I live in New York City, which I believe is zone seven. In the last two days, my two 1/2 barrel water container gardens formed a nice layer of ice on the top. From what I could see almost all the leaves were dead, save one leaf. So today, I figured it was really time to winter the plants.

I went to empty the water out and after doing so realize that there are still some live leaves that were hidden under the water and, in addition, to a runner on the lotus.

My questions are: 1) Can I cut off the leaves and force the tubers to go dormant, or would it kill the plant. 2) If not, what is the best solution now that the plants are out of he water? I have all the water drained so do I need to put it back into water? should I do it inside the house and wait for the rest the leaves to die? 3) Can I / Should I cut off the runner?