Originally a seedling of N. ‘Attraction’, from Perry Slocum, Perry sold about 100 seedlings to Brad McLane around the year 2000. Brad in turn sold many of the seedlings to Randy during a time there was a slight shortage of Attraction. According to Randy this is when he grew out and found N. ‘Hidden Violet’. I was anxious to try one of these nifty red hardy lilies. The name Hidden Violet refers to the sheen on the plant when it is held up to the light you see a sheen of violet around the edge of the flowers.

The petal count is low but the unique star flower is interesting. After growing these plants for the past few summers and also seeing it on display in San Angelo I would call this a not so good bloomer. I usually had one bloom per day this summer in multiple pots with multiple crowns. Also for some reason the rhizomes do not seem to enjoy being transplanted like other hardy lilies. I am not sure this is an excellent choice for a market lily however it is unique and something new and fun I enjoyed trying the past few years.

Randy McDonald is an incredible waterlily Hybridizer from California and has an extensive hybrid stock we will dive into soon, many of which are interesting heavy blooming tropical plants.

Texas Dawn has been an incredible waterlily for nearly 30 years, the wonderful yellow flowers on this hardy lily are held high above the water and blooms in profusion. Hybridizers also enjoy working with the cultivar by Ken Landon. Here are some videos from Ken Landon, Drew Darby, and Tim Davis.

Ken Landon

Drew Darby

Tim Davis

Texas Dawn waterlilies are available for purchase here.

Here is just a peek at what Mike will be bringing to market in the next 2-3 years. Also our friends in Florida have followed in the footsteps of Pairat Songpanich and Mike Giles with more urple hardy waterlilies. Both the blue and purple hardy lilies have been slow too reproduce so they will probably become available 1 or 2 years more slowly than a normal hardy lily. Many of the pink and red lilies multiply faster and could be available sooner.

Mike also has some lilies with blooms nearly the size of a gallon container and in cool weather stay open 6 to 12 days.

More information coming here soon and more waterlilies coming to Pond Megastore.

Kayaking through the native Nelumbo Lutea was incredible and by far the coolest experience of our 2011 adventures. More on that in an upcoming post. Here is a video of Mr. Mel Yoshimura who brought his pickled lotus root, or lotus root salad to the Sarasota Lotus Festival in July.

Enjoy.

We have Emily Grant Hutchings. One of George Prings most incredible night blooming waterlilies, this video though not narrated will stun you! Plant night bloomers only after water is well into the 70s constantly or you will put them to sleep for many weeks. They multiply easily so keeping some over the winter as tubers is no problem if you have watched our tuber storage videos from Ken Landon. Emily Grant Hutchings is pink with green pads, flowers open around dusk and stay open well into the next morning ot even noon if it is overcast.

Next, James Brydon is a red moderate to heavy blooming small to medium waterlily. The shape of the flowers is very pretty and this like most reds does well where summer temperatures are not too hot. If your average high in summer is above 92 degrees then red hardy waterlilies are to be avoided as they tend to turn black and get a cooked appearance after opening.

Finally we have Wood’s Blue Goddess, a favorite large blue waterlily created by Jack Wood in 1989. Flowers stand high above the water and the pads are green. The flowers are moderate to heavy depending on pot size and fertilizer.

Alexis waterlily, (below) blue waterlily at www.pondmegastore.com

This waterlily is currently for sale at http://www.pondmegastore.com

Beginning in 2012 PondMegastore.com will have exclusive sales rights to the first of Mike Giles hardy waterlilies hybrids. Myra, Sunfire, Fairy Skirt, Yellow Giant, and Hunneycup. In 2013 as long as production goes well we will then bring you the first Purple and Blue hardy waterlilies from Mike Giles.

More Soon….
Zac – water-garden-blog.com / http://www.PondMegastore.com

Day 17, Three of the new Chinese Lotus, ‘Drunken Concubine out of Bath’ (left), ‘Red Lantern’ (right), and ‘Dasa Jin’ (back). Each is growing faster as return to warm days in the 80s and lows in the mid to upper 50s.

Our lotus tubers ship with excellent growing tips. Only Lotus and water hawthorne are shipped as tubers. Our waterlilies and marginals arrive as adult sized plants usually with buds.

Lotus can be blooming in just 6 weeks from planting in warm weather. Plant shallow and wait to fertilize until you have a leaf standing above water. This is a tea-cup lotus in a 7 inch pot. The photos are taken during only 6 days from left to right. Medium and Large lotus need much larger containers.

Above is a larger 16 inch

Here you can see a tea cup lotus (front right), a small lotus (left), and a medium lotus (back). Each will need a little water each day in the summer as they will be heavy drinkers.  They will also love miracle grow once they have standing leaves.

This summer we will be documenting, Dasa Jin (large versicolor), Red Lantern (small / tea cup), Red Bowl, Loyalty Son, and Drunken Concubine out of Bath.

Later this week we begin rolling out Pond Megastore 3.0 with new improvements. The site will take a few week for all the new features but look forward to much easier navigation, many new pond products, much improved information on plants and planting information. The new site we hope will be more beneficial than any other water garden company has ever provided in the past.

Remember it will be rolled over time,  in steps over May 11th through June.

Please let PondMegastore.com know  what improvements you would like to see. We have almost 4000 facebook users taking advantage of our Facebook specials and information.

Tamara Kilbane, grower of the International Waterlily Competition plants in Raleigh, NC, has offered her observations and tips for enhanced blooming of Nymphaea ‘Wanvisa’.

       “As far as my observations of ‘Wanvisa’ – it is a very fast growing plant and a good bloomer.  We saw an average of 2-4 blooms open each day throughout the season, which was no less (and in fact more) than what we saw in many of the contest hardies.  Because it does grow so fast, it can become root-bound by the end of the season, which can in turn cause a decrease in the number of flowers while also causing the foliage to mound above the surface a bit. 

          I  really felt that this plant was a stand out in our pond in 2010.  It bloomed steadily (the blooms do open a bit later in the day than other hardies, but it is worth the extra couple of hours of waiting), and the foliage is stunning in its own right.  It is already blooming for us in our pond this year, and removing the eyes that are already forming on the rhizome seems to be helping us to keep it in check while giving us larger blooms.  Because it is a sport of ‘Joey Tomocik’, it remains to be seen how hardy it is in colder climates.  Joe is currently growing it at Denver Botanic Gardens, and many members of the Colorado Water Gardening Society will also be growing the plant this year – it will be interesting to see what their observations are.  Tim is also growing it at Longwood, and Missouri Botanic Gardens also has a plant.”

From Zac:

       There is some great news about Wanvisa, the 2010 Champion waterlily will available to many more than originally thought. The International Waterlily and Water Garden Society bought many of these amazing new waterlilies and have been selling it as a fundraiser.  Initial sales (October-February) were not what they expected and before any plants had been shipped they sold off a number of plants to wholesalers and collectors.

       Luckily for the budget wise, Wanvisa is one of the most rapid producers of new plants. One single rhizome can create 20 or more plants easily in a 5 month growing season. So with all the plants currently multiplying plus the ones the IWGS has not sold, the price  by spring of 2011 should have the prices down to about the same as almost every other hardy waterlily.  

       Funding has been a problem for the IWGS the past decade and the Certified Aquatic Plant of the Year was one idea for new revenue. The IWGS has yet to come up with a business plan that can support their efforts on a year by year basis. They have stopped charging members for annual dues but have yet to lay out a benefit to members other than a quartely Journal and Annual symposium. The speakers at the events are good and the 2010 Symposium was a hit at the International Waterlily Collection in San Angelo. The prior year in Chicago the number of waterlilies to be seen at the event was somewhat low. Once a fan of the IWGS I am hopeful for some internal changes in the organization which seems to lack an outlined focus or direction. The best sources for waterlily information currently remains Water Gardner’s International which has an extensive database however has had a recent short pause in update. The IWGS only remaining strength is in the Journal which continues to provide decent quarterly information.

       Koiphen, American Ponders, InternationalWaterlilyCollection.com , AboutTheLotus.com and Facebook are the only up to date and active goings on outside of regional pond societies. Has Facebook taken the position of the IWGS in social circles? Or has the IWGS lost all focus on its mission and plan for the future? In the coming weeks the society is going to “relaunch” or reboot its website but I have heard of no actual plan on it providing relevant material. We are sure the site navigation will be improved.

        If the 2011 Quindo symposium is a success the society will probably have turned a corner in its financial situation and if the website is improved with content and made interactive they can restore relevance to its brand. We look forward to seeing how the 2011 summer turns out.

       -Zac deGarmeaux