Nelumbo nucifera (lotus flower)

I have a hard time growing lotuses in my neighborhood, thanks to an abundance of raccoons (and the occasional duck) eating the seeds/leaves/roots long before anything grows large enough to bloom. So my solution is to print one because I rarely like the artificial ones I find in craft stores.

This model comes in three parts:

• flower petals/stamens

• immature seed pod

• stem

They all print flat and without supports, though the tip of the stem has a tendency to warp, so you might need to use a lighter or a hair dryer to try to reshape it. Or file/sand it down. And you'll want to use a bit of cyanoacrylate (super glue) to glue everything together (warning; there's a gap between the seed pod and the petals so it'll feel a bit loose until the glue sets).

If you use PLA, you can dye the parts using a fabric dye meant for synthetics (e.g., RIT, Jacquard), or in the photos I used a green filament for the seed pod and the stem, and a green alcohol marker to color the petals and wiped everything down in isopropyl to soften the edges.

I've included two STL files: one showing how the flower is assembled; the other is flat and more or less ready for printing.