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First Cousins of the Water-Lilies

Victoria species and varieties

How the Lotus Grows

>Cultivation

Available Lotus Varieties

Genus Nuphar-Spatterdock

Nuphar Lotus Varieties


The lotus does best in a wooden tub, half-barrel or planting box. It can be set out, like the hardy water-lilies, as soon as summer has come to stay. The lotus grows in the same kind of soil with the same fertilizer prescribed for the hardies, but for very handsome results is also given an extra 2- to 3-inch layer of rotted cow manure in the bottom of the box.

Plate 28.
The parent plant of this Manchurian lotus lived some thousand years ago. The flower was brought into bloom at the Kennilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D. C., from seeds unearthed in the bed of an ancient lake, where they had lain dormant in peat.

To plant, scoop out a depression in a receptacle filled to within 6 inches of the rim With soil and fertilizer. Place the root in the depression and cover with an inch or so of earth, letting half an inch of the growing point stick out. Lay a flat rock on the covered root, being careful not to touch the growing point. Cover the soil with sand, again avoiding the point.

The planting receptacle can now be set down into the pool in such a position that the tip of the lotus is covered by 3 to 4 inches of water, or, if it is watertight, the box can be placed on a sunny porch or terrace, or out on the lawn. If the receptacle is not to be lowered into the pool, fill it With water to within an inch of the brim, and add water from time to time to make up for evaporation. A couple of small goldfish swimming around at the base of the growing lotus will add interest-and will also eat any mosquito eggs that may be deposited in the water.

Plant the lotus rootstock in a natural pond in the same way, in a box if it is to be controlled, but under an inch of mud and 3 to 4 inches of water if the lotus is to be allowed to spread freely in the pond. Vigorous and stubborn though it is, the lotus is sometimes difficult to get established. On this account, it may not produce blooms the first year but will certainly do so the next year.

WINTER CARE


Planted in a natural pond and given freedom, the lotus will take care of itself. Growing in a receptacle either in or out of the pool, it will also take care of itself provided water does not freeze down to the crown of the root. It will be killed if ice touches this crown. If there is such danger, take the plant indoors when the foliage dies down in fall. Keep the soil moist, but not saturated, and the plant cool, that is, 35 to 40 degrees, through the winter. Be sure rats or mice haven't access to it, for both love to eat the roots.

On rare occasions, a water gardener has been able to grow the lotus at a sunny window and even bring it into bloom during the winter. This is usually a disappointing project, however, for unless plants are kept cool and dormant, roots almost invariably rot.

Every other year, remove the roots from the planting receptacle. Fill it with a fresh supply of soil and fertilizer, and plant one healthy new section of rootstock, broken from the parent plant. You will have a number of root sections left over to increase your own plantings, if you wish, or to share with friends.

Continue to Available Lotus Varieties

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First Cousins of the Water Lilies

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