Hi Sally,

I'm sorry but I never got your email, I don't know why I can't get mail through the forum anymore.

I put a link to Teresa's original thread where I posted the garden pics. My lotus are in water, it is not seen in the picture. I bought a half whiskey barrel liner at Lowe's for around $12 and it is 8 inches deep and I believe it is around 24" wide. I have sunk in in the ground so that it is not visible. At that size, I have to dig them up and divide about every 2-3 years. The lotus is how I found Gardenweb about 4 years ago when doing a search on starting lotus seeds. I just love them! I have a whiskey barrel too that I am growing a miniature lotus for the first time this year. I have a small 75 gallon garden pond that I am going to put some in too.

Rebecca

Here is a link that might be useful: original thread with pics

Rebecca,
Just read your post. We have been out of town for 4 days. Can't wait to show my husband.
It is such a clever idea to use a whiskey barrel. It sure fooled us as the other plants made it impossible to see the barrel in the picture.
My husband wants a syrup kettle to put some in. He is also building a small pond about 4 feet wide by 15 feet long for his water lillies and possibly lotus.
He will be wanting to sink whiskey barrels in all the flowerbeds and I would not object.
Again your garden is lovely.

Sally

Sally, below I have linked to the liner that is similar to what I used in the garden. With it being pretty shallow, it is easy to dig a hole for and easy to move if you want it someplace else. The only downfall is that it needs to be topped off with water about every other day in the heat. One of these days, I am going to have a proper sized pond to grow lots of stuff. My little 75 gallon is about the size of a bathtub and I have 3 lilies crammed in with a few other water plants on the shallow shelves at each end. I even kept a couple of gold fish in there for about three years until we adopted a kitten and he caught and ate them!

Rebecca

Here is a link that might be useful: Liner

Rebecca,
I told my husband how you had lotus in the flowerbed and he was impressed. Actually I think we have a couple of those liners around that have been used for one purpose or another.
We have used a large paint bucket (5 gal maybe). Sunk it in the ground for a place for water for birds. We used a small pump covered the sunken can with wire mesh and stones and had a little fountain coming up through the rocks. I thought of this when you said you had to refil the containers often. We had to refil because of the water that evaporated about every 2 or 3 days. It was neat until a neighbors dog found it. He was a big clumsy puppy and just ran in it. Oh well, that was several years ago and another house.
We do like trying new things-at least new to us.

Sally