a problem.

Dividing the clumps and pulling out the old brown foliage every year will also go a long way in keeping your chives tidy and under control. They require little else, except full sun, well-drained soil and the occasional baked potato to bask upon.