This is the year I'm going to grow them - in pots of course & I've been reading up on care & cultivation.
Well...they're amazing. Lotus tubers planted in a pond can run from 20 to 60 feet in a year, crowding out any other water plants. The chambered tubers pump oxygen into their roots & foliage. The 'bare root' tubers if left floating send out retractor roots that pull the tuber down into it's proper depth in soil. The leaves rise above the water & the flowers are carried on long stems above these. The flowers last only 4 days opening early, early in the morning. The petals drop, the seed head matures & then gently tilts so that the seeds fall into the water. Apparently lotus are exceptionally sensitive to high water pH and high calcium content. I need to test our well water but I suspect I'll be packing in either town or distilled water. They also seem to prefer gently rounded containers - no straight sides or right angles. For some reason I find this charming.
The Chinese & Japanese have been breeding lotus for centuries & there are a number of cultivars suitable for container growing. Now I just need to find my tubers & wait for it to stop snowing!
