Well, I went ahead and ordered them for early May. I went back through my pictures and for several years, lots of stuff was in bloom the beginning of May and frogs were sitting on my hardy lily pads. I hope it works out.

I know you want to get started early, but for some June is even better. The reason why is that for one thing, where they are growing them is warmer than your pond, if you put them in cooler water, they are very likely to go dormant again and not grow anyway. Second, waiting you'll get bigger plants that are more mature to drop in your pond, because they are growing them in a better growing condition/warmer than your pond most likely.

Thanks Sandy,
I ordered from a place in Ohio. I think they are the same zone as me........would that help?

In the middle of the night it came to me........since they are in Ohio....they probably aren't grown in a regular pond outside. Probably a greenhouse?? I'll need to rethink this. I sure wouldn't want them dying on me because I put them out too soon.

The last frost date for zone 5 is may 15. I have seen heavy snow on that date. The thing you should be concerned about is keeping the water temperature high enough that the tuber does not get chilled. I would construct a small greenhouse to put over it until the temperature has stablized. If you have a good bit of money in the tubers, you might invest in a remote Thermometer. I have one in my pond and I know the water temperature by reading it inside the house. You can heat the greenhouse by putting a bucket of very hot water inside of it. The greenhouse should be as small as possible. Sandy

Thanks Sandy,

These will be in stocktanks, so I can easily put a sheet of clear plastic over them to help heat the water up.
I can still change the delivery date, but late May-June just seemed so late. If I haven't been able to heat up the water by the time they arrive, would it be better to keep them in the house?? I actually still have a 30 gallon aquarium (empty), from when I had fish. If the weather is too cool......could I put them in there with a light during the day?
I've never ordered tropical lilies by mail before. Do they come bareroot? Thanks!

Catherinet, I have and yes they do come bareroot. Glenda

Thanks Glenda.
Actually, I got scared and called the company and changed the ship date to the end of May. The warranties would all have been voided by having them shipped sooner. I've had a little trouble with this company before, so I guess I want to do everything by the book with them. Plus.....there's really no way my water would be 70 degrees in early may. (Then again, with global warming, maybe it will be 70 in march!).

I left my Lotus in the Lotus Bog and I have 1 little leaf about the size of a half dollar floating. But nothing else so far. I've been trying to decide if I need to do anything with them or just leave them be this year. I just planted them last summer. But it is still pretty cool at night and probably just too early for them to do anything yet. Glenda

I think lotus are hardier than tropical lilies.........at least the ones I have.
My lotus are usually pretty slow to get going on the spring. They like pretty warm temps.

Sandy in Ft. Wayne.....where did you get your remote thermometer for the pond?

I picked mine up at Menards but I have seen them at Lowes and in several gardening magazines. The ones in the magazines were much more expensive and had more features but unless you need the extras they are overkill. I got a basic set-up for under $25 that includes one base unit (that accepts two remote units) and one remote unit. Remote units are available by themselves. The remote units come with a 10 foot wire sensor that can go into the water. The readings include an indicator that shows if the temps are trending up or down and a high and low history. That gives you readings for three separate locations. If you don't want to put the unit outside(it's possible the cold could hurt the battery) you can just put it by a door or window and run the wire outside. They can have a variation of 1 or 2 degrees but since I'm not a scientist who needs precise measurments, I don't find that a problem. My husband liked it so much he went out and bought another set to use in his office so he can see what the temps are on the other side of the house. LOL. Sandy in Ft. Wayne

I picked mine up at Menards but I have seen them at Lowes and in several gardening magazines. The ones in the magazines were much more expensive and had more features but unless you need the extras they are overkill. I got a basic set-up for under $25 that includes one base unit (that accepts two remote units) and one remote unit. Remote units are available by themselves. The remote units come with a 10 foot wire sensor that can go into the water. The readings include an indicator that shows if the temps are trending up or down and a high and low history. That gives you readings for three separate locations. If you don't want to put the unit outside(it's possible the cold could hurt the battery) you can just put it by a door or window and run the wire outside. They can have a variation of 1 or 2 degrees but since I'm not a scientist who needs precise measurments, I don't find that a problem. My husband liked it so much he went out and bought another set to use in his office so he can see what the temps are on the other side of the house. LOL. Sandy in Ft. Wayne

Sorry for the double post. The browser seems to be screwed today. Sandy

Thanks Sandy,
Did you get it in the garden shop at Menards?
I have a remote wireless thermometer that I have in my chicken coop. Its nice to be able to see what's happening out here and if I need to turn on fans or the heat lamps. I'm assuming this is a special "under water" thermometer? Maybe its meant for swimming pools?

Hey there, I found them in the section of housewares right behind the ladders with all the other thermometers and weather gauges. Your store may not be set up the way ours is and I'm not sure even ours is at the moment. They have been changing everything around and you just have to ask at the desk where something is if it's lost again. DH won't even go inside unless he wants lightbulbs.
The individual units are wireless. The only wires are the ones that get attached to the remote units and I assume they had to use the same kind of sensor in the water as out of it so it was just serendipitous that it is good for ponds or maybe even pools. I don't remember anything saying chlorine was bad for the sensor. It's all dipped in plastic anyhow. I ran one wire through the phone line pass-through to get an outside temperature and another through the same pass-through goes to the pond after I added some more 24 gauge wire to it so it reaches the pond and drops 2 feet down into the water. With the remotes inside the house I don't need to worry about the batteries freezing. In the summer I just leave the pond remote outside under a flowerpot to keep the rain off of it. DH runs the wire for his under a door that isn't used very often. Sandy in Ft. Wayne

Thanks Sandy,
I'll probably get back with you if I get one and need to figure out how to do the wire.

I love Menards. Lots of women go clothes/perfume/jewelry shopping. I go to Menards! :)

Join the club. I definitely know more about hardware than fashion. My DH says I am the only woman in the world who can go to a cocktail party and pull a glass cutter out of her beaded evening bag. Sandy

LOL Sandy!

Oh you two are my kind of girls. I was rooting for change in my purse and pulled out two screwdriver bits and a lag bolt! Sweetie (DH on this board) gave me a table saw last Valentine's Day and the people at Ace hardware did not understand how cool that was, but my friends did.
Vanessa

A table saw! Now that's my kind of present!

I am so jealous! There have been so many times I have drooled over them at Lowes or Menards and so many times I had to forget a project because I didn't have one. It sounds like your DH is on your wave length. Sandy

I wish our's was more accessible. It used to be on the front porch, and then I had DH put it in the barn for winter 2 years ago, and there it has stayed.
When it was on the front porch (nice, big, covered porch), we kept a tarp over it. I went to take the tarp off in the spring, and there was a nest of carolina wren babies under it! So we had to wait awhile to use the saw!

The saw was in the living room for a couple of months (not being used but I could show it off to everyone who walked in!) Now it's in the very narrow greenhouse where I have to squeeze around it but it's always ready to go! Unless somebody nests in it, of course. Those wrens can turn up in the funniest places!
I was actually back on this thread because of Sandy's pond thermometer. No Menards here but I had looked on-line and saw where they are in OH. Not super close to Mom and my younger sis but Mom's a serious gardener and sis is getting her doctorate in horticulture so I asked if either one ever goes. Sis just emailed me back saying a new one just opened in the next town and I was her excuse to go check it out! Sandy, I'm going to email her your description.
Vanessa

I hope it is helpful, Vanessa. I have found it quite comforting to be able to understand what was going on outside. As I said there are a number of designs for different needs. I used to have a temperature controlled alarm in my greenhouse that sounded a very noisy bell in my bedroom if temperatures dropped too low. I had to move it though. DH leaping out of bed in full defensive mode was a bit much. It took a while to get the mattress back on the bed and even longer for DH to get back to sleep with all that adrenaline pumping. LOL! Sandy

Oh no! I can just see that! I can also see myself buying something like that without realizing the horrible consequences! Vanessa

LOL Sandy!
Vanessa........having your saw in your living room.....sounds like my kind of decor! hahaha
How cool that your sis is in horticulture. I wish I'd gone into that, instead of the various things I DID go into!
I love Menards........but they are coming to build a store in our little town and that means the little hometown hardware stores will probably go under. :( I'll probably keep driving to the one in a bigger city. Hearing that they were coming to town sure gave me conflicted feelings!
Goodluck finding your thermometer.