Joyce,

Wow.. what LARGE lotus plants!!! The flowers must have been beautiful.

I make cement castings of large leaves (rhubarb, hosta, etc) to use as birdbaths or stepping stones. Those leaves would make fabulous castings.

Anne

Wow, beautiful
Would you be interested in trading these for Nelumbo lutea seeds? Have plenty of seeds

Thank you
Olya

Wow! That's incredible!
Are you in waders or on that little boat?
What will you do with them all? Sell them to a florist?
LOL.......I'm just thinking about all those seeds sitting in the bottom of the pond, dreaming of their beautiful long life in your pond! I guess you might be hoping they don't all make it!
Thanks for sharing these incredible pics!

absolutely beautiful! and the Lotus's are nice too! ;) sorry juct couldn't help myself...But on a more serious note..I have stayed away from lotus' because I didn't think they would survive the winter here in Maine...Could I be mistaken?

Hi pondrod,
I have to agree about what's so beautiful in the picture! You outshine the lotus Joyce!
I think you could grow them pondrod. I'm no expert, but at least the American lotus I think could withstand your winters easily. Do you have an earthen pond? Even in a lined pond, at the bottom, they do well. I've also heard people say that their's would get frozen and still do okay. What do you have to lose? Good luck!

One more question Joyce.....how deep is the water there?

Thanks everyone! (blushing at pondrod and catherine)

Olya, I have no seeds left...sorry. :(

I gave most of the pods away to friends, and also a friend who is a florist, right next door to my office.
I also have a HUGE bouquet of dried pods here in my house in a big lotus embossed clay urn.

The pond is lined, but with a 6" layer of a mud-sand mix pressed over the liner to make it look earthen.

My hair is even longer now. Finally got it trimmed this past Friday just a tiny bitat the bangs, first time since it started growing back from chemo. YAY!

I am in the little boat, on my knees.
The water comes up to my armpits when I am wading around.
It's a little over 4 feet deep.

Pondrod, yes, you can grow lotus there,
It is hardy down through zone 4.
Keep in touch, I may be able to send you a tuber or 2.
Depends on how I feel this spring. :)
(having more surgery in 2 weeks)

Did I answer all the questions?
I am a little tired now cuz hubby and I just finished taking all the holiday decorations and tree down.
Also had overnight company. :)

Joyce.....did you imprint that vase yourself?
My kids and I were sitting in a shelter at a local park and I looked down at their cement floor. Then I realized that some leaves must have fallen on the cement when it was wet, and left their impressions. That was so neat looking. I'm really into leaf impressions, just about anywhere! Maybe sometime you might post a pic of your urn? Sorry if I'm being too nosey!
Good luck with your surgery. I'll be thinking of you.

Catherine, nope, found the vase (actually a pair) at TJ Maxx a few years ago.
I will take pix later when I get home. And post them!
(working now)

Yup, 2 weeks from today, hopefully I'll be in post op waking up. :)

Wow! Those pictures are awesome, thank you!

It's almost exactly how my lotus bog looks, except I don't have any beautiful women growing in mine=/ And the lotus I have is about 10 times smaller. And there were only 2 seed pods....

But close!!!

- John

Hey there Joyce, looks like you have quite the fan club, ;)...thanks for all the info...Just a few more things. First: sorry that it has taken me this long to get back on the computer. The Second is my pond is 24 inches deep. Would I be able to leave it in the pond year around if I gave it 6 inches of mud/sand mix? (Catherine feel free to add your imput, it will be valued!) Third would half sun and half shade be good enough? Or can you even grow it in a pot outside of the pond?
Fourthly...I thank I am going to give up on all this counting, lol. Glad to see that you are doing so good after the Chemo...been down that road myself so I have a small idea of what it's like, but mine was only radiation theropy which is not so hard to take...Though I did end up looking like a strange chia pet, with the vegitation only growing on one half, lol..now that looked funny! I would go into greater detail, but I think the Webhost may not share my sence of humor. As far as your next round of cheno go's, our thoughts, prayers and smiles go with you. May the beauty of your pond and plants speed your recovery.
Rodney

Thanks John. :)
Hey Rod...thanks!
Where do you live?
Are you really a zone 4?
If you tell me exactly where you live, I can tell you your EXACT zone.
I am a professional landscape deisgner (at work now goofing off online at lunch, chomping on a Chicken BLT wrap) and have access to the latest hardiness zones.

Also, give me the dimensions of your pond if you can.
If you want, email me all that info through My Page.
I would like to hear the rest of your story any way. :)
Swapping stories is therapeutic to me.

Hi Rod,
Just to reiterate I'm really no expert and my lotus experience is pretty much just in small stocktanks. But I'll tell you what I know.
I was going to say that it would be risky putting lotus in a lined pond, since I would worry about them tearing the liner.......but Joyce's is lined, so I guess that isn't as much as a problem as I think??
I don't know if American lotus are any hardier than other types.....does anyone know?
I have my lotus in a 300 gallon in-ground stocktank, and used a deicer last winter, and they did fine.
I have some that I have in above-ground stocktanks in the summer, and then bury them in the winter next to the house with the top of the container just under soil level, covered with leaves and they did fine there too.
Last spring I put in a 300 gallon rubbermaid stocktank inground, and back-filled it with dirt. I have a lotus in there too, and we'll see how it does this spring. That tank doesn't have a heater. Does your pond freeze solid?
Do you heat it at all? Both my stocktanks are 2' deep.
I'm tempted to say that your's would do find, even in a container at the bottom of your pond.......but I can't say for sure. I say give it a try. You can always get another lotus, to try a different way.
And yes, absolutely you can plant them in containers.
Some people here dig a hole next to their ponds and plant them in there in a container.
The only thing about container lotus is that you must thin them every year or 2. They are very vigorous growers.
They love and need lots of sun. The hotter the better, usually. Would it be possible for you to put one in a container that would be on wheels, and you could move it around, to be in more sun?
There are smaller lotus too, that might work best in a container. I think everyone should have lotus. They are magical.
My lotus did well with about 6-7 hours of direct sun.

thanks for all that info...going to have to read it a couple of times just to digest all that information. I do believe next spring I am going to have to look into a lotus. I do live here in Maine and I keep water circulating in the pond to keep it from feezing solid but it still gets a couple of inches of ice. But then the weather changes and it melts off and the vicious cycle begins again.. I think my fish believe that I am cruel, they spent last year in a 125gal tamk in the house, all nice and toasty. This winter it's has reached -9 below zero not counting the windchill, and they're out there in the thick of it, lol.. well that's all I have time for, now it's back to work. Thanks Catherine for your input, as always it is much appreciated..Thank you Joyce for your knowledgable advice and I will certainly be writing to you soon...Have a good night all!!!!