IMPORTANT – Before receiving your plants, you will want to have all your supplies ready; pots, soil, fertilizer, and gravel or sand.

Hardy Waterlilies

Pot: We recommend either fabric pots or no-hole plastic pots. Hardy waterlilies only need a pot depth of 5-6″. The larger the pot diameter the better, about 10″ is the minimum but we would suggest at least 16″.

Soil: Your best option will be a heavy clay loam topsoil. This is a clay based soil that will compact into a ball when squeezed. Next best are packaged aquatic soils like Microbe Lift’s Aquatic Planting Media. These soils are made of calcined clay particles. In a pinch you can plant in sand, but this has very poor nutrient retention.

Potting: Hardies grow horizontally across the container so a wide pot is necessary for planting. The rhizome should be planted at one edge of the container with the cut end against the pot edge. Plant the rhizome at an angle of about 45 degrees with the crown exposed. Top with an inch of pea gravel or sand. The plant can be lowered to a depth of 6 inches to begin with, and then lowered to a depth of 12 – 18 inches as the plant grows. Hardies should be fertilized every 4-6 weeks. They bloom from May through September depending on the weather, and become dormant during the colder months.