International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society WATER GARDEN JOURNAL

AUTUMN Vol. 29, No. 3 2014 P. 2 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal

IN THIS ISSUE 03 President’s Letter President Mike Swize shares his IWGS symposium experiences. 04 Club Corner Vicki Aber describes the loss of a valuable fellow club member. 05 Home Gardening Primer 11 Fall pond care tips. 06 From the Library A new column based on the shared IWGS library resources. 08 IWGS 2014 Symposium A wrap-up of the recent IWGS 2014 Nymphaea ‘Bob Hoffman’ is a new purple-flowering tropical symposium. waterlily hybrid. It was named in his honor by his good friend 10 Grower’s Corner Tamara Kilbane of Denver Botanic Gardens. Photo by Mike Swize. The last grower column authored by David Curtright. 12 Lost Lilies Two waterlily breeders lament the loss of unsuccessful waterlilies. 14 Made in Germany Meet Vasu Manickam, an accom- plished amateur waterlily breeder. On the Cover Frog photo by Mike Swize.

Your Submissions Welcome ‘Burgundy Rose’ is one of the If you would like to submit water many lost waterlilies. garden visits, book reviews, event Photo by Rich Sacher. listings, or other articles for the Vasu Manickam at his per- next edition of the Journal, please sonal greenhouse tending send them by December 15 to to waterlilies. [email protected]. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 3 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3

President’s Letter Meeting Up with Old Friends and Making New Ones

Hello, Everyone! Back in August the IWGS held its annual symposium. It was a chance for waterlily enthu- siasts, or as I like to say, “waterlily geeks,” to meet and talk with others that share their passion. This year we were very fortunate to be able revisit a spot that hosted one of the first Symposiums back in 1997, Denver Bo- tanic Gardens. That symposium back in 1997 was a very memorable one for all involved. The curator of Aquat- ics at the time, Joe Tomocik, with the help of many volunteers from the Colorado Water Gardening Society had spent all year planning and planting a fantastic display of waterlilies and aquatics to show off to the attendees. Included in this display was the very first New Waterlily Competition or Trials as they were called back then. But as everyone in the business or hobby of growing plants knows Mother Nature often has other plans. A mas- sive hailstorm hit the gardens on the very first day of the symposium dumping a foot of hail on the gardens. The aquatic displays were shredded beyond recognition. Joe Tomocik was, understandably, devastated and was worried that the symposium would be a failure. But it wasn’t, it was a complete success even without the waterlily displays. I wasn’t able to attend that symposium, but everyone that I talked to about it said they had a wonderful time. Friends, who previously only knew each other through the mail and phone calls, were finally able to meet face-to-face. This is a comment I hear so fre- quently from attendees of the ’97 IWGS. This is proof that it is not so much about what we see at a symposium, it is about the contacts and friendships that are made. It continues to be about the conversations over dinner or sitting next to someone on a bus going to the next venue. This was reinforced several times during the 2014 Denver Symposium. Within 10 minutes of meeting Iain McGregor, we were deep in a conversation about the merits of various tropical waterlilies. Over dinner I learned of John Sou’s passion for collecting hybrids by Kirk Strawn, for whom I worked for many years. I saw phones being passed around on buses and at dinner tables showing off new hybrids or old favorites. I saw friendships being made. This is what the symposiums are about. Making new friends and catching up with old ones. The Society owes a huge debt of thanks to quite a few people and groups for making the 2014 Denver Sympo- sium so successful. Denver Botanic Gardens and Hudson Gardens went out of their way to accommodate us with donated event space and free run of their gardens. The Colorado Water Gardening Society had volunteers helping at every turn. And a big thank you to Tamara Kilbane who made the 2014 IWGS Symposium a huge success. In addition to planning and hosting the Symposium this year, Tamara is also in charge of the IWGS New Waterlily Contest that is held every year. She did all of this while also having to deal with massive con- struction projects at the gardens that left her growing pools dry this spring for far longer than she had anticipat- ed. She did a fantastic job of pulling everything together and created amazing displays of waterlilies, Victorias, and marginal plants for everyone to enjoy at the gardens. Also, plans are already well on their way for next year’s symposium. Deb Spencer and Susan Davis of Waters Edge in Lawrence, Kansas, are planning a superb event scheduled. Come meet new water gardening friends and catch up with some friends you haven’t seen in far too long. Deb and Susan know how to put on a great event, so plan on attending in August of 2015. Sincerely, Michael Swize IWGS President [email protected] P. 4 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal

Club Corner The Loss of a Leader by Vicki Aber

What does a club do when the President is lost. Many things can cause this from that person just stepping down to a permanent loss. Our club recently experienced this.

Our President, Bob Hoffman was lost to cancer earlier this year. Bob was more than just the President to most of the members in the club. He was the person you called when you were having problems with your pond. He was the person you called when you needed more help recruiting people for a task. He was the person you called when you just needed to talk. Bob had been a member almost from the beginning. He had been officer and just member, but he was always there when a job needed doing. His wife, Fran was almost always at his side, working just as hard. We lost a worker, organizer, buddy and fun person to be around.

At one point, Bob decided that a local public garden, Hudson Gardens, needed to do more with their water gar- dens. He decided to volunteer and before long was in complete control of the water features. Everyone that has visited Hudson will agree, he did an outstanding job. If you were at the recent symposium in Denver, you saw Hudson Gardens and how much he had done. If you get to the Denver area sometime, be sure to make a stop there. If that wasn’t enough, he spent many hours volunteering at Denver Botanic Gardens also. Somehow he still had time to keep his own garden ship-shape. We lost a person with great vision.

Bob was always curious and experimenting with different plants and different cultural methods. He was con- stantly reading. If he didn’t know something, he researched, talked to people, and did his own experimenting until he figured it out. We lost a lot of knowledge when we lost Bob.

How do you fill this void? If anyone has an answer, we need to know. I don’t think we can. We will just carry on, it is more than just what Bob would want, it is what he would expect. Bob was never a slacker, so we can’t be.

About the Author Vicki Aber is the newest IWGS board member. She is also a member of the Colorado Water Garden Society (CWGS) and has served there as a board member and an officer, including the position of president. She can be contacted via email at [email protected]. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 5 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3

Home Gardening Primer 11 Fall Pond Care Tips A nip in the air, shorter days, and the shedding of multi-colored leaves from the trees signifies a chang- ing of the seasonal guard. Gardeners across the country take precautions to protect their landscapes from the harsh reality of winter. Water features in the landscape require special consideration when putting your pond to bed for a long winter’s nap. Pond mainte- nance chores in the fall and winter vary depending on where you live, but there are some basic guidelines to help your aquatic plants and finned friends weather the chill of Mother Nature. Following is a handy check list to help ensure a healthy pond come spring time.

1 Decaying leaves and foliage produce toxic gases 8 Trim back waterlily leaves and stems to 2-3" above that can harm your fish so you want to remove this the base of the plant. This keeps dead foliage from debris before winter rolls into town. You don’t need decomposing in the pond. to remove every single last leaf, but try to remove the majority. 9 If you left hardy waterlilies in their pot, drop them into the deepest part of the pond to over-winter. Do not 2 If you put protective pond netting over your pond bring them indoors as they need a period of dormancy. before the leaves started to fall, your job is easy. Care- fully roll up the net and discard the leaves that were 10 Bring tropical waterlilies indoors if you want to caught. over-winter them. Keep the pot in 50-degree water or take them out of the pot and store in sand. Be ad- 3 If you didn’t use a net over the surface of your pond, vised, even trained horticulturists lose a lot of tropical you’ll need to remove the build-up of leaves from the waterlilies when storing them indoors, so you might bottom of the pond. Use a long handled pond net to simply want to treat them as annuals. scoop them out. 11 Once temperatures drop to 50 degrees, stop feed- 4 Check your skimmer basket and remove any leaves ing your fish. They need to get ready to hibernate and that are still caught inside. you’ll want to avoid any metabolic complications. You can feed them specially formulated cold water fish 5 Add cold water beneficial bacteria to the pond once food until the temperature drops below 50 degrees. the temperature drops below 50 degrees. Use twice weekly for two weeks, and then once per week until Article Source the water starts to freeze. Aquascape, St. Charles, IL, USA. www.aquascapeinc.com.

6 Stop fertilizing your aquatic plants after the first frost.

7 Trim back hardy marginal aquatic plants to 2" above the water to keep the dead foliage from drooping over into the pond. P. 6 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal

paying the $12.00 asked for it, and looked high and From the Library low for any others. I’ve been looking for others ever Water Gardening Resources since, thus far to no avail. The search has always been By David Curtright a great deal of fun, and I plan to continue it as long as [Editor’s note: David Curtright has recently taken over the duties of IWGS I can walk and read (not necessarily at the same time, Librarian from Walter Pagels, who is no longer in good health.] but you get the point). Now, though, I’ll be collecting more for the IWGS Library than for my own, which With this article, I am beginning what I hope will be a might become part of the IWGS’s when I quit indulg- long-running series of articles under the overall head- ing myself with this stuff, such as might happen when ing, “From the Library,” in which I hope to discuss I die. topics such as histories of people, places, plant variet- ies, or our own club; or the various aspects of keeping This collection, so patiently assembled and maintained our beloved plants, including cultural notes, hybridiz- by Walter, is a special resource that all of us need to ing techniques, scientific tidbits, or points on creating delve into from time to time for inspiration and in- environments that are suitable for keeping one plant or sight. There are books by people that most of us have another. I might also do book reports, being careful to never heard of, but then there are many written by be neutral in my approach, i.e., trying not to pass judg- people with whom many of us have been acquainted, ment on the contents of a book when I see in the title most still alive, but many not. Names like Greg on the cover that the author and publisher have used Speichert, Philip Swindells, Paul Stetson, Perry Slo- a possessive with no apostrophe. (Can’t judge these cum, and Surrey Jacobs, all of whom have passed out things by their covers, now!) My idea is that if people of our lives, each of whom left holes in the lives that cannot come to the library, then the library should they touched, but who also left books for us to read; come to them. This is a much-neglected resource and we can hear their voices as we read their words, among our membership, and a little bit of help from and remember them as we knew them. Each of these me might change that. authors has had something to say, and while some of them are more articulate than others, each is/was very Assuming the stewardship of this impressive col- good at what they were writing about, and eager to lection is an honor that I assume with glee and, yes, share their knowledge. It is, therefore, incumbent upon even excitement. I haven’t exactly been covetous of it us to read what they have written, so that we might when I’ve visited Walter Pagels’ place over the years, stay abreast of where we are as hobbyists, but also of but I admit that I have acted to ensure that my own where we have come from as hobbyists. I don’t have library might someday match it in scope, and, while I all of the books here yet, but even in those that I do have a pretty nice little collection going, I have ut- have, there is a wealth of knowledge that would be terly failed to rival the IWGS collection. It’s not even shame to let sit idle. close. Walter has been diligently collecting books on things aquatic and botanical for more than 50 years, One of the great fears about the fate of the library and I have always known that there were things in this was that it would be taken by an institution, and that collection that I would never have, such as an original it would then languish in boxes in a storeroom some- copy of Conard’s monograph, or most of the very early place, and that nobody living today would ever see water gardening books and catalogs that he has accu- or hear of it again. Walter’s single criterion for its mulated. disposal is that it be kept in an accessible condition, and while he has been dismayed by a lack of interest I have combed old book stores, estate sales, and the li- in the past several years, he remains hopeful that more braries of all of my friends, hoping to find that pearl of people will seek to utilize it. The question is, though, an old book, and have met with only sketchy success. how do you make it accessible? I remember the thrill that I felt when I found a copy of a bound edition of the third year (1917 – 1918) of Wm. I am not, nor have I been for many years, a lender or T. Innes’ monthly magazine “Aquatic Life” in a thrift a borrower of books. It is too easy to forget that a par- store in Lemon Grove, CA. I scooped it up, gladly ticular book has been lent, and also to give something International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 7 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3 like that back; and many people do not do so consis- tently, in spite of the facts that they are lovely people, and that their intentions are always good. I am, how- ever, one who enjoys sharing knowledge. Therefore, I am willing to do what Walter did, which has been to do bits of research for people from the library, to write from it, to provide excerpted pieces, and to make it physically available to any member who happens to be in my town long enough to visit it. I don’t know how else to do it except to take substantial deposits from borrowers for books that can be replaced, to impose time limits on the loans, and to not lend irreplaceable books. This involves money, though, and that makes me nervous. I am open to suggestions concerning these seemingly contradictory policies (making it more available, while simultaneously restricting avail- ability), and nothing is yet set in concrete. Nobody has set any rules before me, so I can only do what I think is best for the preservation of the collection. Walter published a set of indices; one sorted by subject matter, the other by author, and I am bringing them up to date as the books come out of the boxes, having al- ready transcribed its 23 pages from his sheets of paper to my computer, and I will send the updated version out on the forum, perhaps, and certainly on the IWGS website, as soon as it is done. I haven’t done a count yet, but it is a lot of books and articles. We also have a collection of all of the IWGS Journals, and many of the several magazines that have come out over the years. I will try to make an index of articles from these magazines so that the membership can make use of them, too, but don’t hold your breath on that one. I hope that this will be a useful thing for me to do, and that people will read and enjoy whatever it is that I might come up with. I will do my best to bring this re- source to you in well-written and informative articles A sampling of past covers of the IWGS Water Garden Journal. that will pique your interest and perhaps inspire you to write something for the Journal or the online forum, About the Author or to grow something that you hadn’t tried before, or David Curtright owns Freshwater Flora & Fauna, Inc., even to ask me about a particular plant, or book, or Escondido, San Diego County, CA, USA. Web site: geographical area, or person, or whatever. The re- http://pond-plants.com. Email: [email protected]. source is here, ready to be used one way or another, and I would encourage people to do just that. P. 8 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal

gave tours of the Japanese Garden that were also very 2014 IWGS Symposium popular. Transform Your Life with The weather was hot and the sun intense, but attendees a Natural Swimming Pool enjoyed touring the gardens and many were overheard by Tamara Kilbane planning to come back to spend more time explor- ing on their own. As the afternoon wound down and This year’s International Waterlily and Water Garden- thunderclouds moved in, the group enjoyed the cooler ing Society Symposium took place in Denver, CO, temperatures with drinks in the Orangery followed by from August 14th - 17th. Denver Botanic Gardens dinner on the west terrace. The keynote talk was given (DBG), Hudson Gardens, and the Colorado Water after dinner by the Curator of Plants at Longwood Garden Society served as hosts for a diverse crowd of Gardens, Tomasz Anisko. Anisko is the author of the approximately 80 symposium attendees from Canada, newly published book Victoria: The Seductress and Mexico, Australia, Germany, China, Belgium, and his talk focused on the historical details surround- around the U.S. ing the discovery and naming of this South American As attendees arrived into town on the 14th, they waterlily. were welcomed by Colorado Water Garden Society Saturday’s schedule included more talks given in the (CWGS) board members Brenda and Peter Hier, who morning including a popular presentation given by handled the registration check-in process at the host aquaponics expert Sylvia Bernstein. Her expertise on hotel. Attendees were then treated to tours of the water growing plants and fish gardens on the campus together was well received of Denver University by by the group and she CWGS board member Jim reported back that it was a Arneill and his wife Tudi. fun crowd to speak to. The These tours proved to be morning talks concluded popular and many people with a presentation by commented on how im- waterlily hybridizers Tony pressed they were with the Moore, Brandon McLane, water features. and Mike Giles, who The following morning, shared photos of their new- talks were given at the host est hybrids with the group. hotel by speakers Demi After traveling to the Platte Fortuna of Atlantic Water River Grill for lunch, Gardens, and the Interna- the educational session Hybridizer demonstration at Hudson Gardens. Photo by Tamara Kilbane. tional Lotus Registrar, Daike was continued at Hudson Tian of Shanghai, China. Gardens, where the same Once the presentations were completed, attendees panel of hybridizers offered a hands-on demonstration boarded buses to Denver Botanic Gardens, where of their hybridizing techniques while wading among they spent the remainder of the day and evening. the lilies in the newly renovated water garden named The CWGS Water Blossom Festival was a highlight in honor of former CWGS President, Bob Hoffman. of their visit and included guided tours of the water Guided tours were then offered by Hudson Gardens gardens and aquatics greenhouse offered by CWGS staff and volunteers. Attendees were also given maps board members and DBG docents Bill Powell and to wander the gardens on their own. Jim Arneill, as well as DBG’s Senior Horticulturist of A catered dinner in the Welcome Garden tent at Aquatics, Tamara Kilbane. Ebi Kondo, Curator of the Hudson concluded the evening. At the dinner, Tamara Japanese Garden, along with a few of his volunteers, Kilbane, who serves as the International Waterlily Registrar, presented the official registration certificate International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 9 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3

IWGS Symposium 2014 group photo at Denver Botanic Gardens. Photo by John Sou. for Nymphaea ‘Bob Hoffman’ (a new purple-flower- About the Author ing tropical waterlily hybrid created by Mike Swize of Tamara Kilbane is Senior Horticulturist of Aquatic Nelson Water Gardens) to Bob’s wife Fran and his son Plants at Denver Botanic Gardens and serves on Mike and daughter-in-law Reesa. Tubers of the plant the IWGS Board of Directors. She can be contacted will be sent to Hudson Gardens and DBG next spring through [email protected]. so this beautiful new lily named in Bob’s honor can be grown in the display ponds in each location. The plant will also be added to the “Rocky Mountain Legacy Collection” at DBG. The main symposium ended after Saturday’s events at Hudson Gardens, however, a smaller group joined a post-symposium tour up to Mt. Goliath and Mt. Evans on Sunday. About 20 attendees enjoyed a morning hike led by DBG docents on Mt. Goliath, followed by a short drive to see the peak of Mt. Evans and lunch back in Denver. Overall, the symposium was well received by attend- ees. Thank you to all who helped to make the event such a success! P. 10 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal Grower’s Corner The Last Word By David Curtright

I don’t know how most of you feel about it, but it has seemed to me for a while that the well from which I draw these articles had begun to hit sand. Perhaps in keeping with the lowering of water tables throughout my drought-traumatized state, the bucket has come up less full with each dip, and all of our metaphorical tongues have begun to swell as we thirst for some substance to some of these articles; something that will slake our thirst for useful information.

Because I feel this way, I am about to make a proposal to the Society that might make some of you groan, but those mentioned above, the thirsty ones, will dream of the new possibilities for the “Grower’s Corner” articles, and of how nice it will be to drink from the deep and cool well of the new and varied voices of those who know more than I do about how to grow plants. I would like to give up the Grower’s Corner column, and to sug- gest that its authorship be rotated among the membership. This would give the Society different perspectives, I would hope from around the globe, on how to make our plants grow, or on how they do grow in different areas, etc. The possibilities are endless. The risk is great, though. It requires that members volunteer to write an article for each issue of the Journal. Maybe a person could agree to do series of two or three articles, or to take a full year (four articles), walking us through their season. It would surely beat reading my whining about drought and the vicissitudes of small-time plant production.

But for those few who can’t get enough of my deathless prose, I would say that I’m not going anywhere. Those who were at the general meeting at this year’s symposium already got a glimpse of this. I was, shall I say, “not well,” that morning, but I think that I said that I would like to begin a series of articles taken from the library. I know that I’ve said it elsewhere, too, so it must be true. It will be called, “From the Library”, oddly enough, and its debut article can be read in this issue of the Journal. In that article, I talk about what it will be and why, so I won’t belabor the subject here, but I will say that I hope that somebody will agree to take the Grower’s Corner column over, or that we will see an interesting mix of authors of future articles.

On the question of what is growing around here, I can say, “not much.” It has been dry for so long that I’ve just given up on some plants, moving some of them to client ponds, and buying the rest as needed from friends, both in the business and not. In fact, I made more money on one sale this summer than I had on any other for a long time, and I didn’t grow more than 20% of it in my own yard. The rest came from a supplier, and I only delivered them to my client. Pretty easy money. All of which has caused me to question the wisdom of trying to grow cer- tain things for profit, knowing that I can usually get them from somebody else who had to keep them wet while they grew. Reliability remains the only real problem then.

I have brought my Water Hawthorn corms out to sprout. I have kept them in their own pots from last season, stacked under my potting bench, or in a bag of moist soil in the same place. Of the 77 corms that I processed from that state of suspended animation recently, 75 were alive and ready to go. Some, in fact, had begun to grow already. I will let the newly collected corms sit in open water until they have sprouted new roots, where- upon I will put them out in pots for the upcoming season. I’ve gotten into the habit of stuffing the ponds at the Mission at San Juan Capistrano and elsewhere with large specimens for the winter months. The fragrance of the flowers can be sensed several feet from the pond and, at the Mission, people always stop to ask about what kind of lily they are. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 11 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3

Water Hawthorn (Aponogeton distachyos) photo J.F. Gaffard, Acorus (jardin aquatique) Autoreille, mai 2004, licence GFDL

I’ve also begun to repot Louisiana Irises. They are beginning to produce new leaves, having already dropped all of the old ones in recent weeks. If I get them done before November, I can be sure to get plenty of flowers next spring. We are supposed to have a “normal” winter, which means that it will be wetter and cooler than it was this past “winter.” If it gets good and cold, we’ll get a nice display of Irises in the spring. It will also kill some of the bugs that had such an easy time of it last winter.

So, that’s it. Finis. The last word. I hope that my contribution to the Society through these articles has helped, enlightened, or entertained some of you, and that, with the library, I can continue to do so into the future.

About the Author David Curtright owns Freshwater Flora & Fauna, Inc., Escondido, San Diego County, CA, USA. Web site: http://pond-plants.com. Email: [email protected]. P. 12 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal Lilies We Have Loved and Lost Gamblers’ True Confessions by Rich Sacher and Craig Presnell

I often think that we hybridizers are like gamblers… we are eager to show you our latest winning lily, but somehow we never mention all our losses along the way. And if hybridizing waterlilies is not a form of gambling, I don’t know what is! Over the years, Craig Presnell and I have traded sto- ries and photos of hybrids that we were really excited about, but then were lost when we could not propagate them. So, it is time to invite everyone to our “Pity Party” to see some of the lilies that we have loved and lost. About the Authors Rich Sacher is owner of American Aquatic Gardens ‘Serendipity’ was awarded the RHS Banksian Medal in 2001. in New Orleans, LA, USA. He can be reached at [email protected]. Craig Presnell is owner of Luster Aquatic Nursery in Zolfo Springs, FL, USA. He can be reached at [email protected].

‘Midnight Star’ x ‘Mahogany Rose’

‘Out of the Blue’ is one I technically still have, but have not been able to propagate it. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 13 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3

‘Elysian Fields’ in the greenhouse. ‘Mahogany Rose’

‘My Dwarf Blue’ ‘Maro’ x ‘Miro’

‘Starlight in the Rain’ ‘V15 Pink’ x “Blue Gigantea’ P. 14 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal

and error. In 2005, a truly beautiful seedling flowered, Made In Germany and he named it after his proud mother ‘Letchumy.’ First Hardy Purple Waterlily (Letchumy means the Hindu goddess of prosperity.) By Sam Verekar By 2006-2007, he had developed many other nice har- Meet Vasu Manickam, an architect and restaura- dies, but decided that too many were pink. He culled teur by profession, and a self-taught hybridizer the varieties down on to an impressive few, among of waterlilies. Like most hybrid developers, Vasu them were ‘Devna,’ ‘Sangaavi,’ ‘Kumanaan,’ and few struggled with his experimental hybrids, even raising others. them in coffee mugs and plastic cups, but he never Around this same time, Pairat Songpanich gave the surrendered his dream of developing a hardy hybrid world the first blue HxT cross, Nymphaea ‘Siam Blue of his own. Eventually, he persevered and gave his Hardy.’ Vasu and other waterlily lovers were stunned native Germany its first HxT Intersubgeneric (ISG) and excited. In awe of Sonhpanich’s work, Vasu cross. This success has lifted him into the ranks of sought out and met him, but it turns out the blue hardy accomplished hybridizer was not propagating well and breeder of the plants and he was unable to ac- he loves. quire one. Once again in- Vasu first became pas- spired by frustration, Vasu sionate about waterlilies began work on his own by observing them in blue hardy. This effort was the pond on his family’s made more difficult due to ancestral farm. His love a short waterlily growing of gardening and aquatic season in Germany and a plants received a lot of shortage of tropical pollen. early encouragement from Vasu started crossing with his mother. Sparking his every possible variety, journey into hybridization but to no success, as all was a chance article he the ISG seedlings failed, saw in 2001 in a German probably due to improper Magazine featuring Nymphaea ‘Pattern Ruby’ by Di- emasculation and/or contaminated pollen. eter Bechthold. Vasu desperately wanted this beautiful From 2008 to 2010, Vasu employed artificial condi- lily but was unsuccessful in obtaining one. He then tions in the propagation of the waterlily seedlings, resolved to try his own hand at hybridizing his own however, disappointment followed once again as the hybrid varieties. only seedlings that survived were hardies. He tried the He began by buying varieties such as ‘Perry’s Fire idea of working around the shortage of specific tropi- Opal,’ ‘Wow,’ and ‘Rose Arey.’ Once again, he fol- cal pollen by using any tropical pollen available, but lowed an article on hybridizing by Dieter Bechthold, that did not help either. In 2010, Mike Giles of Turtle and tried using the techniques described on the newly Island Waterliles and Brandon McLane of Florida acquired varieties. By October of 2001, he got his Aquatic Nurseries were introducing their Intersubgen- first set of hybridized seeds. Alas, by the end of 2002, ric Hybrids to the world. Intrigued again with making he was only able to save some of them due to his lack his own ISG crosses Vasu did more research on match- of knowledge at the time. ing tropical and hardy plants to achieve an ISG cross. He next tried turning to Perry Slocum’s books for He used his own hardy hybrids as the pod parents and assistance with his endeavor. However, he once again crossed with tropical pollen. This time he was success- had minimal success. He continued to improvise and ful in getting seed but they looked odd and unhealthy eventually developed his own methods and by trial so he discarded them. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 15 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3

Vasu visited Mike Giles in 2011, who was very wel- Very few people are this determined and work so tire- coming and showed Vasu the process he used and the lessly to achieve their dream. His drive to learn, his seeds that resulted from a successful HxT cross. This unmatched patience, and persistence serve as inspir- is when Vasu realized the seeds he had thrown away ing examples for hobbyists passionate about growing were good after all, and that HxT crosses always made waterlilies, but are not specifically trained botanists. odd-looking seeds! Vasu is an excellent student, and a passionate, hard- working, down-to-earth person. He nowadays spends Vasu returned from this trip happy and consoled. He his time with his restaurant business, architect profes- was inspired to try again, and was successful crossing sion, and his very dear personal collection of water with white and pink hardies. His challenge now was to plants. He shares his experience and passion with oth- care for them so they could survive through the winter. ers via his website (www.traumseerose.de). Keep on It took two seasons, but he finally had a first set of my friend you are a star!!! ISGs in 2013. His most prized and beautiful ISG is a blue one. About the Author Sam Verekar lives in India. He can be reached through www.kamalpushpam.com. THE WATER GARDEN JOURNAL Volume 29 Number 3

EDITOR KATHY JENTZ EDITORIAL BOARD JAMES ALLISON CHARLES B. THOMAS DISTRIBUTION TAMARA KILBANE ACCOUNTANT TISH FOLSOM

The Official Publication of the INTERNATIONAL WATERLILY AND WATER GARDENING SOCIETY

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY PRESIDENT MIKE SWIZE VICE PRESIDENT — TREASURER VICKI ABER SECRETARY TAMARA KILBANE EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TAMARA KILBANE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jim Purcell, Brandon McLane, Mike Swize, Tamara Kilbane, Daike Tian, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden, Pittsburgh, PA. Vicki Aber, Steve Stroupe, Demi Fortuna, and Photo by Kathy Jentz Charles B. Thomas (honorary life term) Mission Statement—The International Waterlily & Water www.iwgs.org Gardening Society (IWGS) is a nonprofit organization of multi-national membership dedicated to the furtherance of all REGISTRARS aspects of water gardens and their associated plants. As an Nymphaea Registration organization we support and promote education, research, Tamara Kilbane and conservation in these areas. [email protected] Volume 29, Number 3 The IWGS Water Garden Journal Nelumbo Registration (ISSN 1069-5982) is published quarterly by The International Daike Tian Waterlily and Water Gardening Society (The Society), P.O. [email protected] Box 546, Greenville, VA 24440, USA. Phone 540-337-4507, ADMINISTRATIVE ADDRESS Fax: 540-337-0738, Email [email protected]. All rights reserved. and SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES © 2014. The Water Garden Journal is indexed in EBSCO’s International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Literature Index. P.O. Box 546 Postage paid at Greenville, VA, USA and additional mailing Greenville, VA 24440 USA offices. Basic subscription/membership rate for one full year 540-337-4507 is free for the online Journal. Hard copy can be mailed for an Fax: 540-337-0738 additional $25 per year. Further details and back issues are [email protected] available from the administrative office in Virginia. All changes of address and incidents of non-arrival of Journals should be EDITORIAL ADDRESS notified to the office in Virginia. Opinions expressed by authors Please send all inquiries and articles and any products reviewed are not specifically endorsed by for possible inclusion to [email protected] The Society, nor does The Society accept any liability arising from the contents of this Journal.