My daughter contacted the manager of the garden center where I worked up until covid struck, the manager got in touch with the owner of the water plant growing business I dealt with, and he picked out the best water lily in his ponds, so I wound up with an early fathers day present about ten days ago.
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Marmorata, a light blue tropical with pads 10" across and blooms as big as my hand. The plant had three flowers when I got it, and these are number 6 and seven. Only the second tropical I've ever had, and it'll be coming inside once the weather cools off. Does anybody have a secret method for overwintering them?
John
Found this posted by
@addy1 awhile back:
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/thr...ants-some-of-the-common-ones.7417/#post-84935
@addy1 posted:
Over wintering tropical lilies
I overwintered a few tropicals, by putting the oil pan with kitty litter clay in a tub of water, stuck it in the basement and sort of forgot about them.
From victoria-adventure.com
If you live north of USDA zone 9, you will have to overwinter your tropical lily out of the water. As your lily grows throughout the season, it may multiply and become two or more plants. Repot these lilies into different containers, or at least move them away from each other in the same pot. This will prevent the lilies from forming one large mass of tubers that will have a great tendency to rot.
When fall approaches, you should stop fertilizing your tropical lilies. This will help slow their growth and prepare them for overwintering as tubers. After your first frost or two, go digging into the pots (I know it will be cold!) or pull the pot out of the water. Feel around in the soil and find all of the hard nut-like tubers. You will find them just below the crown of the plant. They will normally range from the size of an acorn to the size of a golf ball, but may be as small as a pea or large as your fist. Take all of the tubers out of the soil and rinse them thoroughly with a strong jet of water. Trim off any remnants of roots or stems from the tuber. Many people store them in plastic bags, but rodents can eat through the bags. I suggest storing them in glass jars. Just be sure they don't get knocked off the shelf and break. They must be stored in damp (not wet) peat, sphagnum moss, or sand. The temperature must stay above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Check on them once a month throughout the winter to be sure they don't dry out. Spray them with water if they have become dry.
In the spring, when the water temperature reaches 60 degrees F, replant the tubers in fresh, fertile soil. Make sure you put the tuber just at the top of the soil surface. The pointy side goes up, round side down. If possible, elevate the pot close to the surface so it will get more sunlight and warmer water. The tuber will set out leaves and eventually the plant will set out roots. When the plant is strong, separate it from the tuber. You can turn the tuber in the soil so that it will send out the next plant in a direction different than the first. Each tuber can put out several plants.
The tropicals require warmer temperatures than do the hardies to bloom, thus making them a bit more difficult to grow. After three or more weeks of temperatures above 80 degrees, these flowers will finally start to open up and bloom. Once they do, they fill the ponds with their colorful blossoms throughout the summer months and well into fall. After the hardies have gone dormant, the tropicals will stay in bloom for several weeks longer, often until the first frost. During the winter months, however, they go dormant and die