We are new owners of a pond and just purchased a water lily.
How long do the flowers generally last? We have another bud that will bloom soon but the flower we had for the past few days never opened today. I assume it is spent. Also, we had to place some bricks in the water in order for the lily to sit on since our pond was too deep for the lily. Now, in the winter season do we just put the pot at the bottom of the pond? Not sure how it winters over.

thanks for any advice.... Nilli

Most hardy water lily flowers open for 2 or 3 days. Tropicals may last 3 or 4 days.

Hardy waterlilies should overwinter. You can put the pot on the bottom once it's gets cold (below 45 degrees F) in the pond. As long as the roots don't freeze, they should make it. You may not even have to sink it but probably should in case the bricks are prone to falling down.

Thanks Robyn, that helps a lot.

The water did get absorbed under our liner thank goodness. We are putting a drain on top to divert the water around the pond. Our pond is not really that clear - is that normal? The liner has silt or algae (not sure what it is) - its like a gray brown. I guess that is normal. The goldfish and minnows seem to enjoy our pond . I am feeding them just regular goldfish food.

I would love for a frog to find its way to the pond. The pond is close to our woods in the back and there is a stream with frogs. Maybe one will find it. But I dont want our fish eaten. We have racoons and they checked out the pond the first night ( I could see their paw prints). I have this small rubber floating frog and I really think they got frustrated when they found it was fake. They havent been back to the pond since.

Hi Nillibean,
Just curious to know ... how deep do you keep your waterlilies in the pond?
Glad to hear that the water receded from the rain. Did the bulge go away too?

PG

Hi Pool Guy, Well our deepest part is about 2 feet deep. If we would have put the lily on he floor of the pond it would be completely underwater. It had a flower and also another bud so we wanted it above the water of course. So we have a couple of bricks to hoist it up to the top of the water.

Yes, we were so happy the bulge went out of the liner . The water really was absorbed by the ground luckily enough.

Our water is not really clear but I am not sure if that is normal.

Nilli

Nilli,
If your water isn't clear just yet, I wouldn't worry too much about it. New ponds take quite awhile to clear up. Once you get a nice coat of algae covering the pond walls (below the surface), and the filter cycles, then things will start to look more normal.
If the water parameters test good (ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, pH, etc.), then the fish will be happy. :)

Our pond is 3' deep, with no shelving. I keep our two potted waterlily plants at the bottom, with nothing beneath the pots. The lily pads & flowers all find their way to the surface. Some people have the lily plants closer to 4' deep in larger ponds. Not certain what the optimal depth is for lilies while in bloom ... but ours do great at the three foot level. One of our lily plants is fairly mature at five years old, while the other is a new one, grown from a rhizome which was bought in a package.
At two feet deep you could comfortably put the plant at the bottom of the pond year-round. :)

PG

I can see why you'd want to keep the water lily elevated because of the flower. But if you put the pot lower than the leaves are now, the new leaves will come up to the new level of the water. I have heard of lowering the plants in stages, but I kind of bit the bullet, and the new leaves are now floating on the top.

As for frogs - some showed up at our new pond this June. I was really surprised, because it would be hard for them to get here. But now we have three green frogs that sit on rocks like they own the place, and now I sometimes can't do things in the pond because there are frogs in the way. :D I do wonder if they would be traveling and searching for new ponds, though, this late in the summer.

I'm looking forward to pictures of your pond!

Hi Pool Guy and Lantern. You both were a big help.

We will sink the lily to the bottom of the pond when the leaves die off - when it gets cold and goes dormant.

We just bought 2 solar power rock lights to put around the pond. We cant wait until dark so we can see how they look. We will keep the waterfall on all night from now on. We were never sure.

I will post pictures soon. I must say my husband did a great job for a first time pond. We just never realized how much work was involved. We think working with the liner was the hardest thing. It was worth it though.

Nilli

Hi Nilli, I just bought two of the solar powered rocks a couple weeks ago and I love mine. They give off a nice bright white light! I am getting addicted to solar "gadgets" around the pond, LOL

Hi Koi!

I just checked them out a little while ago and I agree I really think they look cool.
I see they have all kind of lights for ponds. Not sure if we will get any to put in the pond. The fake rocks are pretty good for now.