Getting closer....

[JenH]

CE, that's awesome that yours made it afterall! Can't wait to see a pic of it. My lilies seem to like to bloom from about 11am to 4pm as well, at least the only one that has had flowers so far does. Sounds like you need some of those night blooming lilies in your pond so you don't have to wait till weekends to see your flowers!

My almost black is getting pretty close to blooming. It's tallest bud is about an inch below the water surface now, it has 4 buds total at all different levels so I don't think any of them will bloom at the same time, but I am dying to see this flower finally! Maybe another day or two.

Love your lily Addy! Looks a lot like my salmon colored one with all the petals. Very pretty!

 

[CountryEscape]

Oh, yippee, Jen, soon you will see your pretty lily blooming. Hopefully it will bloom on the weekend so you can take pics, or maybe you're home during the day and gone on weekends. I'm hoping my dark red one is blooming yet today, but it looked pretty "done" on Friday when it was closing in the evening. We'll see if I can get a pic.

 

[JenH]

I'm usually home all the time , 'cept right now is wedding season so I've been working every Saturday. I hope those blooms last more then a day. My other lily's blooms last 3-4 days before it starts to sink again! Maybe it will make it out today even! I'm so excited to finally see it!

 

[addy1]

Mine all last from 3-4 days, usually have a bud right below getting ready to bloom

 

[j.w]

I got a bud coming up...........yippee!

 

[addy1]

way to go jw!

 

[JenH]

Aweome JW! So mine bloomed underwater today! Is that weird or what, still had a couple inches to gobefore reaching the surface. I got a pic, but was only open about half way. We had somewhere to go today and by the time we got back it was already closed up. I will try to get another pic tomorrow with it open. Either way try to get a pic on here tomorrow. It was really pink like yours Addy, but not sure if it would have been darker had it reached the surface before blooming. You guys every have one do that before?

 

[CountryEscape]

Jen, I have a lily I just moved to a lower shelf, and didn't realize it had a bud blooming and today I saw it was open. Usually they get to the surface before they bloom for me anyhow. How deep is your pot? I think I have mine at anywhere from 12-18" deep. Maybe put something under the pot for a little while until the buds get long enough to reach the surface so they bloom on the surface.
Here's the lily I thought was darker last week, so maybe this is a new bloom. I thought mine bloomed longer than 3 or 4 days, but maybe that is the next bloom coming up and I just THOUGHT they bloomed longer! Anyhow, it's not quite as dark as I thought it was last weekend, so much be a new bloom. But, I've put two other blooms up that are also blooming, and it is darker than them, but not near as dark red as the one last week. And, it never opened all the way up today. I checked on it many times, then finally just took this pic.

 

[JenH]

That first pic looks like mine did today, before we had to leave. It's probably pretty close to 2 feet deep where this lily is right now. The bud that bloomed though wasn't even the one that was closest to the surface. There is another one that is really close to the surface. Was probabaly 2 inches taller then the one that bloomed and still about an inch below the surface. Guessing anyway. Sure is a pretty bloom! I can't wait to see mine fully open and above the water

 

[CountryEscape]

I'm anxious to see yours, too, Jen, as I was sure the one plant that did not survive was the dark red, so it's more likely that the lily that has the darker pink/red bloom is not the deep red one from Menards. And, for some reason, I don't see any yellow lilies, only white and shades of pink, so I may have to go get me a yellow lily! Still waiting for blooms on lilies in goldfish pond, got them from another ponder. First one is pale pink but didn't open all the way yet.

 

[JenH]

I have one other lily that never bloomed last year and still has not bloomed this year, despite using lily tabs. I'm beginning to think this one is unable to flower for some reason beyond my gardening understanding. Anyway, I am thinking off pulling that one out and getting a lotus. I saw one online for $30 that has white flowers with purple around the edges of the petals, it was beautiful!! I also think I might like to have one of those night blooming varieties too (Ithink those are yellow). I still have a long way to go before even 50% of my surface is covered so I figure there's still room for another one or 2!!

 

[CountryEscape]

Jen, be careful buying a lotus. I bought 4 about 3 weeks ago they were delivered. 2 of the 4 died within a week, she replaced them, and now those and one other one have died, and all I have left is one that she replaced that I didn't even originally order! I'm hoping maybe the tubers are setting roots and MAY sent up leaves, but have also heard that you have to get them before they start sending up leaves. All the ones I got in the mail looked very healthy and had leaves, but they all died one by one. Addy says supposed to either separate the tubers before they start growing in the spring (very early) or in the fall after they go dormant. So, may want to wait on the lotus. I got some seeds, so going to try to grow a couple of the seeds to see how they survive.

 

[JenH]

Well, the one that I found that I really like they only send them at certain times. They send them in their active state with a few leaves on them. Their roots are wrapped in newspaper and in plastic. It says on the website to only remove the plastic and plant newspaper and all so as not to damage the super delicate roots and tuber, which will apparently grow through the newspaper. I hope I don't have any problems getting it. But this is the only place I've found with this variety and that's the only way they ship them It's called an Empress Lotus and I'm in love with it's flowers, I kinda have my heart set on it....

 

[j.w]

It's beautiful and I can sure see why you want it Jen!

 

[addy1]

Just plant as they say, treat it like fragile glass and you most likely will have success, they are fussy plants, one of mine, untouched just did not come back. The rest are getting going.