Most people who are in the market for water lily stems want them for special events like weddings. They do bring an unusual magic to such events, but they are also unpredictable and difficult to work with, making them less than ideal from an event planning perspective.

Below is a description of the process you will go through when you buy lily stems from a grower, and the risks you will face.

From May through September, growers may provide you with any number of fresh blooms that will last from 3 to 5 days. The flowers are usually sent Federal Express overnight to you directly from the field, to arrive the day before your event. We recommend you specify colors, not specific types, since growers can only work with what is blooming on the day of shipment. Tropical varieties tend to work better than hardy ones as cut flowers. For an additional charge, most growers will also ship any number of lily pads.

Prices depend on quantity, and usually range from $5.00 to $11.00 per stem, plus the cost of overnight shipping. Some growers may require a minimum order size.

Here are the caveats:

1) The reason water lily stems are not widely available on the cut flower market is because water lily blooms close up at night, so if you are considering them for an evening or very early morning reception or event, they will not work well for you. If the reception or event is at night (later than early evening), you may consider using night-blooming tropicals.

2) Once they are cut, water lily blooms will not necessarily open at the same time, and some may not open at all. When they arrive, if you fresh-cut the stems, place in them in a tall vase with room-temperature water, and leave them in a sunny window in a warm room (no a/c or fans) then most blooms should open and be robust by mid-morning.

3) Growers may include a few extra stems to compensate for non-bloomers, but they generally only guarantee that you will receive stems that are cut on their first day of blooming, the day before you receive them - they can't guarantee that they will perform for you.

4) For very special events, (in order to avoid giving yourself or your florist a heart attack), you may want to consider using water lilies only for certain dramatic accents, such as in bouquets, or on a head table. It is possible to float water lilies in bowls of water, but this is not recommended. Your best bet is to treat them as regular cut flowers.