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Languorous Water LiliesRead the article this discussion is about
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» CarolWallace - Langorous? Mine are among the most ammbitious plants in my garden. Now that they are established, they seem ready to stage a takeover - we can no longer see the fish for all the floating lily pads and flowers - but what a glorious sight they are!I wish our climate allowed me to grow the tropical water lilies easily. For us they are annuals unless I want to go through an elaborate routine with aquaria and water heaters all winter. But they are my favorites - especially the blues. I've been unlucky with lotus as well. I've tried four times, and once managed to get a magnificent yellow bloom or two (and aren't the seed pods wonderful?!) But the second one fell victim to a raccoon, and I lost the third when my husband's dog decided to go for a swim and knocked the pot over damaging the growing tip. My husband beat the poor fourth one to death - inadvertently. He was trying to get some sun bass out of the pond, tossed in by a neighbor kid, and which were busy devouring our goldfish. So I have given up on those as well. -- posted by CarolWallace » Audreydee - Re: Langorous? In response to message posted by CarolWallace:Carol, Many thanks for sharing your experiences with water lilies. I can't grow them myself, since I don't have a pond, but I certainly do admire them elsewhere. (I took the first photo in the article at Longwood Gardens, where they have some gorgeous ones.) Although I've considered trying to build a pool, I've decided I'd better wait until my nieces and nephews are a bit older--so they don't fall in. Of course, that may just be an excuse because I'm too lazy to contemplate all that digging! Maybe I'll try one of those tubs that fit inside a half-barrel instead. -- posted by Audreydee » CarolWallace - Re: Re: Langorous? In response to message posted by Audreydee:Longwood has some amazing water lilies. Did you see the giant Victoria lily pads that are large enough for a human to stand on? Longwood is only two hours from here, but just enough warmer that they can grow that one and I can't - which is just as well since it would take only a few lily pads to fill my pond. We had someone come in with a backhoe to dig ours. And at first the size was not a blessing as it seemed we would go broke affording enough water plants to afford the needed coverage. With a fake pond you need to grow them in pots, which also seems to restrict their size. But then I got the bright idea of adding soil to the pond bottom and letting them grow in that - and now they are almost like weeds, constantly needing to be thinned out. People with new ponds ought to seek out those with established ponds, who may be glad to share their bounty. Otherwise these plants can be expensive. But they are also so ovely. I've seen old, old photos of the Victoria water lily pads I mentioned, with a minister standing on one in the middle of a pond and a bridal couple on the other. Quite amazing. -- posted by CarolWallace
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Carol & Audrey, Water lilies & lotus can be grown in aquatic containers on a sunny patio or porch. The effect is lovely...for several years I've had an aquatic set-up which birds, frogs, kids and the rest of my family have enjoyed very much. Didn't get the set-up complete this summer as there was too much to do family-wise. Would love a small "water feature" in a special corner of the yard, but don't have the ambition or money to tackle that project for now. So...the containers are my solution. There are very small water lilies & lotus and one which is my special favorite which can become large and invasive in a pond, but remains small in a container is Mrs. Perry D. Slocum. Carol you ought to be able to grow this one as a friend just a little south of us (within 25 miles) has a whole pond of them. They have literally taken over. I will try to get down there soon and take some digital pictures. There is also a series of dug ponds in Springfield about 50 miles from us where lotus (don't know the variety) have taken over. Those should have been kept in pots as the Forest Park administration spent gobs of money dredging out the pond not too long ago There was (probably still is) a demonstration area at Longwood for container gardens which includes a few water ones. Carol, I do believe that all of the lotus, water lilies, etc. at Longwood are not only kept in submerged containers, but brought in over the winter. The pools are drained and covered for the winter months and the water garden terrace is closed to the public. I have photos of all these but they are 35mm slides and I haven't had the time to scan them for use on the web. Thanks for a nifty article, Audrey. -- posted by Georgene A. Bramlage » CarolWallace - Re: Re: Langorous? In response to message posted by Cercis:You're right about Longwood storing the more tender water plants over winter, Georgene. But then, they have the facilities to do that and I don't. I attempted it with tropical waterlilies one winter but it was a messy and labor-intensive (not to say expensive when you consider the water heaters, etc. I needed) process, so I didn't try that again. I once had a friend who worked at the Denver Botanical Gardens who sent me several lotus, including a couple of the teacup sized ones. I simply never have had any luck - something on someone always managed to damage the growing tips, which spells doom for the lotus. And they are pretty expensive, which is why I've been reluctant to spend $30-40 on something I've had so little success with. Although now that the dog is gone, we haven't seen the raccoon in years (someone told my to scatter cut rose canes by the ponds' edges and that seemed to teach them a lasting lesson) and the hedge we planted to keep the kids from the apartment complex behind us from using our yard as a playground has grown into a true barier, there may not be so many things mitigating against me and I can try once more. -- posted by CarolWallace
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Georgene A. Bramlage
