Bob Hobden wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote after..
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

And yes I know its not hardy, I was just
gently trying to point out that with vague naming you get rather strange
advice! :~)

I just looked in a catalog: Nelumbo Nucifera 'speciosa' is the generic
one
offered by a U.S. aquatic nursery; they also have a bunch of named
selections and hybrids. These are quite hardy; I grow them in a bushel
plastic tub a couple of feet deep in an earth pond, and they winter just
fine, even though the ice gets a foot or more thick in a northeastern U.S.
winter. They're easy to grow but hard to transplant- the roots are
divided
in late winter before growth begins, and any damage to the buds will kill
them.

I haven't had enough seeds to make flour, but that might be an interesting
dimension to the sourdough I occasionally bake!

We are always told they are very much non-hardy here but if you can grow
them with your hard winters we should be able to. I've only ever seen them
in places like India, Egypt, Shri Lanka etc and wonder if yours and the ones
sold over there originated in a cold part of the tropics, perhaps up in the
mountains somewhere perhaps, i.e. it's a variety that has developed
hardiness.
Now, please name a nursery over your side that would send me one for my
pond. Please......... :-)

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

Say, Gary... I can hardly believe that Nelumbo nucifera (any cultivar) is hardy
where you are.
But then, New York is about the same latitude as Rome, so even with your cold
winters, the plant (if deep enough to be protected from frost) would get enough
heat in summer. Perhaps that makes the difference. It certainly wouldn't survive
over here, nor in the UK.
Still... you're certain that your plant is not (for example) Nelumbo lutea (the
American lotus)?
Or, if it should be a hybrid... do you know which one?
Regards
Roger, in Flanders (Belgium), Z 7b.

--
There's more than money to be looked for in this short life of ours