Many posts ago I wrote about the world’s largest waterlilies, the Victorias https://troybmarden.blogspot.com/2008/03/aquatic-giants.html, whose giant floating leaves may reach 8 feet in diameter in a well grown plant and whose night-time flowers approach nearly a foot in diameter. At the far opposite end of the spectrum is the diminutive Nymphaea ‘Helvola’ or ‘Pygmaea Helvola’ which,…
On my recent trip to Philadelphia I was reminded, while at Longwood Gardens, just how much I miss having waterlilies in bloom. My grandmother had a “lily pond” when I was growing up–nothing more than an old bathtub that had been buried in the ground up to its rim with a few stones laid around…
During the summer of 1991 I had the good fortune of being selected to participate in the internship program at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. I had the even better fortune of being selected to serve my term under the guiding hand of Patrick Nutt, a renowned expert on all things horticulture, but even…