plants considered "invasive" in my area.....

[greenthumbnails]

Hello,  I have recently discovered that all the cool floating plants that I like i.e. water lettuce, water hyacinth, parrots feather and others are not legal in the state I live in (FL).   
I tried talking to a local water garden landscaper about this "invasive" issue not being an issue if its a confined pond/tub.  He said that although a private pond is enclosed the problem is that birds will eat the seeds and poop the seeds in the natural waterways, hence still an "invasive" plant problem...   I asked then why is there a nursery in another county in the same state where it is illegal selling these plants?  His answer was that as long as they did not sell it to residents of the state it was okay.  Only orders out of the state allowed...bummer. I am at a loss for floating plants that are both interesting and useful for clarifying the water.  Does anyone know of other interesting equivalents that might be legal in my state?     

[PondmaninAL]

Not knowing what part of the state that you are in, I can't really say that this could apply to you. I'm in Marion county and the word here is: as long as you don't sell them or have them in a pond that they could escape from into a natural body of water, then, unofficially, they are okay. Well, at least water hyacinths are. They are under control. As far as birds eating the seeds, they would have to eat the whole plant after it bloomed. I've not heard anything about parrot feather being an invasive species here. They sell it everywhere in these parts.

As an alternative though, if that's what you want, then get some frogs bit. It's related to water hyacinths but it's native to Florida.

Happy ponding,
Scott

[greenthumbnails]

Thanks for the info Scott, I'll look into it....I am still envious though that we cannot legally have water lettuce and water hyacinths though down here...

[PondmaninAL]

I do have water hyacinths but I'm not close to any natural bodies of water. I use to live in a mobile home park that was inspected once a year by county inspectors. One year, they walked into my yard and they only asked the park owner one question and that was,"Was I selling plants?" You see, here, nurseries can't have them unless they are licensed and permitted. I'm not a nursery.

Happy ponding,
Scott

[LeeAnne151]

Frogbit is really nice.