Humble Administrator's Garden

16. Water Lily Blossoms (Lavender Lady)

Lotus are among the trickiest of all of the water plants to grow, although given proper conditions, they are vigorous to the point of being nuisances. There is a lot of information out there in the world on this subject, much of it incorrect. There is so much mis-information, in fact, that many well intentioned, enthusiastic people fail repeatedly and eventually give up in abject despair. What follows is an honest discussion of Lotus culture.

First, a description of the plant. Lotus are related to water lilies, obviously, but just as obviously, there are significant differences. The important difference is in the root system. Instead of the rhizomes of the hardy lilies and the bulbs of tropical lilies, lotus produce elongated tubers that roughly resemble bananas.