I have been wanting Lotus tubers for - it seems - forever! If you will email me, I will see if I have anything you're looking for.

Personally, I would try some hardies first. The tropicals are a little more tempermental when it comes to water temps, fluctuations, etc. The hardies are more forgiving. Colorado, Attraction, Denver, Marliac Carnea are some varieties that are pretty hardy and grow very well without much attention. Use dish pans or oil drain pans for pots. Lilies grow across horizontally, not downwards. I use these oil pans. I get them at Safeway or Ace hardware.I like them because they have a nice wide rim on them that makes them easy to handle and they also have hole in the rim which is handy for tieing a label to. I highly recommend using the Earthgro TOPSOIL that you can get at Home Depot. Some other brands of top soil are very black and loamy and make a mess. This brand is just plain dirt and sand. Also buy yourself a bag of pea gravel to top the soil. When you plant the tubers make sure the growing crown is above the soil and not covered with soil. Fertilize with the Jobes tomato spikes and give the plants another spike every three to four weeks during your growing season. Push them down deep in the soil several inches away from the tuber. If you still have problems getting them to grow then there is probably something else going on in your pond. Something could be leeching into the pond or there could be some other water condition present. Its also possibly that a disease simply wiped out your lilies. I really don't think its a heat issue as I'm in the dry desert heat as well. The heat will burn the blooms up sometimes but not destroy the whole plant.

I already have white as well but have something new that has burgundy leaves. I am told that this means the plant will be either red or a pink. The tuber is average size about 4 inches extremely healthy. I have several of them but demand for them by a few locals. Like yourself, I love lotus. I do have lotus growing from seed and nice pods. I expect to bloom by end of season as they are growing quick. The secret is space. giving them a lake a home. LOL

This post is for Marie Hisle. I have been looking for an "Arc-en-ceil" if you have one for trade still please lmk. I've tried to e-mail you through this forum, but I think they may have dropped the e-mail feature from GW. Thanks,Garbird