Description
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) is a beautiful native aquatic plant commonly found along pond edges, marshes, and slow-moving streams across much of North America. Its glossy, heart-shaped leaves rise from shallow water, creating lush stands along wetland margins.
In summer, upright spikes of vivid violet-blue flowers emerge above the foliage, providing a striking display and attracting a wide variety of pollinators including bees and butterflies. The flowers are followed by seeds that provide food for waterfowl and other wildlife.
Pickerelweed spreads through rhizomes to form colonies that help stabilize wet soils and shallow shorelines. It thrives in full sun and prefers saturated soils or shallow standing water, making it an excellent choice for pond margins, rain gardens, and wetland restoration plantings.
