Rise of the Lilies

[I_Fell_In]

Hey all,

I am not sure what to make of this problem. About 7 years ago I bought a pond lily from a private grower. It came in a pot, and the lily pads would rise up and float on the surface while the pot rested on the pond bottom. This is an 18 inch deep plastic liner pond. At the time that I bought the lily, the grower said it was twice as big as usual, so she charged me double. She also said I should cut the plant in half immediately and put the two halves in separate pots. Well, in an impressive demonstration of my power of procrastination, I have not done this yet. Meanwhile, in the intermining years, the plant cracked and burst through the plastic pot. The roots started growing through and around the cracked pot pieces, so it was no longer accurate to say that the plant was in the pot. Rather, the pot was in the plant. This summer, for the first time, the whole plant became buoyant. It started floating! Is this a bad sign? It looks like most of the soil that used to be attached to the roots has separated from the roots, and is scattered on the pond floor. What should I do now? And will it be bad for the plant to be floating on the surface if the pond freezes over this winter?

Thanks so much for any advice. I should also mention that I have fish in the pond, which live solely on algae and bug larvae. I should also mention that despite being a floater, the lily appears to be in robust health, if the quantity of flowers and lily pads is an indicator!

Paul

 

[fishin4cars]

Paul, The Lily probably needs to be pulled completely out of the pond and seperated and repotted. I would imagine you probably have 20-50 lilies all growing from that first original plant. Do you know if it's a hardy or a tropical lily? Dividing the plant is fairly simple but knowing what kind will help us tell you how to divide. I would try and get several pots together before attempting, and yes this probably should be done before winter sets in. With it floating on the surface Ice could easily kill the whole plant. You may end up with more plants than you need. If you know anyone else that may need lilys you may want to contact them and have them come give you a hand and give away a few to them for helping out. There are several threads here on the forum that go into more detail on how to divide and repot. If you can't find the threads one of us will chime in and help or provide a link to help out.

 

[addy1]

Most likely a hardy if he has had it for a while without pulling it for the winter. In 7 years there is going to be a ton of lily plants from the original one.

Post in the classified, if you want to get rid of some. I usually offer lilies free for shipping, just stick them in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel or newspaper, into a flat rate box and send off. Include a picture of the flower in your posting. Or craigs list it, you may find some in your area that want lilies.

One of mine, divided this spring, started floating out of its pot. It out grew the pot and wandered out into the pond. the leaves and flowers make it buoyant and it floats, I tied a rock to the roots until I could deal with it.