Water Lilies in Containers
Planting water lilies in the water garden is a fun method of creating a special atmosphere. If you don't have a water garden in your landscape you can still enjoy water lilies, but in containers! In this article, I want to tell you more about how to plant and care for water lilies in a container for your enjoyment!

Posted Wednesday, April 5, 2006

The very best time to plant water lilies is in the warmer weather of spring. Water lilies are a hardy type of plant, but when first planting them, their roots and the leaves do need a little pampering, which is where the warmer temperatures come into play.

When ordering lilies through the mail, they will be packaged and shipped when your area is most thought to be through with frost for the spring months. Mail order companies provide you with the best timeline in which to plant water lilies, and this is when you can plant them in a container as well. If you were going to keep them in a controlled greenhouse, you can order them earlier from other places, such as a local supplier.

Some lilies are tropical, while other lilies are considered hardy water lilies. Be sure to learn about where you are ordering your lilies from to determine where you can plant your water lilies in your garden. Tropic water lilies need temperatures that are about seventy degrees all the time, so you can plant these varieties in a container inside a greenhouse. Other types of hardy lilies can be planted in a container that would be outside, if the temperatures do not fall below fifty-five degrees.

The containers that you use to plant your water lilies should be the type that can move about easily, as you are going to want to pick them up and move them as summer turns warm and you spend less time inside the greenhouse.

The container should be about twelve inches across so your plants have lots of room to spread out and thrive. The plants that you are putting into a container should be just the basic roots to start with, which are the rhizome. You will want to cut away as much of the dead roots and leaves as you can without hurting the remainder of the plant.

Fill your container with a heavy soil. Choose a soil that is going to hold the moisture well when you water the container. This will ensure your water lilies to be healthy and have the moisture they need for growth. Mesh baskets are the best for planting lilies as they are flexible and offer lots of room for growing. If you are going to use mesh, you will need to line the basket with some amount of burlap to help hold additional moisture in the soil.

Plant your rhizome pieces horizontally along the top most layer of the soil. Water lilies are going to produce and grow large roots that grow downward in seeking additional moisture. Now that you have put your water lilies in a basket or a mesh container, you can put this basket into a bucket of water or you can lower them into your water garden. Simple and easy outdoor decorating even if you don't have a water garden!