Water Lilly

[Moggster]

Just a quick question

Have your water Lilly started to come to life after the winter yet? Mine has showed no sign of life as of yet this year.

[greenfish]

I have five Lillie’s in my pond in a depth of four feet . They are all starting to grow leaves and are about twelve inches high at the moment.

[pacman75]

Mine is also doing nothing so far this year

[Moggster]

With water temps picking up and we are well into April I was hoping to see some signs of life but nothing yet. I am holding back but am thinking about lifting to pot and having a look for signs of life. i think Ill wait till next month. Then i will have to dig in and have a look.

[SHAunA55]

I noticed yesterday a bud on one of mine and quite a few pads, but that pond is quite sheltered from
the elements.

[The Moo]

We have two. The one which gets early morning sun is showing little sign of activity. The one that gets afternoon sun is doing much better with plenty of pads emerging from the pot but a long way to go before they hit the surface.

[Moggster]

Well I might call it dead no signs of life from the water Lilly I would of expected to see something by now

[MrBushy]

Well I might call it dead no signs of life from the water Lilly I would of expected to see something by now

Did you check your plant for any signs of life? Even in cold areas I would have thought there'd be a sign by now. I have three small leafed lillies that have been going for years & they were showing signs of new growth even when it was still icy but despite giving off plenty of leaves they don't make much surface coverage as they are small so I wanted to improve that this year because the fish love to hang out underneath them. I treated myself to two large leafed specimens in March one pink & one white (sorry, I don't know the proper names) planted in a heavy clay soil. I cut the handles off the pots because they have nasty sharp bits sticking out & immersed them in a tub of potassium permanganate for a couple of minutes to get rid of any hitch-hikers. I also covered the top of the soil with pebbles to keep nosey fish out.







There are 4 planters on the left in the pond view-3 at the bottom (including the two new ones) & one standing in the middle of the three nearer the surface, the pond is 2 feet deep. On the right of those are two smaller pots with little plants in. Previously the three lower large pots were empty & were just to raise the small plant in the top pot nearer the surface. The small gap created between the pots was also a great hiding place for the babies a couple of years ago until they were big enough to venture out & not get eaten.

Within a day the plants had started to unfurl & within a week the first leaves had reached the surface, they seem to be growing incredibly fast. This was the situation a month later on 24th April & they are already stating to make a nice shady retreat for the fish:



I'll post an update soon as I'm doing some work on the pond this Sunday, I'll also check the correct plant names as I kept the tags.

[The Moo]

One of my two has hit the surface. No buds yet.

[MrBushy]

I can't see any buds on my new plants either but the man in the shop said they may not flower this season, there appear to be several buds on the established plants with the smaller leaves. I've been doing some work this afternoon on the pond but completely forgot to take any pictures-I'll rectify that sometime next week but I did manage to get the names of my two new lillies: Nymphaea 'Gonnere Pink' & Nymphaea 'Alba' I'm sure that will mean something to most of you. Their flowering times are quoted as June-September & July-September respectively so we may still be lucky yet, the old plants have always flowered during May & onwards.