Waterlilies can grow quite well absolutely bare root... as long as
fish can't graze the brittle feeder roots they will do better than
potted lilies, if the water is steadily fertile. The best lilies I
ever saw were usually rhisomes that had ambled well out of the lily
tub and the roots could grow without any inhibition.
Water lilies have two distinct types of root, the long many branched
roots are tether roots, ground gripping fellas only. Some vatieties
tether roots can be 4' long
Look carefully and you will spot the feeder roots, they are not
branched, thats what makes the water lily chug, when theres a good set
of them established the plant starts to march with shoots and buds.
The feeder roots are usually 4" to 6" long, take care a water lily
never loses its feeder roots, as it is touch and go if the rhisome
will be able to form a new set. (Big failing of the cheapo water
lilies from Walmarts, this)
Water lily feeder roots really like a soft media to start in, they
are quite brittle, like bamboo shots, a potting mix of half clay and
half dark loam creating a soft 'goo' in a large plant pot is ideal.
.......A couple of things can really suppress lily growth....
turbulence near waterfalls or sprinklers, they hate moving water...
(except the nuphars, they like moving water)
If you have numbers of fish in your pond, it is possible they are
grazing on the lilies feeder roots, this can destroy a water lily.
Alas, many pond folk are sold silly weave baskets, which permit fish
to eat the tasty brittle feeder root tips Switching your lily to a
solid side container, with knife piercings every 4" (to prevent soil
going acid in unventilated container) might make a difference
Gravel is a ghastly plant medium... when you try to divide anything
you won't be able to do a neat knife cut and what roots can get going
will be shredded when you need to divide the plant, those feeder roots
prefer ordinary stoneless soil with a good proportion of clay for
trace minereals.
.......Fish grazing the feeder roots can cripple, and kill lilies....
those silly weave aquatic baskets are certain death for most lilies,
the fish can get at the feeder root tips that amble out the basket,
before they can get going...
.......Another 'kiss of death' for waterlilies is lily root rot. Some
nurseries have been known to sell infected water lilies knowing full
well they will be selling another lily to you next year... that fungus
will destroy every lily that goes in a pond.
Think twice about buying water lilies from anyone who pretends not
know about lily root rot.... Only a few varieties of nymphaea are
capable of outgrowing that disease when it starts...

In a good position, well planted, most water lilies will be flowering
well in a month in summer, if they arent, something is not quite
right....

regards, andy
http://www.members.aol.com/abdavisnc/swglist.html
(andys aquatic plant list for interesting swaps

Carl Beyer wrote in message ...
A few months or so ago I bought a hardy lily for my small pond.
Initially I put it in at 4" below, then dropped it to around 12" It has
sprouted an occassional leaf, but seems to be crapping out right now. I
see new leaves coming, so I have deciced to move it back up to the 4"
level. Oh, the koi have been getting into it a bit (rooting through the
gravel) so I thought this might help as well.

So, am I doing anything wrong? still no flower out of this thing