Cat-safe pond plants

peroroncino

So I want to make a small wildlife pond next to my woodland wildflower patch but I need to make sure the plants are safe for cats as I have 5 (plus visitors) who I'm sure would love to drink the water and sniff the flowers. My current choices are a Marsh Marigold, a Water Forget-me-not and a Purple loosestrife plus a hornwort. I will only have one of each and planted around the margin with the hornwort fully submerged. Are these plants toxic to cats? If so, what are some alternatives?

This is my preformed pond, its 77cm x 70cm and 30cm deep so it's quite small.

Bijdezee

As far as I'm aware they are not toxic to cats. Avoid all lilies which are dangerous to cats. It might be a good idea to do some further research on the Internet if you are worried about it. 

peroroncino

Researching on the internet is the problem haha. Marsh marigolds are considered toxic on some sites and safe on others due to them belonging to the buttercup family, and the reasons are often unexplained :S

Obelixx

Have had cats all my adult life and that's a few decades now.   Never had a problem with cats being poisoned in the garden by any plants, even lilies which I grow in pots.  I do remove the pollen in bouquets tho, just in case.

Have always had a pond and have had water lilies, marsh marigolds, water hawthorn and mints, pontederia cordata, sagittaria sagittifolia, equisetum, marginal and Siberian irises etc etc.

Apart from inadvertently brushing past a lily and getting pollen on their coat which they then ingest while washing, I think cats are pretty smart about what not to eat.  I've had cats killed in the road or die of cancer or kidney failure but never plants.

peroroncino

Obelixx said:

Have had cats all my adult life and that's a few decades now.   Never had a problem with cats being poisoned in the garden by any plants, even lilies which I grow in pots.  I do remove the pollen in bouquets tho, just in case.

Have always had a pond and have had water lilies, marsh marigolds, water hawthorn and mints, pontederia cordata, sagittaria sagittifolia, equisetum, marginal and Siberian irises etc etc.

Apart from inadvertently brushing past a lily and getting pollen on their coat which they then ingest while washing, I think cats are pretty smart about what not to eat.  I've had cats killed in the road or die of cancer or kidney failure but never plants.

Thank you for reassuring me I'll go ahead and order those plants then and hope the purple loosestrife still flowers this year! If I get 2 of those 8L kidney baskets, could I pot the marsh marigold and water forget-me-not together? Same with water mint and purple loosestrife? I've read that the more vigorous plant will takeover so I should use individual 5L baskets instead but they won't fit very nicely in my pond due to the layout.

Fire

" I want to make a small wildlife pond next to my woodland wildflower patch but I need to make sure the plants are safe for cats"

They'll be fine.