Hardy Lilies vs Tropical Lilies

Text Box: Hardy Lilies vs. Tropical Lilies Hardy lilies are considered a perennial plant; they go dormant in the winter and could survive temperatures as low as those in zone 3. They usually start to come out of the dormant stage in March when the water reaches 55 degrees and they will go back into dormancy starting at the same water temperature in late autumn. Hardy lilies come in a variety of sizes, there are pygmy varieties which are excellent for small water garden tubs such as whiskey barrels, and they will go up in size all the way up to a leaf spread of up to 10 feet. Don’t misunderstand; the leaf spread is the area the leaves will cover, not the size of an individual leaf. Some of the hardy lilies will produce their blooms earlier in spring and some will bloom only in the early spring to early summer. Some varieties will produce blooms all summer long, and then some that will produce a bloom occasionally, usually these varieties have a bloom well worth waiting for. There are some varieties that prefer cooler regions and some that prefer the warmer regions. They produce pink, salmon peach, orange, red, yellow and white flowers. They also produce changeable blooms; this is when the bloom opens a certain color, usually yellow, and then changes to red or orange by the fourth to fifth day. Most of the time the topside of the lily pads of hardy lilies are green and the bottom can be reddish brown, purplish or green; however, some do have unusual leaves with mottling, and one in particular has splashes of pink and cream on its pads. The pads rest on the water, as do most of the blooms; there are some exceptions with the hardy lilies where the blooms stand above the water. Tropical Lilies are perennial to zone 9 and above, remember tropical means warm and humid year round and depending on how warm the water temperature and the outside temperatures are they can bloom year round in zone 9 and above. Tropical lilies on my farm here in zone 5 will bloom from late April through late September, this depends on the variety of tropical lily and again the water temperatures and outside temperatures. It is late October and I still have two tropical lilies blooming outside in my koi pond. And we did have a couple of frosty mornings which means it got pretty cold at night. If you enjoy lots of blooms the tropical lilies are for you. Even if you live in an area where the lilies won’t survive the winter, you will enjoy many blooms and magnificent leaves all summer long. These tropical beauties come in blue, purple, blue-green, lavender, peach-yellow-orange combination, red, white, yellow and pink. There are also tropical lilies that bloom at night, these come in red, white, and pink. They also range from small to large leaf spreads. Most of the tropical lilies will give you multiple blooms all summer long, sometimes there can be up to 4 or 5 blooms at one time. This past summer I had a tropical lily that had 9 blooms at one time. The tropical lily blooms are held above the water and some will hold their blooms as high as 2 feet. The leaves of the tropical lilies vary in size and shape, most of them are at least 12 inches in diameter at maturity, and many are striking with mottled or speckled leaves. There is one variety where the leaves are green and have a purplish brown spider web design on them. Night blooming lilies sleep during the day and open usually around 9:00 p.m. and will continue to bloom until about 10:00 am the following day. It is an awesome sight to see a night blooming lily open by the light of the moon. The night blooming lilies leaves have serrated edges and one variety has an oval shape instead of a round shape. One of the red varieties of night blooming lilies has reddish brown leaves and usually changes greenish brown as the leaves mature. Hardy or Tropical Now that we have talked about the two different types of lilies you can see that there are pros and cons in having both types of lilies in your pond. Location, location, location, to coin a phrase, is an important factor. For example if you live in Florida, you might want to have only tropical lilies, and if you live in North Dakota, you might want just one tropical lily and more of the hardy lilies in your pond. My point is that some people have never tried a tropical lily simply because they don’t over winter, and it is difficult to try and save them to the next season. If you think about it, you buy annual flowers for your flower bed and they don’t survive over the winter. The same principle could apply to your water garden, and I guarantee that if you try growing a tropical lily or two in your pond that you will always want to grow them every year. The tropical lilies are not as expensive as most people think, especially if you purchase them bare root. They can range from $13.00 to $25.00 depending on the variety, the ones we offer average about $18.50. Just think of you purchase a bouquet of flowers sometimes the cost could be way over $20.00, some of you might even spend 60.00 on a dozen roses which won’t last the whole summer like a lily will. The colors you get with the tropical lilies you cannot find in hardy lilies and some of the blooms are so beautiful they are hard to describe. I am not slighting the ever reliable hardy lilies, they are awesome as well and as mentioned some will give lots of blooms in soft hues or bright colors of pink, yellow, red, peach, salmon and white. Which ever you decide on the hardy or the tropical I am sure you will enjoy having either one in your pond.