I have been growing lotus plants for about 6 years. I don't even know what cultivar the current ones are. I replaced them with new ones when I thought the old ones died. So I gave up keeping track of the cultivars.
I get plenty of aerial leaves every year. But getting blooms is another story! I like the leaves enough that I don't get too disappointed when they don't bloom. No blooms last year. This year, I had one bloom in May. One single bloom. Beautiful, but singular. I don't know what the trick is to get the lotus to bloom.
But ... the pots I have are exactly the same size and style. Same water median in each. I add water to them both weekly. I hadn't fertilized either one until today. So the one bloomed without any fertilizer, too. Go figure! It also receives some shade during the day whereas the other pot gets all day sunlight, but no blooms. So maybe a little afternoon shade in hot climates works?
I would love to hear of anyone's success getting annual blooms. Maybe I need to talk to a water gardening business who sells them to find out what they do to get blooms?
Here is a photo of the one single bloom this year so far.
