The following is from today's NY Times. We grow lotuses in our little pond. We are in Zone 5. Looks even zone 4 can support lotuses.
Good luck. cm CUTTINGS The Sacred Lotus Merely Looks Fragile By ANNE RAVER FELL under the spell of the water lotus two weeks ago, on a visit to Chanticleer, a lavish public garden in Wayne, Pa., west of Philadelphia. I could see them from the top of a hill, their great blue-green leaves held aloft like parasols. The blossoms, pinkish white and pale yellow, were huge saucers of blowsy petals, like peonies. One big bud, as heavy as a melon, rested its head on top of a two-foot leaf. Advertisement Check Delivery Options | 50% Off-Click Here! It seemed that Thailand had landed on a cow pasture. "Are these hard to grow?" I asked Christopher Woods, the director of the garden, all my loyalty to native plants flying right out the window. Nelumbo nucifera, the sacred lotus, is native to Asia and Australia. In India, Buddha is said to have risen, deep from the mud, on its leaf. "They're perfectly hardy," Mr. Woods said. "I got a few roots of Mrs. Perry D. Slocum about 10 years ago. It grew so luxuriantly that now we have to hack it back." I stared, love-struck, into the faces of these flowers, with their satiny petals and golden stamens surrounding the ovaries, which are pollinated by bumblebees. When the petals fall, a seedpod sticks up out of that sea of leaves like an elegant shower head. At first, this pod is bright green, its little round seeds snug in their cavities. As the pod dries, it expands and turns brown, dropping most of the dried seeds into the water, where they germinate in the mud. The next week, I saw a number of these sacred lotuses blooming in the lily pool at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. "They were planted around 1920 in the pool at the Japanese Garden," said Brian Funk, the Japanese Garden's curator. "And they did so well, that by the 1940's and 50's, you couldn't even see the water." So if you grow them in a pond, make sure you remove the seedpods, so they don't get too invasive. Or grow them in a pot. "In Japan, lotuses are almost always grown in containers," said Barry Yinger, a plant explorer who grows many lotuses in pots at his farm in Lewisberry, Pa. His pots are actually glazed 35-gallon jars used to store salted eggs - he bought the jars years ago in Chinatown. Contrary to their exotic appearance, lotuses are not tender, tropical plants. In a pond, where the rhizomes can burrow into the mud, they can survive Zone 4 winter temperatures of 30 degrees below zero, sending up new shoots in the spring. Potted lotuses must be given more protection to keep them from year to year. To grow these beauties, it's best to go to a good nursery in early March and pick out a healthy dormant rhizome. The larger varieties, like Mrs. Slocum, should be the size of a sweet potato: 6 to 8 inches long and 2 inches wide, with no rotten spots; the growing tip should not be broken. If you order by mail, make sure the rhizomes arrive undamaged. Two good sources are Waterford Gardens in Saddle River, N.J. (201-327-0721; www.waterfordgardens.com), and Lilypons Water Gardens in Buckeystown, Md. (www.lilypons.com; 800-999-5459). Lay the rhizome in a five- to seven-gallon nursery pot filled with real soil, not potting mix. "It should be heavy with clay," Mr. Yinger said. "And mixed, about half and half, with dehydrated or composted cow manure." Place the growing tip at the center of the pot, so the plant will be centered. Cover the rhizome with two to three inches of soil, and about an inch of coarse gravel to keep the soil from fouling the water when you place the pot in your glazed container. The pot should have at least an inch of water over it, but 8 to 10 inches is ideal. ADD a goldfish or a guppy or two for mosquito control, and make sure the pot gets plenty of sun. The first leaves to appear will sit on the water like lily pads. As the nights warm to 70 degrees and the days to a consistent 85 degrees, sturdy shoots will rise above the water and unfurl those incredible blue-green leaves. The flowers will start around July. "If the leaf color starts to go off, just put two tablespoons of ordinary 10-10-10 granular fertilizer in a square of newspaper, wrap it up and stuff it in the mud near the side of the container," Mr. Yinger said. "Put about two or three of them in the container to keep the plant growing actively and blooming." By late summer, after flowering, when the seedpods mature, take the pots out of the water and let them drain. (If you wait until frost, the water could freeze and crack the containers.) It's important not to disturb the plants, because the rhizomes are easily injured. You could bury the pot in your vegetable garden, under about six inches of soil. Add an insulation blanket in Zone 4. Or put the pots surrounded by moist soil in plastic bags and store them in a cold basement or root cellar that doesn't go above the low 40's. In spring, take the pots back outside. "You can leave them in the container for two years, without dividing," Mr. Yinger said. "But after that, the plants get small, and they don't bloom." So if you want to divide them, dump out the soil - gently - and find the rhizomes. After breaking them apart, treat the broken parts with wood ashes or fungicide, to prevent rot. Then repot each rhizome, and the cycle starts over again. "You will love them more than anything out there," Mr. Yinger said. "It's really easy to get in too deep." Forum: Join a Discussion on Gardening
