Sweet and Sour with Chopsticks

Life is as simple as eating with chopsticks, it just takes Practice!
by Patty Harris Reprinted from the Rocky Mountain Koi Club Newsletter
By now you have some lovely blooms from your water lilies. If not, here are some possible reasons why you don't have the blooms you expected. When did you last fertilize? In May\June I suggest you prune and fertilize your lilies. Since you all did that right away, here's a little reminder - it's time to do it again. You don't want those beautiful blooms to slowdown do you? Did you just re-pot the water lily? If so, the water lily is busy making roots, then the pads will start to grow. Last but not least, in six weeks or so some buds will start to appear.
Maybe your water lily needs to be re-potted. Crowding in a pot or when the growing tip is pressed against the side of the pot, causes slower blooming. Crowding sometimes causes damage to the tubers thus deformed or pigmy pads and NO blooms. Rule of Thumb - re-pot and divide every two to three years.
Most reds and yellows will take some shade. The whites and pinks need sun all day. There are always exceptions to the rule. One of my ponds is in the shade and it sure makes a difference in the number of blooms and the size of the pads when my lilies are moved to direct sun.
The depth of the water for planting is another important issue. If you are unsure, 18 inches is your safest bet. The range is ten inches to three feet. My "Regal Red Queen" sits at a three foot depth with a twelve foot spread of pads. I counted 38 up and coming buds on my four year old "Attraction" lily. Another deep water lover is the "Virgnalis" lily. It has a long season for blooming and is very robust. The flowers look like graceful white swans on the water. Pointed pedals surround a glossy yellow center of the stamen.
The earliest white bloomer is "Candida". This is a much smaller compact plant with about three blooms at a time. Full sun and eighteen inches of water are needed to keep the plant blooming well into the fall.