Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Water garden/pond plant co-op, 1 by beckygardener

beckygardener wrote:
And here's how I grow my lotus (Dwarf varieties and medium size.) This is the second year for those in the 3 pots. I have Momo Botan (pink), Baby Doll (white), and Red Scarf (red). They were just small tubers when I got them. One was a very small tuber/root from Texas Waterlilies. (It was actually a freebie when I order Lotus seeds from them.) And as you can see, they are all sprouting new floater leaves. I had aerial leaves too last year, but no blooms. I heard they often take 2 years of growth from a single tuber to get blooms. So I have my fingers crossed that they all 3 bloom this year.

I've ordered 2 more and will pick up a couple more plastic pots from Wally world. These are large pots with no holes in the bottom. I think I paid between $15 - 30 per pot last year. They look nice grouped together or as showcase plants around my yard. They do need full sun all day long or at least 6 hours. Preferably more like 8-10 hours a day to really grow and bloom. The nice thing about pots is that you can move them to a sunnier spot as the season changes. Be sure to have at least 4 - 5" of water above the dirt line/lotus tuber.

So ... anyone can grow these as long as you have a sunny place in your yard. They need tab fertilizer every 3 weeks. But other than that, they are pretty simple to care for and the results are beautiful. Honestly, I believe the Lotus flower is one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL flowers in the world! :-)

Do consider checking out the co-op! You can't beat the prices. AND you don't need a pond to grow any of these plants! :-)