Jill
Interesting, let us know how you do. I never got my tropical waterlilies to do much. For some reason, my fish thought the tropical WL's were far tastier than the usual hardy WL's...
My understanding of the Water Lotus is that there are different kinds and they will tolerate some of the warmer zones outside. I love the lotus, but have not tried them either. My problem is that I just don't have the room for them.