How often do water lilies bloom and how many flowers will they make?

by Jim Fox
(Leland IL US)

I have a pond that has been in for 15+ years. This year we finally decided to try a water lilly to get some shade for our fish and to help keep the algae down. The pond gets full sun from around 11AM till evening due to a fence on the east side. It started blooming for a week or so, but I had a toad die in the pond. I run a hose to put fresh water in as to not kill the fish since it was getting an odor. The water was cold of course and the flower did not bloom again and went under the water. I figure I shocked it from the cold water, but the pads look fine. It's been a month since it bloomed, and it's still there but underwater. Will it bloom again, and or will another take it's place? Or is that it for this year?
Jim

Doug says that the amount of sunlight you're giving it is marginal - but likely adequate. The deeper water forces the stems to elongate and resurface so that may take some time and yes, going from warm to cold water is not going to make you many friends in the water lily population.

And if the season has been cold, overcast and rainy then you can expect a slowing down of flower production.

But having said that, a good lily should produce a blossom a day if it's grown properly. We're assuming a mature sized root. Under full sun and good conditions.

So if the root was small and not fist sized around, then you won't see too many flowers the first year.

If you're not feeding properly, you won't see too many flowers at all - these are greedy feeders so do make sure they're treated properly.

Check out the care pages here for more info