If you have not fertilized them yet. Then I would fertilize them and the sweet flag also. It should help them produce blooms and leaves faster.

Water lilies can be fertilized immediately, lotus you want to wait until there are aerial leaves. Most aquatic plant fertilizers are heavy on the blooms, but they also help with pads. If in a large container you could do two or three tabs (Highland Rim or Pondtabbs), one or two on a small container.

Are last year's tabs still good or do they need to be replaced? M

mgeca, if you mean last year's fertilizer tabs that are unused in the bottle or bag, can they deteriorate over time, I think you can assume that they are good for at least a couple of seasons. If you mean, do you need to re-apply fertilizer tabs to the potted plants in your pond? The answer is "yes" and the rate is usually printed on the container. Hardy water lilies are heavy feeders especially in the warm growing season.

Thanks pondbucket - I did mean the physical tabs kept in the bottle since last year. Lilies are doing well, about to use first tabs of the season, wanted to be sure I was getting bang for last year's buck.