Added 5 full size water lilies from Trickers, yesterday. Kathy n Steve had given us an Xmas gift cert for Trickers, which Jerie and I took to Trickers yesterday – and – they dug out 5 water lilies from an outdoor pond, put em in a big bag, handed them to me.
Once home, I grabbed my waders and the big bag of 5 water lilies, marched down the hill, put on my waders, and spent 30 min or so coaxing them into the pond bottom. First time I’ve ever planted anything in a pond (up to now, I’ve just been dropping bulbs into the water). This morning, they were still planted in the bottom. Success – years of planting aquarium plants paid off.
These Trickers lilies were full grown, with pads and/or pre-flowering bulbs attached to 12″ t0 24″ stalks attached to a tuber. Cept that one was pretty much all roots, no tuber. Some tubers were horizontal. One was vertical.
Apparently a big plant is divided up by cutting the tuber into sections, with each tuber big enough to host several water lily stalks and pads. Typically 3 to 6″ tubers. About 1 to 1.5″ thick.
Whereas the Lowes water lilies have no stalks or pads, and are packed inside a slightly weighted package held loosely together with 1″ light black plastic mesh. About fist size – my fist. Throw em in, they sink down, right side up, to the pond bottom. And that’s it. After a few weeks, they start showing small pads.
The Lowes lilies are no more than 3″ across now, and out of the 22 I planted a month or so ago, only 9 have shown to date. So, the Trickers water lilies give the pond an immediate boost – in beauty and functionality (lilies, like all plants, serve to purify the water).
