I've never heard of a waterlily changing colors. Is it possible that the bright pink one died and this is another one you bought and don't remember?

No, I've never bought a white one. Something in my distant past I'm remembering about flowers that change color from the original..............It has something to do with hybrids I think. White is okay, but not what I wanted. It sure is prolific though! I have 11 blossoms going on at almost the same time, in my 300 gallon stocktank!

Hey.....maybe it will be a different color every year? haha

Catherine, I hope that you are sitting down when you read this. There is actually a purple hardy now produced by a friend of mine up in West Virginia. Unfortunately, the name that you mentioned is not it because it is not on the market yet. As far as a lily changing color, there is a few but the color changes from one day to the next, not years. What you had was one that had dye injected some how to produce purple blooms and it didn't work as they planned. I have a changeable dwarf that hasn't bloomed for me yet and I'll be sure to post pics when it does.

Hi
Have no experience with hardy type but my tropicals a sky blue and a deep almost black, purple change color over a three day period also can get differences in intensity by using different ferts. Greatest variations are in size
and how far they stand out of the water dictated by the ferts and removing excess buds.
As I recall there are a whole series of color changing hybrids certainly are among tropicals.??
Anyway ,yours was probably mislabeled What's the matter with a robust white?? lol gary

Perry's Water Gardens created a "Fire Opal", which I think is intensely pink. I'm really surprised that this other company used the same name. The color on the box it was in had a pic of a purple lily and in the description it said "Color:purple"
I tried to call the company, but it wasn't listed. I did call a company in Wisconsin who had the exact looking box online and she said it wasn't there's.

I've noticed this year that the stores no longer have the "purple" one. It was a total rip-off.

It was much pinker last year. This year, it started out pale pink, and now is putting out some pale pink ones and also white ones. I counted 11 blossoms yesterday. Isn't it funny how the less-desirable things tend to be more prolific?

garyfla "robust white" hahaha
Maybe I should just wear purple-colored glasses when I look at it. :)

Hmmmm.....its putting out some white and some pink at the same time. Maybe I got 2 for the price of 1? Didn't see any white ones last year though. Maybe there was just a little sliver of the white tuber in with the pink tuber and its just now showing up?

Maybe your waterlily has some hydrangea genes??? lol

I'm clueless on this, but was thinking about how you can add stuff to your soil to change the color of your hydrangea's from pink to blue or reverse. Hmmm...

I haven't purchased a lily one, what I have were given to me by friends. I am suppose to have white, pink and yellow. This is my third year ponding, and two of three have bloomed and the blooms have all been white. The yellow lily I got late last summer and it hasn't bloomed yet, but I am expecting a bloom of a different color since the leaves are a mottled green/purple. I guess I will see. I know one thing though, my lilies sure have grown this summer. I don't know if it is the weather, the fact that I didn't repot them last fall or this spring, or all the fertilizer I put in them!

Carla

Flowers can change colors for many reasons - some more complicated than I fully understand. All has to do with the genetics of the flower, the situation it's in, the soil, the temperature, etc. We sometimes have noticeable color differences in our lilies from year to year and these are known name lilies. Interestingly, when I divided the Graziella two years ago, one smaller plant I kept produced a flower more red to orange than the normal orange to yellow. The following year it was back to the normal color. Nature is interesting and wonderful.

Jan2

Thanks Carla and Jan.
I have a Siberian iris that was supposed to be pink. When it bloomed last year it was white. This year its white with light purple edges! You're right Jan......nature is great!
When one of my plants doesn't turn out to be what I thought it was, the song "Love the one you're with" always pops into my head! hahaha

Hi Catherine

I bought one of the "drop and grow" water lilies from Menards last year. The label said it was pink but the blossoms came out white in the first year. I chalked it up to you get what you pay for. LOL still waiting to see what it will give me this year. I'll let you know if I get something other than white. Maybe those Menards lilies are magic? :-)

Hi Jenny,
I think my other 2 lilies were the drop and grow ones too, and they've stayed consistent through the years.(one pink and one yellow).
This "purple" one is getting sort of interesting. Its putting out tons of blossoms and some are white, and some are pink. Some turn white after a day. And there is even one standing up out of the water, like a tropical! I'm starting to think it IS magical. hahaha

Packaged waterlilies are often mislabled.

Yes, you can get two for the price of one as well. This happens in potted plants of all types. It is easy to stick two cuttings instead of one in a pot when planting hundreds a day in a hot sweaty greenhouse....

Waterlilies do come in "changeable" colors but it is the one flower that starts out one color and then fades to another and it is subtle. They are all yellow/pink combinations. Not blooming pink one year and white the next.

There are some like Walter Pagels that open pale blush pink and fade to pure white.

They can take several seasons to mature too and don't show their true colors until they do.

Many hardies hold their blooms up high like tropicals. :)

My water lilies have also turned white, for years I had pink, yellow and white, they're in different pots, after a couple years, the pink and yellow turned white. I know because of the pots they're in. Frustrated but I've given up with the colored ones, very expensive and I'm afraid they'll turn white too...

Sorry about that Lisa. Will you be able to keep them for next year and see what color they might be then?