September

It is always energizing to spend time with people who share a passion for aquatic plants!  This month has been an incredible example of that, starting with my visit to Denver Botanic Gardens at the beginning of the month, where I gave a presentation detailing the work we do here at Duke Gardens to host the IWGS New Waterlily Contest.  During the trip, I had the chance to spend a day with Joe Tomocik, the curator of aquatic plants at DBG - a position he has held for nearly 30 years.  He was very kind to spend so much time with me sharing his knowledge, tips, and stories!

Monet Pool at Denver Botanic Gardens

Next it was off to San Angelo, TX for the IWGS Annual Symposium- as detailed in my previous blog post.  Talk about energizing!  I met water gardening fanatics from Japan, China, Canada, Australia, Thailand, the U.K., and of course the U.S.

Pottery Bog Filter at Nelson Water Gardens

Rolf and Anita Nelson, the owners of Nelson Water Gardens in Katy, TX were wonderful hosts in the days leading up to and following the conference!  Their retail nursery had so much to see and so many creative ideas that I would love to incorporate into our displays at SPDG, including a "pottery bog filter" constructed using decorative pottery plumbed with pvc pipe with slats cut in it and planted with marginal aquatics.  The water from the pond is pumped up through the pipe and into the potting media (small gravel) where it is filtered by the extensive root systems of the marginals before overflowing back into the pond.  What a great idea - beautiful and effective!

During the conference, I had the opportunity to meet Ken Landon, a renowned waterlily hybridizer and the curator of the International Waterlily Collection in San Angelo.  During an afternoon class, Ken shared his tips for storing tropical waterlily tubers for up to 10 years, which will be helpful to us at SPDG as we increase the size of our waterlily collection.

Yesterday was a great way to round out the month, with the arrival of two special guest volunteers from Wilmington who gave us a hand in the Virtue Peace Pond.  Michael Allan, the former volunteer curator of water gardens at The New Hanover County Arboretum, and Sue Reilly, a current water garden volunteer at the NHCA, joined us in the pond to give the waterlilies their final dose of fertilizer, clean up dead leaves and blooms on the plants, and to compare notes and share tips and ideas regarding our work in the ponds.

A big thank you to Michael and Sue for sharing their enthusiasm and hard work with us, and for rounding out an incredible month of water gardening!  

Guest volunteers Sue Reilly and Michael Allan

IWGS New Waterlily Contest Winners!

The winners of the 2010 IWGS New Waterlily Contest were announced this past weekend in San Angelo, TX at the annual IWGS Symposium.  The official winners are:

Best New Hardy Waterlily and Best New Waterlily Overall - 'Wanvisa', hybridized by Nopchai Chansilpa of Thailand.

Best New Tropical Waterlily and Second Place Waterlily Overall - 'Bimini Twist', hybridized by Florida Aquatic Nurseries, USA.

Best New Nightblooming Waterlily - 'Mae Ploi', hybridized by Sompon Janjungerm of Thailand

Best New Intersubgeneric Waterlily - 'Siam Pink', hybridized by Pairat Songpanich of Thailand

In the People's Choice Awards, the winners are:

Best New Hardy Waterlily - 'Wanvisa', Nopchai Chansilpa of Thailand

Second Place Hardy Waterlily - 'Rattana Ubol', Pairat Songpanich of Thailand

Best New Tropical Waterlily - 'Chularat', Nopchai Chansilpa of Thailand

Second Place Tropical Waterlily - Unnamed hybrid, Florida Aquatic Nurseries, USA

Congratulations to all of the winners!

2010 IWGS Symposium - San Angelo, TX

Greetings from the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society's annual symposium!  This conference takes place in a different location each summer and is attended by pond experts from all over the world.  This year the conference is being held in San Angelo, TX - home of the stunning International Waterlily Collection (IWC).  This is one of the largest collections of waterlilies in the world and is maintained by noted waterlily hybridizer Ken Landon.

This morning, I had my first glimpse of the IWC, and it definitely lives up to expectations!  Over 200 varieties of waterlilies from all over the world are on display in several formal pools.  These pools are connected by several small waterfalls and are edged with marginal aquatics including taro, papyrus, umbrella palm, and canna.  Black dye is added to the water to aid in algae control and to highlight the dramatic leaves and blooms of the plants.

Tomorrow morning, classes will begin in subjects including waterlily hybridization, water quality management, botanical latin, and lotus in China.  

Saturday will mark the start of "Lily Fest", an annual event held at the IWC that gives visitors the opportunity to view all of the amazing waterlilies on display and to speak with Ken Landon about his work in curating the collection.  

Classes in the afternoon will cover topics including storage techniques for waterlily tubers and seeds, the use of floating islands to improve water quality, and how to choose quality koi for a pond.  

Saturday evening, the winners of the New Waterlily Competition will be revealed at last! 

Stay tuned for a list of the official winners, as well as a list of the winning lilies chosen by the public in the 2010 "People's Choice Awards".