These are not our flowers, but once our pond looked like this.- Lately we are experimenting with growing lotus in pots.
- This bud is the first at the monastery for many years. It will unfold in the days ahead. Yea!
- Lotus leaves rise above the water on tall stalks while water lily leaves sit on the water’s surface
- We are preparing six of these 130-gallon pots.
- They are being placed in the ground. This one is near the Silpi Pavilion.
- The holes are 4 feet wide and 18 inches deep
- This pot was the pioneer, installed about a year back. It succeeded, so we are doing more.
- Two will go here, at the Iraivan Temple entrance for all to enjoy
- The earlier pioneer pot is near Gurudeva’s bronze murti
Decades ago one of our large ponds was so dense with lotus that you could not see the water! It was a marvel, and we thought it would persist. But the Hawaiian “catfish,” called tilapia, perhaps the most widely farmed fish in the world, is an aggressive species and is impossible to get rid of. So thanks to some unexpected support from recent pilgrims, we are working on systems to sidestep their damage to the lotus.
Our solution is to grow lotus in self-contained large pots (almost small ponds) that are four feet wide and 18 inches deep. Today we are digging holes for six of the pots, and in the days ahead we will fill them with topsoil and compost. We are getting ready for a May 1 visit from Ken Bernard, who is bringing new cultivars and helping us to establish them properly in the pots.
Hopefully, this time next year we will see dozens of buds and blooms. And the next year. And the next…