After a long and unusually cold winter, spring has finally arrived here in North Carolina. The waterlily team has been busy already this year, beginning with the division of all of our lotus and hardy waterlily plants at the end of March. A special thank you to John Wyman, Jean Reniers, Karen Webbink, and Jay Stoltz for their valuable help with this daunting task.*Look for an upcoming post with step-by-step instructions for the division and planting of these aquatic plants.
The new year has also brought with it some much needed refurbishment of our fish pool/contest lily pool, meaning that this year the IWGS New Waterlily Contest will be held in the Virtue Peace Pond located behind the Doris Duke Visitor's Center. Be sure to visit often between June and September to see these brand new hybrid waterlilies from Thailand, Cyprus, Canada, the United States, and beyond! You can vote for your favorites using ballots available pond-side or on our website starting in June. The official voting by a panel of IWGS judges will take place in late July or early August. As of today, 16 hardy waterlily entries are potted and ready to go in the pond. Four were already blooming today, and I've attached a few photos to show what is in store for the summer. The tropicals are set to begin arriving next week, with a few night-bloomers in the mix to keep us on our toes.
Of course, our water gardening season would not be complete without the ever-present companionship of the local wildlife. A pair of mallards with ten newly hatched ducklings had taken up residence in the pond last week, but seem to have moved on to another spot in the Gardens. A turtle and her offspring are on our radar, with the turtle trap in place in hopes that we can relocate them soon. A pair of Canada geese explored the possibility of making the pond home, but were quickly encouraged to look elsewhere. So far, there has been very minimal damage to report, with only a few nibbles here and there - knock on wood! This month, look for more hardy waterlilies to come into full bloom, and keep an eye on our collection of lotus - both in containers and in the ponds. They continue to grow at a rapid rate and should begin to show some flower buds by the month's end.
