What garden pond plants are best for zone 5?

In a lined pond, put your plants in a pot or leave them in the pot they came in. Make sure the top of the pot is about 1" below the water surface. Tropicals like lotus or tropical water lilies will not do well where you live, but there are many aquatic plants that will. Hardy water lilies will be wonderful and make it through your wicked winter. Here's an article I wrote about more hardy pond plants:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1444302/f...

Lotus plants are a classic pond plant since ancient times, and do wonderfully as pond plants. Lotus plants come in yellow, pink, and some bi-color varieties, although white is the classic color of lotus blossoms. Lotus do well in heat, and will bloom in the late summer.

There are a number of varieties of lotus, which are hardy anywhere from a zone 10 to a zone 5. The lotus is well-loved because of the fragrance of the blossoms, which carries in the wind. It is important for that reason to make sure of what variety it is before purchasing. The lotus needs sun for about six hours a day or more. The height of the plant can reach as high as 60 inches.

There is a great article about this at http://www.ehow.com/how_2317675_plant-lotus-pond.h...

Other plants to consider include:

Arum bog; Blue Eyed Grass; Bog Bean; Cat Tails all varieties; Creeping Jenny; Forget-me-not;

Lavender musk; Purple Loosestrife Lythrum virgatum 'Morden Gleam; Marsh marigold; Arrowhead;

Iris Louisiana; Lizards tail; Cardinal Flower; Blue Knight; Swamp hibiscus; Sweet Flag; Water Cress

Water Willow; Arrow Arum; Manna grass and Zebra Rush Scirpus zebrinus. You can see more about these, including photos, at http://www.bonniesplants.com/how_to/zone_hardiness...

The second part of your question - "What plants can be used with a lined pond given there is no soil at bottom to plant anything in?" You put the plant in a pot and put the pot in the pond. See how to do this at http://www.ehow.com/how_5134761_plant-water-plants...

One of the tricks is to ensure that you place some stones at the bottom of the pots and also on the top of the pot. This helps to anchor the pot. Just make sure the pot is the right size for the depth of your pond.

You can also choose floating water plants such as bladderwort, fairy moss, water hyacinth, water lettuce and mosaic plant. These plants do not require their roots to be in soil but rather "float" on the water and their roots are under the surface of the water. See more about them at http://www.ehow.com/about_5103865_water-plants.htm...

there is not any properly defined length distinction between a lake and a pond, basically that a pond is smaller than a lake. in case you reside in a close-by which has few bodies of water, or basically small bodies of water then some thing may be noted as a lake on your section which may be noted as a pond in factors the place there have been vast lakes. that's all relative, form of like a 6 foot 6 inch tall guy being "short" because of fact he performs interior the national Basketball affiliation.