sb_mag <magray@SILCOM.COM> wrote: > All my lilies are in half barrels and two of the hardy lilies have > grown into monsters - tubers growing outside a jam packed pot, etc. > What time of year is best for cutting the tubers? > I'm in Southern California, should I wait until spring, then > propagate, or cut the tubers now and repot? About 30 years ago I planted 4 water lilies in an old swimming pool that was spring fed. The colored lilies had died but the white lily had taken over then entire 15' x 45' pool. About 5 years ago we decided to redo the pool and make a proper pond out of it. When we drained the pool, the water lily looked like a single 2" black pipe that ran all over the pool. It must have been at least 200' long. I broke it into pieces 6 to 10 inches long. I threw out pieces with no nodes (eyes) and pieces with rot (soft spots). We drained the pool when the lilies were dormant in the fall. I placed these pieces in a closed plastic bag with damp peat moss in a cool dark area. I wanted humidity but not moisture. In the spring when the pond was finished and filling up with water, I potted up a dozen of these pieces and they all became good lilies. Now I inspect them each spring to make sure they aren't trying to break out of the kidney shaped lily pots I use and put a 12 month fertilizer spike in each pot. -- Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to rhodyman@earthlink.net 18,000 gallon (17'x 47'x 2-4') lily pond garden in Zone 6 Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA

In article <ca6dc68b-adbf-4048-863e-befe8512d6f4@e25g2000prg.googlegroups.com>, sb_mag <magray@silcom.com> wrote: > On Nov 15, 7:40 am, Stephen Henning <pigh...@aol.com> wrote: > > About 30 years ago I planted 4 water lilies in an old swimming pool that > > was spring fed. The colored lilies had died but the white lily had > > taken over then entire 15' x 45' pool. > > Thank you to everybody that wrote in with advice. > Now if only I could buy a house with a swimming pool.... Hindsight is 20/20. Our house had a filled-in (sand and gravel, but did not drain!) swimming pool that filled much of the yard. Was 9ft deep with small shallow end. Dug it out, broke down sides, and filled with earth and topsoil. Now have large lemon tree in center and a lot grass and plantings. -- To reply by email, remove the word "space"