Water plants are highly seasonal and are available at different times of year.
Here is some general information about seasonal availability for our nursery and our online mail order.
ONLINE MAIL ORDER
Mail Order Closes in Winter – Online mail order will list everything as out of stock usually from late Autumn to late winter.
Mail Order Closes for December – Online mail order will list everything as out of stock briefly for December as we close mail orders to avoid packages with live plants being lost or delayed by the Christmas parcel rush.
Full Mail Order Season – Mail orders start for an early Spring often as soon as late Winter. After the December break they usually re-start in the first week or two after New Year. Then mail orders continue until some time in late Autumn when they close for winter. Just because we are sending some plants in the mail does not mean all are available. Some of our range is highly seasonal and only available for limited parts of the mail order season.
Lotus Mail Order Season – Starts in late winter and lasts two or three months only. Lotus has a very narrow window for fitting in the postage while still being at its best state for division and repotting.
Temperate Lily Season – Starts in late Winter or Early Spring and lasts until Autumn.
Tropical Lily Season – Tropical lilies, including all blue and purple lilies, are displaced from temperate lily season by about two months. Typically tropical lily season runs from early Summer until mail orders close in late Autumn.
Seasons at the Nursery
At the nursery different plants are available to view or purchase at different times of year. There is always something flowering and available at almost any time other than Winter. Availability in general, including seasonal availability is broader at the nursery than online for mail order. However there is some seasonal availability worth noting.
The Best Season To See The Nursery – January is the best time to see the nursery. Temperate water lilies, tropical water lilies, lotus, and more will be flowering all at once. Remember that the best time of day is between 10am and 3pm because the flowers open and close every day. And if you want to see night flowering lilies open as well then you want to be at the nursery before or around 10am.
Bare Rooted Lotus Season – At the nursery we prefer to sell potted rather than bare rooted lotus, but if you turn up during our repotting and lotus mail order season we MAY choose to make bare rooted lotus available for those who cannot return when advanced potted plants would be ready for sale.
Potted Lotus Season – Starts around or slightly before bare rooted lotus mail order ends. Usually in late Spring or early Summer. Plants will then be available until at least February or as long as seasonal stocks last without selling out.
Off Season Potted Lotus – We do not advise you to purchase potted lotus during dormance. But if you are at our nursery in winter, and if we have remaining stocks of potted lotus available, we may make dormant plants available for sale. If you do purchase dormant plants we would advise you to take them home and leave them untouched in water until the normal division and repotting season.
Lotus Flowering Season – Plants are available for longer, but if you want to see lotus flowers the peak of the season is in January and somewhat into the neighboring months.
Temperate Water lilies – Are usually available from very early spring until autumn. We may even have plants available off season, including our very limited range of temperates that keep leaves all year in our local conditions. Though we recommend against purchasing temperate lilies in winter, if we have remaining stock they will be made available at the nursery against best advise.
Tropical Water Lilies – Tropical lilies, which include all blues and purples, are usually available from late Spring or Early Summer until Late Autumn. Very very few tropical lilies are available out of season especially in Winter as only one or two varieties can survive disruption during dormancy and stocks of those are very limited at that time of year.
Louisiana Water Iris – Are one of our only groups of plants that grow over winter. They are available usually from Autumn until Early Spring when they flower. We often have some stock remaining briefly after they flower and will sell them at a discount during that brief period before clearing them to make room for more summer plants.
Sarracenia Pitcher Plants – Are divided, trimmed and repotted every year around Late Winter to Early Spring. They are then available all through their long summer growing season. They only flower in early Spring but are grown for their foliage which should be present all season, some varieties are best early season, others are best late season. Plants can be sold off season and in winter against advise but only while stocks last. Limited stocks are the main factor for seasonal availability and stocks are only refreshed once per year in the repotting season.
