My lotus has been an ongoing project since last year. I bought it in the spring of 2008, and planted it in a tub in the back yard. The first year, it put up a few leaves, and then died back. The next year it put out more leaves, but it dried out in August of last year while we were out of town, and barely limped through the year. This year I bought it a new bowl, and took extra care in fertilizing it and making sure it had plenty of water. We were out of town last weekend, and the dang thing dried out again. The leaves got wilted all around the edges and I thought it was a bust again. But I noticed that there was a flower bud coming up on it, and made sure to keep up with the water again. I have been like a bird waiting for its egg to hatch. The bud stayed the same all week, but I thought yesterday that it looked like it was starting to swell up. I looked out the window this morning and this is what I saw:
5 comments:
How beautiful!
Your lotus recovered well from the drying out. You might have to leave a drip irrigation line in it next time you go out of town. :) The flower is very pretty, especially with the slight shading of red on the tips of the petals.
Nice!!!
Yay, Lythrum!! I never likened anticipating a plant's performance with a mother bird watching her eggs--very clever and so true. Seeing one of your plants do what it was intended to do, especially after some rough going, is one of the best feelings ever, don't you think? Too cold for Lotus here, darn it. How I wish I could grow this!!
I'm lucky because I have been able to leave mine outside all winter. I know that some people in colder climates either bring in the tub into the basement and leave it, or in a garage. If I had to do all that I would never be able to grow one, lol.
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