I saw some in the Amazon and loved them!

If you set up an aquarium or tub you could fire them up in a greenhouse or indoors under strip lights, a month ahead of the likely mid 70's water temps outdoors

They are picky about 80's, 90's temps, so don't be surprised if the plant fails outdoors if you get a late cold spell

For a plant with more spectacular lilypads, you might try the Euryale, Gorgon plant, its more tolerant of cold spells

If you look at your historical weather data and look at the usual mean low temperature, you might notice the lows too often bump along the seventy mark, it would be very hit or miss to plant out a Vic

You really need that constant 80's and 90's stuff for at least two months

I grow a number of plants of both species, V.amazonica and V. cruziana, as well as the 'Longwood Hybrid'every year and the Longwood is definitely the easiest to grow and no fussier about water temp than a standard tropical, in that while they will thrive at temps over 95 F, come fall an established plant can take chilly waters.

I know of people growing them as far north as Rochester, NY and others in chilly Iowa...I should specify...growing them successfully.

Read the advice on either www.victoria-adventure.org or the sister site www.watergardenersinternational.org/ and you'll see that by playing with pot size, you don't really need a huge pond to enjoy a Vic.

Many of the large varieties can be stunted to smaller sizes, by a smaller pot and setting them shallow. Most night bloom tropical waterlilies can happily be grown four foot or less wide, though you run the risk of the foliage being scorched in hot sun in shallow water, the unfurling lilypads scorching along the edge

One particular downside to Vic's, besides the confusion over what version you have (Amazonica has very demanding high temp requirements while the Longwood is more cold tolerant) the lilypads are vulnerable to wind damage

Pat Nutt wrote the most concise description of Vic's, notes which Perry Slocum included in his books, which might save wasting time reading gobbledygook elsewheres

Some pads might flip in high winds but can be righted with negligible damage and truth be told...I've never had a cruziana pad flip. So pad damage is a very minor concern...more a slight and infrequent inconvenience in the minds of those that have actually grown them.

For hobbyists using legitimate vendors, there is no confusion over what plant you are getting and that is especially true for the quality growers that participate in the WGI 'Truly Named' program. Every plant is tagged with both name and lot number to positively eliminate mistakes. Seeds from victoria-adventure are also identified by type and lot number. So you can try either free seed or buy started plants with no concern for confusion. Though I'd be leery of the mongrel lilies of all types frequently peddled on ebay.

I know Patrick Nutt believes they are worth the effort.

Folk that can't put a plant in a box. Can't find a plant. Inferior choice and price. Not a vague clue as to heat tolerance, no clue and a cavalier disregard for maintaining disease free plants. Insulting incompetence. Do I really want a 5c plant that might have been shipped in from China fobbed off at $40?

No thanks

No such problems finding vastly more reliable 'quality' elsewhere, especially among the specialist collectors who know them and grow them, listing on ebay

Credit where its due...

But not to drift the thread, WGI is also the only organization offering access to guaranteed, pedigreed Victoria and Nymphaea through the Truly Named program. So if you want a true V. amazonica it is "the" place to look.

Odd a founding member of WGI, such as yourself, hasn't resigned in disgust if even a small part of your claims are provably true.