HARDY LILY -- JAMES BRYDON

[Mmathis]

If you have this lily, how has it done for you?

This is only my 2nd summer with the pond, so my experience with water lilies is limited. My first 2 purchases last year were a SIOUX and a JAMES BRYDON. Last summer the Sioux took off with pads and blooms. The James Brydon struggled -- it never bloomed, and the leaf production was poor.

This season, in addition to these 2, I added 2 more hardy lilies. In general, none of them did very well, despite repotting and fertizer, but did get a few blooms [I think there was too much shade] ....with the exception of the James Brydon. Again, it has struggled and is just NOW starting to put out more than a couple of leaves.

I've played around with depth as well as moving it to other locations around the pond, but I don't know what else I can do for it to help it. Any advice? I hate to give up on it, but maybe it needs to be re-homed for the next growing season.

 

[j.w]

I was given a bucket full of water lilies once from a yard sale for $3 for my 2nd bigger pond when I first started it and think they were James Brydon. I used a special concoction recipe to grow these lilies that I was given from another ponderer.
Here is what she told me to use:
Use pots w/o holes (or you can line pots w/ black plastic garbage bags) and throw in about a half cup of Osmocote Pellets (Veggie Formula) per 18" pot on the bottom of the pot before adding the soil. Osmocote will last for about 4 months. She used composted cow manure for her soil. She said it was the next best thing to natural pond muck. She also stuck a walnut sized wad of plain steel wool on the bottom of the pot. She said it kept the lily from getting chloritic (yellowing from lack of iron). She also mixed in Mosquito Quick Kill Granules into the compost to inoculate the soil w/BT to kill caterpillars that try to eat the pads. When mixed into the soil it seems to "time release" and last all Summer. She mulched the top of her containers w/ pea gravel and if in w/ koi she used bigger rocks or broken flagstone fitted together like a puzzle to keep them from digging around. She said keep the rocks away from the crown so as to allow the plant to grow.
P.S one word of caution: Compost should smell like high quality compost and not cow poop! It should not be moldy,stinky or nasty in any way.
I tried her recipe for several years and I got wayyyyyyyyyyyy too many blooming lilies that covered my whole pond! So if you have the room give it a try.
I had mine planted about 18" deep and in full sun all day long.
Here are some pic of mine that I think were James Brydon lilies:

 

[adavisus]

James Brydon likes steady cool temps to bloom, 60-75f range.

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[Mmathis]

James Brydon likes steady cool temps to bloom, 60-75f range.

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

Hmmm...... Good point, that I didn't know.

 

[j.w]

Must be why they like it here in our mild N.W climate. Our hot days are usually only in the mid 70's. Now and then we get up to 80 but not very often. Maybe just too hot for them where you are TM.

 

[Mmathis]

Well, right now our temp highs are in the high 90's, low 100's. But guessing we average in the low to mid-90's throughout the summer months.

I wish there was an all-in-one database [or is there?] for plants, that tells you EVERYTHING you need to know. When shopping for plants, I generally go to several sites to check out the info for any particular plant -- each site seems to give just a snapshot. There will be the USDA zone category -- I'm in zone 8 -- but that apparently isn't all the information they need to tell you.

But in all honesty, I bought the JAMES BRYDON and the SIOUX at LOWES as litle things packed in peat. So I bought them w/out any knowledge of water lilies. It's OK. I'm sure I can find it a new home, where the weather agrees with it.

 

[HARO]

I was given a bucket full of water lilies once from a yard sale for $3 for my 2nd bigger pond when I first started it and think they were James Brydon. I used a special concoction recipe to grow these lilies that I was given from another ponderer.
Here is what she told me to use:
Use pots w/o holes (or you can line pots w/ black plastic garbage bags) and throw in about a half cup of Osmocote Pellets (Veggie Formula) per 18" pot on the bottom of the pot before adding the soil. Osmocote will last for about 4 months. She used composted cow manure for her soil. She said it was the next best thing to natural pond muck. She also stuck a walnut sized wad of plain steel wool on the bottom of the pot. She said it kept the lily from getting chloritic (yellowing from lack of iron). She also mixed in Mosquito Quick Kill Granules into the compost to inoculate the soil w/BT to kill caterpillars that try to eat the pads. When mixed into the soil it seems to "time release" and last all Summer. She mulched the top of her containers w/ pea gravel and if in w/ koi she used bigger rocks or broken flagstone fitted together like a puzzle to keep them from digging around. She said keep the rocks away from the crown so as to allow the plant to grow.
P.S one word of caution: Compost should smell like high quality compost and not cow poop! It should not be moldy,stinky or nasty in any way.
I tried her recipe for several years and I got wayyyyyyyyyyyy too many blooming lilies that covered my whole pond! So if you have the room give it a try.
I had mine planted about 18" deep and in full sun all day long.
Here are some pic of mine that I think were James Brydon lilies:

Interesting info about the steel wool, have to try it sometime! As for the compost, I have several OLD pond/aquarium books that insist that water lillies can ONLY be grown in composted cow manure. Whatever works!!!
John

 

[j.w]

Yep I grew them in that compost recipe for several yrs and they grew great..........too great! So I switched now to the kitty litter but they are young lilies so are just starting to get growing good now. I expect next year they will do even better. I might try growing them w/o any type of medium in a basket or something weighted down w/ a rock to see how they do that way. Others here have said it works and it sure would be much easier to divide and less messy in the pond when stuff gets dumped. Don't know how I would get the steel wool to stay put near the roots tho or if it would not be good to have it open to the water like that or if it would even do any good using no soil surrounding it?

 

[addy1]

I am doing bare root floating lilies next summer, it will be interesting to see how they do. Right now have around 4 floating bare root, they bloom constantly.

 

[Mmathis]

I am doing bare root floating lilies next summer, it will be interesting to see how they do. Right now have around 4 floating bare root, they bloom constantly.

Addy, more details about how you're doing this. Assuming you're using your floating plant rings. Are you using gravel? Or literally, totally bare root?

 

[Dave's pond Indiana]

I turn all of my lilies loose and they are doing fine 3" tubers and 12 to 14 inch leaves with lots of blooms. They do not like moving water. They do like full sun. All of my lilies are Perry's.

 

[piscesmoon]

Neat soil recipe. It sounds similar to what I used when I grew my lotus except for the steel wool pad. I wonder if milorganite could be used as well as the compost. It has iron in it and it always greens my garden plant up really nice when I apply it.

 

[addy1]

Addy, more details about how you're doing this. Assuming you're using your floating plant rings. Are you using gravel? Or literally, totally bare root?

I am going to try some bare root, a lot of mine were bare root by the end of summer, the fish had fun in the kitty litter a few of the oil pans tipped over spilled it out. They did fine. Bloomed constantly, maybe slightly less then with the kitty litter, but I added no tabs or fertilizer to them last summer. They are way overgrown, need to prune, divide and ship some out. They will need to be weighted down, might put some net around them with a rock to hold them down.

The year started out rough, the pond was sort of on its own all summer. May be on its own this summer, we might need to go to arizona to get my house ready to sale during the summer. Winter is sale season there. This first year of honey's retirement is going to be a busy one.

 

[j.w]

Yep sometimes too much of a good thing makes them take over a pond so I cut back on the fertilizer. I wanna try mine bear root this year too. Would be way easier to manage them I think.

 

[addy1]

I like them hanging in the pvc floating rings, gets some coverage out in the deep end, the fish love to swim in and out of the plants, fun to watch them.
The plants in the floating rings will be bare root this year, a piece of netting to cradle the tuber with a rock to keep them down. They do float up if not anchored.
That is at this time plan, may change as I work on them. They sure do need dividing, some got huge last summer.