water lily
My daughter in law has just given this water lily to me, she says to just chuck it in, no need to pot up.
She also gave some bulrush type grass which she said to pot up in soil. What do you think about the lily though, any siggestions please?
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
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I pot them Lyn, if only to make it easier to fish them out and split them occasionally. They respond well to splitting, with stronger foliage and flowers the season after.
Opinions will vary though. 
Thank you Gemma, I will have to get another bag of aquatic compost, is that what you use?
Thank you Verdun. It does seem to have only one shooty type bit though. Should I trim the roots or plant the lot. Never had a pond before I am complete novice.
There is a video here Lyn, covers it all
http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/creative-projects/how-to-divide-water-lilies/360.html
I don't touch the roots, just cut the big chunks up with the bread knife as in the video, then pot up fresh.
PS If I had that chunk, I would say it was good to go, put in a nice big basket that it fits easily and divide/split in a year or two.
I agree with the advice with the waterlily - a pot with aquatic soil will be fine, gravel on the top and the basket lined with hessian will do the trick.
I would be a bit worried about the "bulrush type grass" that you also have. If it is a Typha, beware that it isn't too vigorous. Some of them (though, admittedly, not all) have root systems that can force their way out of a pot and even pierce a pond liner. If in doubt, I would leave it out! I prefer to leave such plants for the wild, and concentrate on less invasive/damaging species.
Thank you, I will do just that, I have a basket with holes in so will line it and plant shallow first tben down a bit.
Bit scared of the grass now, its a whopping clump now, about the size of a bucket! could it really pierce the liner
Verdun, thank you for your kind words about the funeral, did you go to Bodmin?