Hey there. I have young new zealand rabbit kits that need homes (the perfect breed for meat rabbits) or need a stew pot (good organic source of lean meat for you or your dogs and cats). I am willing to drive almosy anywhere in west central florida (ocala, sarasota, orlando, and every thing in between) to trade them off. I also have potted cannas, potted loquat, and potted sage, and seeds for cranberry hibiscus/jamaican sorrel (hibiscus sabdariffa) and a cowpea variety that i am in the process of heirlooming for west central florida.

I would like anything edible, or anything you have been very successful with. I would love to have water lettuce, water hyacinth, water chestnut, or duckweed for my pond (all are edible for rabbits). As for ground plants i would love more cannas, more hibiscus, edible fruit trees, or anything else of edible nature. Or seeds of the above. Or plastic nursery pots. Or rabbit food. Or just cash, i guess.

I also have 5 gallon buckets of organic rabbit manure.

My rabbit kits for trading are siblings to each other, but come from genetically dissimilar parents. They have not been line bred.

Thanks for reading!
Sandgrowers @ gmail.com

Hi Tentance, and welcome to garden.org Would you please fill in your personal profile with your location (I know you're in FL but the city would help) so that we can answer your questions easier?

I'm not interested in the rabbits, personally but will pass along your info to friends and neighbors. Btw, it's a bad idea to put out your e-mail address on any public forum, so you really REALLY should edit that out of your post above (see the Edit link in blue in the lower right corner).

Also, just so you know water lettuce and water hyacinth are both extremely invasive and it is illegal to plant or propagate them here. People get starts of them from ditches and ponds at the roadsides but again you really don't want to plant those in your pond - they'll take over in one summer. Get a start of a nice water lily, or lotus if your pond is big enough. They're beautiful, shade the water nicely so algae won't grow, and don't take over the whole thing. Cannas also will grow beautifully at the edges of your pond and bloom all summer. There's a lovely blue water iris that's also a native and easy to come by.

I suspect the OP wants the water lettuce and hyacinths to feed to his rabbits but it is still illegal to transport it in FL.

Yes, I sure hope they resist the temptation to do that. There are other things you can plant to feed bunnies.

Thank you for your replies. The water plants mentioned above have an excellent growth and protein profile to be used as animal feed. It may have been the reason they were brought here in the first place.
What a silly thing, to suggest taking the edibles out of my pond and replace them with ugly, useless plantings? I should get rid of papyrus, tomato, cattail, and cannas and replace them with water lily and lotus? Because they are better? For the fish? Oh nonono, \shakes finger you do that with your pond and mine can remain an amazing aquaculture mini oasis in the scrub lands.
If you have algae in your pond then you have a nitrogen imbalance. Mine is in full sun and needs no plant shading to prevent algae growth. The pond also provides a nutritious reservoir during the dry season for the rest of the growies.
Manatees love water hyacinth --- Jacques Cousteau.

ardesia said:I suspect the OP wants the water lettuce and hyacinths to feed to his rabbits but it is still illegal to transport it in FL.

it is illegal to transport it IN FL or TO FL?
This stuff is abundant in FL, as it is invasive. I would think the OP could find plenty in an area nearby already in the state. If it is being contained in a home garden and not allowed into a public/natural waterway I see no harm in it, except that perhaps the seeds are transported by birds. But really, I have been to FL and seen this stuff, it isn't going anywhere -unfortunately it is in FL to stay, very strongly I am afraid. Maybe the pond area could be fenced or netted to keep birds from the seeds, or the flowers could be snipped off before the seed is viable. I would also research other plants that offer the benefits you need without the invasive properties. I am sure there are others. I grew hostas and hibiscus once in a pond, and they grew fine, don't know if they are edible for your bunnies though.

Hey, I didn't say a word about your papyrus, tomato, cattail, and cannas. In fact, I suggested you plant cannas. Only the water lettuce and water hyacinth are invasives, and are illegal to plant or propagate in Florida. If you need more information on the harm that invasive plants cause to the environment, I'd suggest you contact your County Extension service. Glad to hear you're using them to feed your rabbits but they can still seed themselves and spread to other waterways from your pond via birds and wild animals.

Btw. lotus is also edible and very beautiful. I had water chestnuts growing last year, but somebody (raccoons probably) found them really delicious and ate them all up.

what about elephant ears, can rabbits eat those? They should get huge in FL!