Hyacinths in Bloom

Our hyacinths are going crazy with blooms - inside the greenhouse and in the outside ponds. It seems like they are now putting more energy into developing their blooms than they are in developing root systems.

By the end of the summer, there is always an abundance of hyacinths as these plants produce plantlets so prolifically. I called the Valley Zoo to see if there were any animals there that might want a treat of fresh hyacinths. Unfortunately, they said that the seeds of the hyacinths could be detrimental to the health of some of the animals, so it was probably not a good idea to feed them to the animals. Oh well, they are very rich in nitrogen, so maybe the compost pile will benefit.

A Bloom within a Bloom

This is a picture of a Cynthia Anne blossom bud displaying a viviparous characteristic. The flower bud never did open up, and instead, it is sprouting a new plant from inside the bud. The new plantlet appears to developing its own roots, which you can see on the left side of the bud, and in addition to developing 4 leaves, it also has its own flower bud. This type of occurance is common to several varieties of tropical water lilies (generally a new plantlet occurs from the leaf rather than the bloom). Feedback from the Water Gardeners International group indicates that many of the Kirk Strawn hybrid lilies with parentage with N. mexicana are viviparous.

Grunging in the Lily tanks

Its hard to believe that its August 28, 2010, and its 12 degrees outside. My hardy water lilies decided that it was not worth the effort to open their blossums, and stayed tightly closed all day. I can’t say I blame them. I was also bundled up in my hoodie whenever I went outside.
The outside water lily tanks are usually full of blossums. Currently blooming are Cynthia Anne, Mangala Ubol, Norma Gedye, Mayla, Moondance and Woods Blue Goddess. This weekend was grunging time for the tanks. The south tank lilies had started to develop string algae around the base of the plants. This is the first time we have seen string algae on the lilies this summer. The north tank did not have any string algae, but did have an abundance of aphids on the leaves. Its strange that the 2 tanks, which are side by side, should have 2 separate problems. After my grunging efforts today, followed up with water treatment, the problem appears to be solved – for now.

Pamela Tropical Water Lily

Pamela (blue tropical waterlily) was a fantastic bloomer this summer. I had it in an outdoor pond, where it was about 8" below the water level. It bloomed right up to the time that I took it out of the pond for the winter. I removed the lily from its large pot, trimmed off the majority of the root structure and all of the leaves and blossoms, and replanted the small root into a small pot. It is now in my hydroponics room under grow lights, and is starting to produce very tiny leaves. I'm excited that it is starting to grow again.

Winterizing the Tropicals

I have been working on winterizing my tropical water lilies for the past three weekends (there are quite a few) and it's been a huge task. This is the third year that I have been working diligently with tropicals rather than the hardies and the learning curve is still present.

I am sure that others have experienced this in other zones, but my question to you would be how do you handle it? Set dates for the draining of the ponds? Hiring temp workers/ conscripting family members? Diligently watching the weather channel and doing a blitzkrieg the night before frost? Its been a mix of the four, for the last three years, with my lilies. We generally have to have everything removed by Halloween, but the last few years I have had to put it off until the weekend before the frost hits. In my greenhouse, I generally have about two days after the first frost before the temperature drops to the point where I am seeing ice crystals inside the greenhouse.

The tropicals are receiving the brunt of my attention now, some are being treated to a the sand and distilled water method outlined by Rich Sacher on the Water Gardening International site here. Well worth a look, if you haven't checked this out already. In addition, I am also trying to winter some over inside my house using grow lights and an aquarium heater. I will post later on the results if this one, but it is a mixed effort, with a fully grown lily and about six plantlets grown from seed. I will post as I see my results.