Hi charle7,
Well, I used to consider myself as pretty knowledgeable at growing lotus, but this year I lost 2 of them!
What kind of lotus do you have; what size pot is in it; what kind of soil; have you been fertilizing it? Did you get it as a tuber, or was in already in a pot?
I had a 3 year old lotus die recently, after having its leaf torn off (even though I tried to keep the stem above water). I'm thinking this might be really bad for a newer lotus.......but the jury is still out on that.
I'm in zone 5, so I'd hate to advise you wrong. I know here, its much too soon for them to wind down. That usually happens in Sept-Oct.
Answer some of my questions, and I might be able to help more.

Hi Catherinet,
I have a hardy Perry's giant sunburst. It was planted as a tuber by a guy that works on my pond. He planted it in a container that is 24" in diameter - not sure of the depth. But he said the pot was plenty big enough, and I could keep it in the same pot for several years. He planted it in black cow. He planted it in the early spring and it shot up leaves pretty quickly. The leaves stayed green and nice up until about a month ago and as I said started to turn brown around the edges. My pond man is here in the area only during the winter and spring and then heads back up north so I called him and he said maybe it was too hot - I have the container sunk into the soil and the area around it has little flat river stones. But I always heard lotus really like the heat. Anyway maybe some of this info will help you help me. Thanks.

Since this was its first year, it probably isn't too crowded yet. Have you been fertilizing it well?
they do like sun and heat.

I think it needs more fertilizer. Black Cow is very low in nitrogen so add some pond tabs into the soil and see if that helps. Also, make sure you keep the pot full of water, I add about 1"-2" per day. Mine are in direct sun from early morning til evening and I'm in south Alabama.