Nymphaea Lily Care

Water Lily Characteristics.

• Water lilies feature large round-to-oval pads or leaves that float on the surface of the water. Under the surface of the water are long stems or rhizomes. Leaves sprout up off the stems and unfurl where the sun's rays can touch them, with leaves that have red or purple undersides and large veins. Broken bits of rhizome can spread the plants, a characteristic that makes them invasive. You can find water lilies in white, yellow, rose, pink and red.

Planting Nymphaea

• Plant Nymphaea in aquatic baskets lined with planting fabric and a heavy topsoil. The plants come as rhizomes and are planted with the "eyes," or growing nodes, facing upward. The tropical lilies are centered in the pot and hardy lilies are slightly angled. They are not planted much deeper than a couple of inches before being covered with soil. Top dress the pot with small gravel to hold in the soil. Hardy lilies are submerged in water at a depth of 12 to 18 inches and tropical lilies grow at a depth of 6 to 8 inches.

Cultivation

• The potted hardy lilies should go in the pond when the water temperature is at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but the tropicals need to wait until the temperature is 70. Use a slow-release aquatic fertilizer that delivers gradual levels of nutrients the lilies can absorb. Some acceptable formulas are 20-10-5, 10-6-4 or 12-8-8. You need to be cautious with aquatic fertilizing because it may cause a bloom of algae. You only need 4 oz. of fertilizer for every cubic foot of soil in the pond.

Winter Care

• Tropical Nymphaea are only hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture zone 10, which has average low temperatures no cooler than 30 F. Low temperatures will kill the rhizomes and it shouldn't be grown in colder areas of the United States. Hardy water lilies can survive in cooler climates but it is best to remove them when temperatures dip below 50 F. Cut the foliage off the plants and lift the pots out of the water. Then simply place the containers in plastic bags in a cool basement or area where temperatures won't freeze for hardy lilies and where temperatures remain 50 degrees or more for tropicals. Re-plant them in early spring and introduce them to the pond when the water temperatures warm.