Red Stemmed Parrot’s Feather (Myriophyllum Rubricaule)

Decorative oxygenating pond plant with bright green feathery foliage and contrasting red stems

Red Stemmed Parrot’s Feather is an attractive aquatic plant that adds colour, texture and useful underwater cover to garden ponds. Its finely divided green leaves grow in delicate whorls around reddish stems, creating a soft, feathery appearance that complements waterlilies and taller marginal plants.

Also known as Red Stem Water Milfoil, this plant can grow both above and below the water surface. In shallow water, its fresh green shoots rise above the pond, showing off their contrasting stems. When grown deeper, it develops submerged foliage that can take on darker reddish tones. This underwater growth contributes oxygen during daylight hours when sufficient light reaches the leaves.

Key Benefits

• Bright green feathery foliage with attractive reddish stems.
• Submerged leaves contribute oxygen to the water during daylight.
• Provides shelter for aquatic insects, small pond creatures and fish fry.
• Takes up nutrients as it grows, helping support a balanced planted pond.
• Suitable for garden ponds, wildlife ponds and container ponds.
• Grows in full sun or partial shade.
• Requires little maintenance beyond occasional thinning.

Why Choose Red Stemmed Parrot’s Feather?

Red Stemmed Parrot’s Feather combines decorative planting with practical benefits. Its delicate foliage brings detail to shallow pond areas, while submerged stems create places for small aquatic creatures to shelter. It is particularly useful where you want an oxygenating plant that also offers visible interest around the water surface.

Plant it alongside waterlilies and marginal plants to create a varied planting scheme at different levels. Its fine foliage contrasts beautifully with broad lily leaves, upright irises and architectural rushes. In smaller ponds, an aquatic basket makes it easier to position the plant and manage its growth.

Size, Spread and Growing Conditions

• Botanical name: Myriophyllum rubricaule.
• Common names: Red Stemmed Parrot’s Feather, Red Stem Water Milfoil.
• Plant type: Aquatic perennial with oxygenating submerged growth.
• Height above water: Usually around 10–25 cm; submerged stems can extend further.
• Spread: Allow approximately 30 cm initially, with room for stems to spread as the plant establishes.
• Position: Full sun or partial shade.
• Starting planting depth: Approximately 0–25 cm of water above the planting medium.
• Growing medium: Suitable aquatic compost in a mesh planting basket.
• Native status: Not UK native.

Plant size varies with water depth, growing conditions and seasonal development. A modest height above the surface does not represent the full length of the underwater stems. Nursery guidance commonly gives an above-water height of around 10–20 cm and an initial spread of approximately 30 cm.

Planting and Care Instructions

Choose a sunny or partially shaded position where light can reach the submerged foliage. Start smaller plants in shallow water, keeping their existing leafy shoots close to the surface. As the stems lengthen, the basket can be lowered gradually where appropriate. Follow the depth guidance supplied with your plant rather than placing a small specimen straight into deep water.

If supplied in a small nursery pot, repot into a suitable aquatic basket when needed, using aquatic compost and a light covering of washed gravel. Weighted bunches, where offered, can be placed into the pond, although gently securing them in suitable planting media can help establishment.

Once established, Red Stemmed Parrot’s Feather needs little attention. Thin surplus growth when it begins to crowd neighbouring plants, and remove loose or decaying stems before they break down in the water. Check removed foliage for pond creatures and return any animals carefully to the pond. Keep plant trimmings away from natural waterways.

Dispatching Your Pond Plants

Your pond plants are selected and packed carefully for dispatch. As living plants, their appearance varies throughout the year, so the amount of foliage, stem colour and visible growth may differ from the photographs.

Early-season plants may have less growth, while plants grown underwater can look different from those with shoots above the surface. Unpack promptly on arrival, keep the roots and foliage moist, and place your plant into suitable pond conditions as soon as practical. Never allow oxygenating plants to dry out.