I've got two lotus that come back each year. One is a miniature variety and grows with some water hawthorn in a 24" pot next to my greenhouse in back. The other lives in a small four foot round preform that I dropped in the middle of my perennial garden many years ago. They get bigger each year, and have beautiful blooms, though I haven't had any yet this year.

For the last week or so, the white lilies in front have been blooming, and the lotus leaves have been an unexpected backdrop for them from the street. The pond is small enough to be invisible much of the time if you're not aware that the iris and lotus leaves are water plants. The lilies are 8" or so across, so the effect is much more dramatic in person than in this photo, and the wind keeps everything in motion much of the time.

Paul,

I'm a real noobie when it comes to lotus. I just don't understand when I should prune off the dead foliage and when to fertilize. I have 5 varieties and 3 are doing well. The others not so good. I've gotten them to grow and produce aerial leaves, but they'll go dormant. I wish that they were more predictable like water lilies....

I'm not really an expert in lotus myself. I never prune the foliage off; I only remove dead material from the ponds when it is no longer attached to the lilies and lotus. And I'm terrible at remembering to fertilize, but when I do, I use the pond tabs.

Jonathan - My favorite water gardening website is victoria-adventure.org : Here is their index of articles about Lotus: http://www.victoria-adventure.... Maybe it will help you ...

Their site is very extensive and written in layman's terms with lots of photos ... which is perfect for me as a visual learner! They also have lots of info about waterlilies as well.

Thanks everyone. I've used victoria-adventure quite a bit for my water lily experiments. I've also looked there for the specific info that I'm looking for and so far, no luck. I know with water lilies, pruning live leaves isn't a problem, still not sure with lotus.

I would not prune the foliage unless of course it is browning and dying. Which is a natural event with all plants. I fertilize once a month with a couple of pond tabs pushed down in the soil mix and step back and let it do it's thing. As long as you keep the water topped and the plants in full sun all day, they should do well.

Yeah, I've gotten them to grow leaves pretty well. I've been leaving the floating leaves until they completely rot. I think I'll try removing them earlier as they are preventing the new leaves from going aerial.

I've also gotten very good at forcing the plants to tuber up. I have 5 varieties and I've done it to 3 so far. Good thing is I know why it's happening how to do it, so I can divide my plants earlier if need be

I have lots of aerial pads and lots of tubers ... just no blooms. Second year of no blooms. Very frustrating ! I fertilize them with pond tabs regularly. But it's not producing any flowers. Grrrr ...

I don't normally get blooms the first year I start from tuber, but I don't know what it normal. I just saw my first lotus bud of the year yesterday.

Congrats, Paul! I can't wait to see your bloom(s)!

I have gotten a bloom the first year a few years ago, but not since. Very frustrating....

Unfortunately it bloomed on the one day I was out of town. I caught a picture of it on the second day, but I would have preferred the tight, fresh, first day photo.





It swung itself back into the shade for some reason after it bloomed.
This is my third year with this lotus. Here's the front of the pond on the same day as the last picture was taken:

Paul - Oh! How BEAUTIFUL!!!! Great photos of the bud development too! Do you know what cultivar it is?

Well, I am so excited because I have two buds getting ready to burst open. I have to go to work on Wednesday, so I hope they are open tomorrow or very early Wednesday morning before I go to work. Otherwise I am just going to have to make a trip home on my lunch break to see it and take a photo! LOL!

Here are the two developing buds. I used two large pond tabs several weeks ago and then late last week tried the tablespoon of Miracle Grow blue crystals. I will say I have a nice amount of pads now. So not sure if it was the larger pond tabs or the Miracle Gro promoting those buds, but I will keep using both if that's what it takes!

No buds yet in the other container. I don't even remember what cultivars they might be. I have different lotus in each pot. These buds might be Mono Botan or Sunflower or Red Scarf. I'll be able to tell once it blooms. I've had lotus in my pots for several years, but sometimes lose them to the winters. I add new ones, but sometimes I find a good tuber still left from the previous cultivar so I cut it back and leave it in the pot with the new one I added. So I have no idea which ones make it and which don't!

Picture is blurry because it was taken at dusk. (Using the flash washed out the buds and leaves.)


This is the entire lotus:


Here is a close-up of the buds:



And this is the other Lotus which has no buds yet. It will be a different cultivar, but I have no idea which one. I had bought two others called Baby Doll and Tulip. (They are both a yellowish or cream color bloom.)

What kind of pot is that in, Becky? Do you have to refill it each day? How much of the pot is water?
That lotus looks healthy.

Cindi - Thanks! I got the pots at Walmart 3 years ago. They have a thick type of foam feel to them and no drain holes in the bottom. I fill them up to about 8" from the top of the pot with Special Kitty litter from Walmart. And then fill all the way up with water. I have to top the water off every few days. There is only about 6 - 7" of water above the kitty litter line. I've grown them that way for those 3 years. Finally getting blooms this year!

You could probably grow them in any wide pot. I've heard those half barrel resin containers work great, too! Anything without any drain holes would be perfect. Make sure the pot is round as the tubers grow long and need to continue to wrap around and around in the pot as they grow and spread.

Good advice, Becky. Hopefully I won't have to leave them in pots too long. Surely someday it will rain and the pond will fill up again. It's so low now that I would have to wade through dangerously sucky muck to put the pots in deep water. I'm using a few of the half whiskey barrel liners, but that's not a great solution because my dogs think they are water bowls, and I can see mosquito larvae in there. At least in the pond, the fish eat the larvae.

Cindi - I'd just use the mosquito dunks in the Lotus containers. I use those and they work great! If you grow them in your pond, they may become invasive. Something to consider.

Here is the first one to bloom. I am not sure if this cultivar is Red Scarf ( http://www.bonniesplants.com/l... ) or Sunflower ( http://www.bonniesplants.com/l... ). What do y'all think?

The second bloom opened today. And the first one opened up completely. Looks like a Red Scarf cultivar. Love it!!!!

Ah, very nice.

Thank you, Paul.

These two blooms certainly brought a smile to my face when I saw them! Been waiting two years for a bloom!

Lotus are suffering from the heat and drought in this man made earthen pond...........I did pick some for a short lived flower arrangement. Cindi, I braved the sucky muck, only got a foot stuck and fell on my butt once
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