Winterizing water lilies

Question
Hi! I have one winter hardy lilie in my barrel pond. I plan to drain the water and remove everything in it when winter comes. I know I will need to trim the stems and pads but do I keep the lilie in a tank of water during the winter or do I keep it out of water in a cool place in my basement? Thanks!

Answer
I have successfully overwintered tropical lily tubers before but since my ponds are larger, I overwinter the hardy ones outside so I don't have personal experience with that.  You can try to overwinter them in a small pond inside over winter with a good growlight but it may be difficult.  Perhaps they can be overwintered just like the tropical ones.  Here is a link to my site where I discuss overwintering the tropical ones.  You could try the same thing for the hardy tubers.  I've overwintered my tropical lily for 3 years now in damp sand in an open ziploc bag in the dark, in the basement.

http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/plant3.htm#over

Robyn
fishpondinfo.com