Hi Wendy, Yes. Some of the stems do grow crooked ...
I don't know why they do this

Some of mine do it also, it is a normal thing to do. . I guess it is the
weather, the lilies are outstanding so far....but only one or 2 buds per lotus
plant so far. A couple of the lotus look like they won't even bloom this year.
Lotus thrive in the heat of summer, and believe it or not we have not hit 90
yet this year..After 5 years of drought, we are getting torrential rains and it
is cloudy most days. Oh well I hate the heat anyway.....I am in
Atlanta.....Tropical storm Bill is on the way, so I drained down the ponds this
morning. Yesterday downtown Atlanta got a thunderstorm with 3.12 inches of
rain in 30 minutes!!!!... Jerri

http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond