Very attractive. I have a hardy lily. I didn't know that there was a visual difference until I looked it up with Google. Supposedly, the tropical pads are thinner and often have fine ruffled edges. Yours looks like mine so I imagine it is a hardy lily.

Thank you very much! I just got it as a passalong, and was curious.

Here's a closeup:
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Very pretty! I bet you love it! I like the pads :-)

Nice little pond. But I think your waterlily is going to take over. Its is a dwarf/pygmy?

I don't know if it is a dwarf. I divided it in March. It had been in the same tiny (50 gal.) pond for about 7 years, so I split it up and put one in my own pond. The pads seem to be pretty small, so I fertilized it. But it seems to be a pretty small grower in general, we'll see though! Thanks for the compliments, but all the credit goes to Pam Penick at Digging and Loree Bohl at Danger Garden (blogs). Digging has a huge, amazing 700 gal. stock tank pond with tutorials.

Here is a link that might be useful: Digging 3pt stock tank tutorial

Thanks Northbay for the link. She has a neat blog!
I didn't realize that you knew that it was a small lily before.......so it should do fine. I'm getting to like those metal tanks more. I have all Rubbermaid tanks, but several of them has developed cracks....which lead to big leaks.
Where did you get that sized one?
I forget their names, but several women who used be on here a couple years ago had those huge metal ponds and they looked great.
What color blossom does your lily make?
I bought a pygmy tropical lily recently and it has a beautiful purple flower.....somewhat like the larger Panama Pacific tropical.

I started out with a whiskey half-barrel pond. People don't realize how much pleasure you can get from small ponds too. They're great!

I totally agree, for such a small pond, I have gotten so much pleasure: watching birds splash around, the fish darting, and pond plants grow so fast too! I love sitting on my deck and just watching the pond. I was surprised that more people don't have the metal stock tank ponds, I guess they don't fit into every landscape though. I got my pond from Western Farm Center here in Santa Rosa, CA, which is just a farm supply center, anywhere you can buy livestock feed, chicken coops, or any other farm supply will most likely have stock tanks, but you may have to order the size you want, I did. Mine was $130 before tax, but it was definitely worth it. Digging is one of my absolute favorite blogs, even though I don't live in Texas, it's a great way to visit without having to deal with the heat, humidity, or mosquitos. Another one of my favorites is danger garden, she has an amazing eye for design and she has the same size stock tank as me, she actually has 11(!!) in total in her small Portland yard. Stock Tanks: They're not just for cows! Any way, I am so jealous of your pygmy purple trop. water lily, I really want a trop. too but they are so expensive! I think that's odd because they grow so darn fast. Really I want one of those Victoria amazonica water lilies, now I just need a bigger yard, heheh... But really though, I do want a trop, but I also want something with fragrance, really intense fragrance, and also dwarf, tall order, but if it's out there I WILL find it, Mwahaahhaaha!!!
I don't know what color the flower is, because the friend who gave it to me had it in a tiny (1 ft tall, 2 ft wide) pond, so in all the years she had it, it never bloomed. No tags, either. So it will be a surprise, I will post pics when it blooms, and it will bloom, it better if it knows what's good for it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Danger Garden-Pond

LOL......"...and it will bloom, it better if it knows what's good for it". haha
Be sure to fertilize it about every 2-3 weeks. Its amazing, but it seems like the week after I fertilize, my lilies bloom like crazy. its almost immediate.
I buy stuff from our local Tractor Supply Store (Indiana), but I've never seen such a small metal tank. But you're right......I'm sure they could order it for me.

As far as the looks of it.........I guess you could say I don't pay a whole lot of attention to what holds my watergardens...........just to what grows in them. I'm sure lots of people would find some of my above-ground Rubbermaid tanks ugly as heck..........but I don't care. Its what they hold that's beautiful.
Plus.....they've attracted a ton of tree frogs, which I love.

I've had several tropical lilies over the years. I haven't been able to overwinter them successfully, so I treat them like annuals.........which makes me sad for them. :(
One of my favorites was Juno. It was a night blooming tropical. It was white and would put up bunches of blooms at a time, and they stood high off the water. I also loved Panama Pacific.........a really intense purple blossom with an intense yellow center.
Ah..........so many lilies..........so little time and stocktanks. haha

I have an inground 300 gallon Rubbermaid tank that is a lotus bog; then I have another inground one for a lily and some marginals. Then I have 2 above ground for lilies and marginals. And I have a small inground 50 gallon preform. I'm using a 40 gallon Tuff Stuff container for the tropical lily.
You just can't have too many water gardens, right? :)

Let me know what color your bloom ends up being......or better yet, post a pic of it!

Well Northbay.........since you asked (haha)........
Here's a pic of my Juno and Panama Pacific tropical lilies (from several years ago).
I can't be responsible though, if this makes you want to get another, larger stocktank. :)

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UGGHHH, I don't just need another stock tank now, I need another yard to put it in! Are they fragrant? Actually I just got back from a nursery that specializes in pond plants and koi, and they had a big selection of trops., in one pond though, there was a single floating leaf, and having read about viviparous water lilies, I asked if I could have it, it had a bump in the center, so we'll see if it does anything. Do have any experience with that? I think it was from a Ganna Walska, very beautiful. If you didn't already know about viviparity, here is a blog post that may help. (yet another Texas blog!) I can't stop attaching links! Please bear with me...
-Max P.

Here is a link that might be useful: East Side Patch- Viviparity

I answered this yesterday, but it must have gotten lost in cyberspace! I don't know if my tropical lilies are fragrant, since I lost most of my sense of smell many years ago after
a virus. :(

I have had some that grew babies on their leaves, but I never tried to grow them from that. Good luck with that.

Thanks for the link............its interesting!

Oh, that's awful, I garden for all the senses, my eyesight is very poor, I don't know what I would do if I couldn't smell.
The umbilicus on the severed pad keeps swelling, so I have hope! Just got six goldfish for the tank, they seem to be settling in well, I also got a fountain pump, to help cover up my neighbors racket.
I really love my pond, it adds an entirely new dimension to gardening. Thank you for sharing those beautiful pictures!

Here's an update:
After a few days of monsoonal rain, then heat, I saw a bud on the water lily! Today it finally opened:
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Also, the leaf I nabbed from the nursery put out roots and leaves. I potted it up and it is doing well. Pictures to follow.