They will do very well if shallow water. A couple inches over the roots is all they need. Raising the plants up is a good idea- then you can put them in a mesh bag come fall and sink them down to the bottom for the winter. Raise them back up in the spring.

Lisa

Marginals don't need to be deep. In fact, I have a few that are in pots with holes in the bottom and the tops of those pots are above the waterline, but they stay wet, of course, because of the holes. In a holeless pot, they just need to be deep enough the soil stays wet, a few inches is good because it allows for varying water levels due to evaporation.

If your overturned pots are stable, they will be fine to hold the marginals. If they are in danger of tipping, you can get those inexpensive milk crates from Office Depot (link below), turn those over and set the pots on them. Your fish will then have a safe place to hide. They come in all colors, but black is preferred because they don't show up as much against the black liner.

Water lilies are very adaptable. They can be started out closer to the surface and then lowered as they grow. I've seen both hardies and tropicals lilies in as deep as three feet or water, or as shallow as one foot, all of them with plenty of blossoms.

Here is a link that might be useful: milk crates

Dustin, some good advice from nancy and goodkarma. Don't worry about an established hardy water lily being too deep, 3 ft is usually fine as long as it gets sun at the surface. The chords of the lily will lengthen quickly.

If you are planting a small lily, or, if you're dividing, I find it better to start it in shallower water, 1 ft water over top, and move it deeper later, as nancy mentioned.

Remember to fertilize.

Also, a good source for BLACK pots is a farm supply store. They usually have all sizes of black plastic "feed containers" that are durable but a lot less expensive than the pots you see at the pond stores, esp large (16" to 24"), shallow round containers, perfect for water lilies (less likely to tip-over if an animal gets into the pond too).

Good Luck!

Yes some lilies are small. How do I move them deeper later? As the leaves grow to the surface move them deeper before they surface or let a few leafs reach the surface them replunge it?

I don't think it matters. In fact, I just plunged my lilies into the pond yesterday after keeping them in containers during the koi spawing season (they get a little rough on the plants). The pads were a good four to six inches under the water yesterday, and today some of them are already lying on the water.

Thanks for all the answers. I am excited to watch everything grow this summer.