When to remove water lillys ???????

[billjr]

Hello everyone,
I've never been really clear on this, probably because I never had such high quality water lillys until this year. Being these have all spread a good 8' or so and flowered profusely all season I'm wondering when to cut them back and remove them. The KOI and shubunkins love them but they're not the hardy type lillys so I don't imagine they'll winter over. I live in Connecticut and would appreciate any advice concerning this. Thanks.

Bill

 

[Tula]

If they're not hardy water lilies, you're right that you'll need to remove them from the pond. I don't have tropical water lilies, but I've read they can be stored in a bucket of damp sand with a lid , in a cool dry place around 55 degrees . You should check them periodically to make sure the sand remains damp.

 

[BarbO]

This makes me wonder something, how do I tell the difference between a hardy and non hardy? Do you know Bill?

 

[JohnHuff]

Hmm... I've never removed mine. I just remove the leaves when they die in the winter. Then they resprout in the spring/summer.

 

[snoozer]

This makes me wonder something, how do I tell the difference between a hardy and non hardy? Do you know Bill?

The edges of the leave of the hardy are smooth and the tropical are scalloped. I had tropicals the first year i had the pond but wasn't successful over wintering them.

 

[Stephen Noble]

Hi Bill,
Here is a historical way to tell the difference between hardy and tropical waterlilies:
Hardy - The edges of the leaf are smooth and the plant only flowers during the day. A weak (or no) fragrance when blooming.
Tropical - The leaf edges are saw-toothed, wrinkled or furrowed. A strong fragrance when blooming. Some are day blooming while other's are night blooming.
I gave the historical ways to identify the differences. But with all of the hybridizing in the past couple of years, there are probably more similarities especially in color.
If you have tropical lilies, they need to be brought in immediately. Wait until the pond water is at least 70 degrees (F) to reintroduce them in the spring. Cut back your hardy lilies and leave them in the pond as long as the water does not complete freeze.
Stephen

 

[CometKeith]

Hello everyone,
I've never been really clear on this, probably because I never had such high quality water lillys until this year. Being these have all spread a good 8' or so and flowered profusely all season I'm wondering when to cut them back and remove them. The KOI and shubunkins love them but they're not the hardy type lillys so I don't imagine they'll winter over. I live in Connecticut and would appreciate any advice concerning this. Thanks.

Bill

I let my hardy go to the bottom of the pond where it is about 3 feet deep and the water is above freezing. The first few years I tried putting them in 5 gallon buckets in my garage and some made it and some didn't. I have had tropical plants live in my pond over the winter, but I wouldn't chance it with a nice lilly.

 

[addy1]

Hardy - The edges of the leaf are smooth and the plant only flowers during the day. A weak (or no) fragrance when blooming.

My hardies have wonderful fragrance. The whole area smells like perfume when they are blooming.

I tried to save tropicals, never did well. Tropical is a bulb type plant, where as hardies are a tuber.

I just stick with hardies now.

In your zone the lilies probably only need to be 18 inches down or so. That is all the deeper mine are, over winter, and we can get a good ice cover.

 

[Stephen Noble]

Some of my best childhood memories are hiking high into the mountains and discovering a pond full of blooming lilies. The fragrance was magnificent. But if comparing hardy to tropical lily fragrance intensity, tropical wins hands down. I can detect even one blooming tropical from many feet away on a still evening. But as mentioned, I am just sharing from personal experience. Now, with all of the hybrids out there, anything is possible.
Stephen

 

[billjr]

WOW, Thank you all for so much valuable information. I do know mine are the tropical both from where I bought them and now by matching the description here. I'll try taking they out now and seeing if I can winter them as explained by Tula here. I know it won't make the fish happy, but it'll soon be time for them to nap !! Thank you all again for your prompt ind informing responses, I appreciate all of them.

Bill