Ok, so the 35 gallon patio pond is stuffed in the back seat of my car (couldn't get it in the trunk and barely in the backseat ).

Step 1 complete!

I've found some pond plate sites that have great pics, but no real description of the plants needs. I'll keep searching, but in the meantime, anybody have any suggestions?

I live in NY in the finger lakes wine region.
Overwintering fish is out as the pond isn't more than 18" deep and isn't very big, so will freeze (as long as we have a normal winter, unlike the one we just finished that was very mild).
But what about the plants? Will they be fine to leave out in the pond all winter or will they have to be moved... and where to?


With the still wide fluctuations in temp, is it okay to add plants or should we hold off on getting any until it warms up a bit more in the evenings?

I live in the Syracuse area and my pond is a bit over 1,000 gallons. If you are going to leave fish outside for the winter it needs to be at least 3 feet deep. I leave my Koi, Comets outside all winter but it is 4 feet deep and I have a de-icer to keep a hole open to allow the gases to escape.

Most of my plants I bring inside (along with the Orandas, Lionhead, Pearlscale and Ryunkin). Some plants like Arrowhead and Water Lillies I cut back and put at the bottom of the 2 foot side of the pond for the winter and they do fine.

Most plants won't do well in the pond right now. The only thing I have in mine currently is the Parrot Feather, an oxygenating plant and my arrowheads.

I forgot to add:

Your pond is small so you won't be able to have Koi but could have a couple of fish. I get all my plants from the website below if you want to check it out.

http://www.springdalewatergardens.com/ShopSite/index.html

Thanks.
We plan on no more than 2 fancies since they will move inside to our 65 gallon for the winter and we have 4 fancies in the tank now.

Do you ever get plants/fish locally? I work in Syracuse and if there are some decent places, I'd be interested in checking them out.

There used to be a couple of decent places but they've gone out of business so now I order everything on line. My mom and dad also bring some plants back from Florida when they come up every spring.