INTERNATIONAL WATERLILY AND WATER GARDENING SOCIETY WATER GARDEN JOURNAL Volume 18, No. 4 Winter 2003
Contents
2 – From your President 2 – From your Editor
2 – News and Updates 3 – Nelumbo Registration 4 – Call for IWGS Hall of Fame Nominations 4 – New IWGS Annual Waterlily Competition 5 -- News Snippets 6 – Alien Invaders 6 – Hybridizing Lotuses - Stephen Garton 9 – Tales from the Lotus Trail – (Part 2) - Grant Mitchell 12 -- Lotus in Agriculture Lotus Leaf Innovation Euryale 13 – Pump and Plumbing Hints and Tips 14 – Commercial Members 15 -- Gardening with Water 16 – Society Information
Page 2 The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4
FROM YOUR PRESIDENT FROM YOUR EDITOR
I would like to begin this message with a very special Lotus lovers in particular should find plenty to interest ‘Thanks’ to all those members who have stepped them in this issue. Our next issue will include sections on forward to serve on one of our many committees. We marginals and bog plants, if you have contributions to have an outstanding group of individuals willing to share add - please get them to me soon! their talent to grow and advance our IWGS. The next issue will be my last as journal editor. If you Our website affiliation with Victoria-Adventure is well are interested in all or part of this role, then please do underway and we encourage you to visit the site get in touch with one of the Journal taskforce routinely for interesting updates and current committee - Tish Folsom & Cathy Green (co-chairs), information. We are still working on introducing a new Roseanne Conrad or Sue Speichert. The office can bulletin board facility. forward your message if required.
Our Registration Committee members, Walter Pagels James Allison – [email protected] and Betsy Sakata are working hard with our Registrar Andrew Doran at the University of Connecticut and we soon expect the Nymphaea registration process to move NEWS & UPDATES forward rapidly. All known information on waterlily cultivars is being entered into our database within BG- BASE, a world-class database application used by Botanical Gardens and other institutions. This ultimately will lead to our ability to publish a comprehensive SYMPOSIUM 2004, TORONTO international register for Nymphaea in a format It was certainly a letdown when our 2003 Symposium recommended by the International Code of had to be cancelled due to SARS. All the plans had Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). Betsy been so meticulously laid out and we were looking Sakata represented our society at the dedication forward to potentially one of the best IWGS Symposia. ceremony for the new George Safford Torrey Now we are back at square one but every cloud has a Herbarium at the University of Connecticut, where our silver lining. Instead of having one year to plan for registration data is housed. Toronto, we have had two. The extra time has allowed us to research the Toronto area even more thoroughly Our newest committee, the International Waterlily and discover even more that Canada has to offer. Preservation Repository (IWPR), has already amassed a large collection of species plants and has more plants Toronto and Ontario are a gardener’s paradise with arriving from around the world on a regular basis. This dozens of parks and gardens nestled in every part of the committee, headed by renowned hybridizer, Kenneth city and province, and many local horticultural societies. Landon, should soon become highly visible as the During the Main Symposium, we will visit several collection grows. botanical gardens and private water gardens, but you are also encouraged to explore the area on your own, Our symposium committee is hard at work on our before or afterwards. upcoming symposium in Toronto, Canada. Do make plans now for your attendance as we expect this to be Our host hotel, the Inn on the Park, is adjacent to the an outstanding meeting. Toronto Botanical Garden (where we will be hosting our seminars), and also home of Canada’s best horticultural As we continue to stress, we are an organization that library. For spouses not into water gardening, Toronto is operates through the dedicated hard work of renown for its arts, hiking, museums, theatre, sports, ‘volunteers’. Please consider working with one of our golf and fishing plus a diversity of dining and shopping committees to make us an even stronger organization. offerings. Ontario is also the perfect place to serve as Committee contact details will be found in our new core of an extended vacation, so plan to include your Membership Directory, due imminently. family. We have acquired reduced hotel rates for several days before and after the Symposium. For those W. Wayne Davis, Jr. -- [email protected] interested, Toronto also hosts its annual Caribbean Festival (the largest in the world) after our symposium. The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 Page 3
See our webpage for this journal issue for useful links, or immediate and long-term goal. Proliferation is achieved if you would like to take a virtual tour of Canada. with dispersal of material to appropriate botanical, educational and other enthusiasts on an availability basis. 2004 DATES and PREVIEW Wednesday, July 21st - The IWGS Board of Directors The IWPR is indebted to contributors in all categories, will have arrived for their morning board meeting, and and urges the assistance of governments, botanical & general attendees can arrive anytime during the day in educational institutions and individuals. This is a worthy time for the evening welcome event. and noble endeavour concerning the perpetuation and July 22nd & 23rd - We tour The Royal Botanical proliferation of some of the most universally admired Gardens, Niagara Park and Falls and private gardens plants in the botanical world. with an evening barbeque planned for the 22nd. July 24th - Based in Toronto, a day filled with seminars, The seed list representing members of the genus panel discussions, auctions and networking. Nymphaea presently included in the current inventory Sunday, July 25th sees the start of the Post Symposium are available on the Society website. Follow the links on with visits to Canadian aquatic nurseries where activities the committee page at: will include a chance to watch the experts demonstrate http://www.iwgs.org/committees/page1.html hybridizing and propagation techniques. We’ll also visit you can also contact the committee chair at water garden centers and a lotus farm and have some [email protected] free time on the lake shores. U.S. AQUATIC PLANTS WHITE LIST Inn on the Park hotel room rates are Can$135 In an urgent pre-emptive move to prepare for possible (=US$103) and the hotel has a complimentary child legislation restricting any new plant introductions, a care program during the day for guests. The adjacent white list is being drawn up of all the aquatic and Holiday Inn rates are Can$125. More information will moisture loving plants offered for sale in the USA, be available in our next journal and also on our website currently or during the past ten years. The list is being as soon as it becomes available. We hope to see you in coordinated by Kelly Billing, and we have placed a Toronto this summer-- well worth the wait! version of it on our web site at: http://www.iwgs.org/activities/aquatic_plants/List.htm IWGS WEBSITE The society website now has further updates with links If you sell plants in the USA, please help with this to highlights of recent journals, and a revised important work by taking a look at the list and sending commercial member listing www.iwgs.org any additions, corrections and synonyms to [email protected] IWGS RESEARCH GRANTS Following a decision by the Board of Directors, no NATIONAL WATER GARDENING MONTH grants are to be awarded in 2004. Any requests The coalition of groups (including the IWGS) who received will be put forward for the 2005 allocation. promote July as Water Gardening Month in the USA, have announced their Aquatic Plant Selections for 2004 INTERNATIONAL WATERLILY to give adequate time to growers to prepare plants. The PRESERVATION REPOSITORY (IWPR) lilies are, hardy Nymphaea 'Joey Tomocik', and tropical N. 'Albert Greenberg'. The marginal is variegated sweet Work on the conservation of Nymphaea is being carried flag, Acorus calamus variegatus. The plant promotions out by committee chair Ken Landon (one of the are part of an overall package to promote water Society’s Hall of Fame members) and is sanctioned by gardening as a hobby in the USA. Further details can be the IWGS. Other committee members include Rick obtained from our office. Edwards and John Presnell. This repository comprises rare and endangered members of the botanical genus NEW WATERLILY HYBRIDS FOR NAMING? Nymphaea and other members of the family We intend to run our ‘Name that Lily’ competition once Nymphaeaceae. Hybrid Nymphaea both old and again in 2004, following the success of the auction to contemporary are included, with special emphasis being name the bright yellow ‘Carla’s SonShine’. A lily is placed on the species as they occur throughout the already lined up for 2004 but if you have any potential world. Preservation, proliferation, and positive candidates for 2005, please contact Tom Tilley at identification of all members of the Nymphaea complex [email protected] are stressed with special emphasis being given to rare taxa and associated noteworthy hybrids. Genetic purity of species Nymphaea and their ecotypes is a paramount Page 4 The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4
NELUMBO REGISTRATION CALL FOR IWGS HALL OF FAME A REPORT FROM THE IWGS REGISTRAR FOR
NELUMBO: VIRGINIA HAYES NOMINATIONS
For the past two years I have been compiling, in a Each year the International Waterlily and Water simple table, a Provisional Checklist of cultivar names of Gardening Society inducts into the IWGS Hall of Fame Nelumbo gleaned from several sources. At this point the individuals who have made significant contributions to table contains only the cultivar name (in English), the the furtherance of water gardening and aquatic plants. source(s) where found, and in the case of Chinese and Nominations are now being solicited from all members Japanese cultivars, a transliteration of the Asian name if for 2004 inductees. available. For certain Asian cultivars, only one or the other of an English name or transliterated Asian name is Individuals nominated may be alive or deceased; the available. To date, no attempt has been made to primary criteria are that their contributions should be reproduce the names in their original Japanese or notable. They may be hybridizers, plant collectors, Chinese characters for inclusion in the database. As is writers, public aquatic garden superintendents, growers, evident from the following list of sources, several are or others who have significantly contributed to the lists found only on commercial websites and therefore furtherance of the Society's purposes. These purposes not accepted as valid according to the International are defined in Section IIIB of the Articles of Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. Further Incorporation as ‘promoting, encouraging, and fostering validation will have to be sought for these. the discovery, growth, research, development, and improvement of the family Nymphaeaceae and In the summer of 2002, I met with Drs. Slearmlarp companion aquatic plants and the dissemination of Wasuwat, Weerachai Nanakorn, and N. Nopchai information pertaining thereto to the membership and Chansilpa in Thailand. Dr. Nanakorn, director of the to the general public’. Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden hosted the group at that institution, where Drs. Wasuwat and Chansilpa explained Present Hall of Fame members are: their Nelumbo research projects. An associate of Dr. George H. Pring; Bory Latour Marliac; Henry S. Wasuwat’s, Mrs. Pensiri Dudsee-maytha, later sent a list Conard; Perry D. Slocum; Frances Perry; William of Chinese cultivars grown in Thailand which has not yet Tricker; Joseph Paxton; Patrick Nutt; Walter Pagels; Bill been incorporated into the table. She is collaborating on Heritage; Norman H. Bennett; John & Mary Mirgon; an English transliteration of the names, many of which Charles B. Thomas; Dr. Robert Kirk Strawn; Martin E. are likely already listed. Randig; Ray G.A. Davies; Charles O. Masters; Jack A. Wood; Philip Swindells; Karl Wachter; Dr. Edward L. So far the list has 29 names from American Schneider; Jean Laydeker; Dr. Clyde Ikins; Joseph publications, 605 from Chinese sources, and 120 from Tomocik; Dr. Slearmlarp Wasuwat; William C. Frase; Dr. Japanese sources. Robert Caspary; Dr. C. Barre Hellquist; James Gurney, Sr.; Kenneth Landon; Betsy Sakata; Dr. Donald Les; Two registrations have been received and added to the Gordon Ledbetter. Provisional Checklist. Registration forms are available at the Lotusland website: Nominations should be sent to: http://www.lotusland.org/introreg.htm Thomas Tilley, IWGS Vice President Tilley's Nursery Inc./ The WaterWorks Anyone with an interest in the checklist or other 111 East Fairmount St, Coopersburg, PA 18036 information is urged to contact me, Virginia Hayes, Ganna Walska Lotusland, 695 Ashley Rd., Santa 610-282-4784 Voice / 610-282-1262 FAX Barbara, CA 93108; (805) 969-3767 ext. 104; [email protected] [email protected] Final deadline for nominations is March 31, 2004, though it would be much appreciated if nominations could be received by the end of January to enable a full review and research of the nominees.
The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 Page 5
Please include relevant information, references, etc. to the USA, and the hardies grown further north. assist the Hall of Fame Committee in selecting the most (Proposed locations include Nelson Water Gardens in outstanding candidates. The contributions of the Katy, Texas, and Green and Hagstrom Nursery in nominees should be listed in sufficient detail to enable Tennessee respectively). the Committee to make a judgment, communicate the information to the Society, and also to compose a • The nurseries conducting trials will take digital photos meaningful description for the permanent record in the of the lilies 4 or 5 times, e.g. in July. These are to be IWGS Hall of Fame. Nominations from previous years posted to the website for everyone to see and compared are also considered each year to make sure that the very to the next series of photos in the following weeks. best candidates are chosen. There are many outstanding Popular votes would be cast by Email before a deadline individuals throughout the world who have made or are (to be announced) and results tabulated. Official judges making significant contributions to the furtherance of will be selected by the committee, based on their water gardening and aquatic plants. Our recognition of expertise with a wide variety of water lilies. Winners of their achievements is a vital part of our Society. both the popular vote and the official judging can be announced and displayed at the symposium, or directly on the website. NEW The finer details of the voting procedure and the official IWGS ANNUAL WATERLILY panel of expert judges are still to be confirmed, and will appear in a future journal. The popular vote would be COMPETITION open to all website visitors, whether IWGS members or not, making it a truly popular vote. In the meantime, those interested in entering waterlilies should contact The IWGS Annual Competition for New Waterlilies Rich Sacher at American Aquatic Gardens (with the award of the RHS Banksian Medal for best ([email protected]) for details of when and where lily), has not been without its difficulties. Since it was to send lilies. instituted in 1997, several chronic issues have reared their head each year:
NEWS SNIPPETS FROM • The logistical difficulties of staging the event: It is an enormous task to build suitable ponds, find OTHER PUBLICATIONS experienced growers, and provide conducive growing conditions for both tropical and hardy lilies - whatever AND THE WEB the climate at the symposia site.
• The restrictions on viewing: Often the viewing is for an hour, on one particular day, WATERLILIES STORE POLLUTANTS whatever the weather (Denver hailstorms!). If a lily A recent academic article recounted an Israeli study of bloom happens not to be open at that time, then the the uptake of Cadmium by Nymphaea ‘Aurora’ plants. judging really is incomplete. The plants took up significant amounts of this pollutant, especially where kept in acidified water (ph 5.5). • The voting procedure: Cadmium (Cd) was found in all parts of the plant but The attendees knowledge of both tropical and hardy especially the petioles (leaf stems), with up to 140mg of lilies has been variable, and there has been uneven Cd per gram of dry weight specimen. The author achievement of the competition’s aim to select lilies with concluded that Nymphaea have potential as an optimal, genuinely distinctive qualities. Some awards have gone highly effective phytoremediation tool for the removal to lilies similar to existing commercial varieties, or of of Cd from polluted waste sources. [Schor-Fumbarov et questionable merit. al, Characterization of Cadmium uptake by the water lily Nymphaea Aurora, International Journal of Rich Sacher is chair of a committee for the ‘New Water- Phytoremediation, Jun 2003, Vol. 5 (2), p169, 11p] lily Competition’. The Board has approved the following broad outline for an improved way to conduct these WATER HYACINTH TO trials, which would replace the current competition. IMPROVE WATER QUALITY IN FLORIDA State officials in central Florida are spending $2 million • The new waterlily trials will be grown out at the same on a trial to see if a combination of Water Hyacinth and locations every year, the tropicals in the deep south of algae can remove excess nutrients (phosphorus in Page 6 The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 particular) from storm water run-off. The Hyacinth be purchased (up to 150 fish per farm to obtain (considered an invasive) are later ground up and used as statistically valid results) when mid-day pond water a supplement in cattle feed. temperatures are below 20C/68F for one month [Difficult in warmer zones!]. The USDA will pay for the BARLEY STRAW BAN IN EUROPE? diagnostic testing. This test may be used by the farms The UK’s Health and Safety Executive is currently (when appropriate) as the initial test to satisfy OIE looking into the European Union’s legislation on guidelines for sampling to certify that no SVC has been biocides with respect to barley straw. The majority of found. In most countries, repeated testing over a two- algicides previously sold in the UK were taken off sale year period is required before a previously suspect site this summer, and only a few remain whilst they pass can statistically be classified as SVC-free. Such tests are through the new (and expensive) approval process. Even generally very accurate but can never guarantee some of these may disappear after 2008. complete freedom from the virus.
At first it was thought that natural products, such as GM FISH barley straw, would not be affected. However, despite There have been various items in the news recently being used safely for many years as a control for algae, it (BBC, OATA) regarding genetically modified (GM) fish is now thought to fall foul of the new legislation. To produced for tropical fishtanks. Initial research into such pass, all of barley straw’s numerous natural breakdown fish was aimed at using colour change as an indicator of products would have to be isolated and approved. In the water pollution, but the latest varieties are purely for short-term, UK sellers of the product are likely to ornamental purposes. The Taikong Corp-oration in remove all references to algae control from their Taiwan has taken DNA from a jellyfish and inserted it packaging in an effort to get past the legislation. into a zebra fish (Danio rerio) to make it shine a yellow- green colour, in a technique previously applied to KHV IN JAPAN medaka fish (Oryzias latipes). Separately, a red version In the first officially recorded incident of this devastating of zebra fish, that glows especially in UV light, has disease in Japan, Koi Herpes Virus (KHV, specific to recently gone on sale in the USA. carp/koi) has been confirmed as the cause of mass mortalities of black food-carp. Since early October, well The Singapore authorities confiscated a shipment of GM over 1000 tons of carp have died. fish into their country, and in Europe the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA) has pointed out the The first deaths occurred mainly in lakes in the Ibaraki requirement for specific consent under EU directives, ‘prefecture’ [the name for a county in Japan], east of for release and marketing of any GM organisms. OATA Tokyo, which is not a major area for the production of has raised concerns that such GM fish are ‘an ornamental koi. However, food fish moved from this unwelcome addition to the market place’. Other parties area have tested positive for antibodies to KHV in have voiced concern that tropical varieties may be around twenty further prefectures. An outbreak has engineered to tolerate cooler water, posing risks if they been confirmed at an ornamental farm in Okayama. As were to escape in temperate areas. a precaution, the All Japan Nishikigoi Show due to be held in November, was cancelled, and authorities are to carry out testing for KHV at ornamental farms. ALIEN INVADERS
Worldwide, the ornamental fish trade has naturally been very nervous about this disease since it caused mass mortalities in Israel in 1998. Latest research supports that KHV is indeed a herpes-type virus and will not be USA easy to eliminate. Reports of reputedly effective vaccines Connecticut now has an Invasive Plants Council which may be premature, and some consider that use of such has drawn up legislation to ban the sale of invasive plants vaccines might even result in the spread of non- including seven species of aquatics. symptomatic carriers. The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act (NAISA) is SVC IN THE USA still working its way through legislature but is sure to Following the outbreak of Spring Viraemia of Carp have a major impact on trade in both ornamental plants (SVC, a serious disease of all cyprinid fish) in the USA and fish when it is implemented. in 2002, the USDA will be asking fish farmers to participate in a voluntary surveillance program. Fish will The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 Page 7
NEW ZEALAND imprisonment. Any carp caught must be thrown up on There are web reports of two recent culls of koi, the the bank and left to rot. ornamental carp, which is not a native of New Zealand. Last summer, koi from the display gardens at Rapaura CANADA Watergardens in Tapu were destroyed. A mass cull has Following a recent conference on invasive plants in also taken place at Lake Waikato in Auckland, where Calgary, it was confirmed that Federal, provincial and over three tons of koi were removed in one weekend. territorial ministers have approved a discussion This demonstrates the seriousness with which the local document on invasives legislation. A more detailed authorities are treating this species which has caused version is expected in autumn 2004. much damage to aquatic ecosystems. Anglers caught returning, breeding or spreading carp are liable for a fine of up to 100,000 NZ dollars ($60,000) or five years
started collecting varieties with a view to doing some HYBRIDIZING LOTUSES hybridization. Unfortunately there was little published information in library databases about hybridizing or BY STEPHEN GARTON growing from seeds. This article first appeared in PONDKEEPER Magazine
(July/August 2002), and is reprinted here with I collected seeds from local American lotus and studied permission. various ways to encourage seeds to germinate. During the first summer of cultivation I observed the behavior of insects visiting the flowers, the production of pollen The group of aquatic plants called lotus includes by the anthers, and the apparent maturity of the members of two species in the genus Nelumbo, N. stigmas. From these observations I concluded that nucifera (Asiatic or Sacred lotus) and N. lutea stigmas seemed to be receptive to pollen during (American lotus). The Asiatic lotus is native to a large maturation of the flower bud and that pollen was area encompassing parts of Africa, Asia, and Northern dehisced (released) from anthers only after the buds Australia, including Egypt, India, Thailand, Indonesia, were completely open. I also concluded that there was a China, and Japan. The Asiatic lotuses are historically and discrete period between the stigma surface maturity and culturally significant in many parts of Asia, where the the production of pollen by anthers. This favors cross- flowers represent the Enlightenment of Buddha. Plants pollination and only as a final resort (absence of another within this species have flowers that range from white to flowers’ pollen) is self-pollination possible. a dark reddish pink. Several selections exhibit petals with bicolor characteristics and have combinations of both During the first years of cultivation of Asiatic lotus I white and pink. Also, certain varieties exhibit a observed much variation in the characteristics of the prolonged flowering season and in China where lotus varieties I had collected. These characteristics included tubers and seeds are part of the local cuisine, plants have vigor, plant size, flower color, length of flowering been selected for seed, tuber, and flower production. period, and numbers of flowers per plant and petals per flower. I was particularly impressed with the wide The natural range of American lotus is restricted to the variation in growth habit, from dwarfs with leaves of North American continent. Plants are found in still or 10cm diameter to very large almost giant plants with slow-moving water from the East Coast to as far west as leaves greater than 60cm diameter. Flowers produced Texas and Oklahoma, and north into Minnesota and on all sized plants varied from single blooms with five Wisconsin. petals to blooms with more than sixty petals. Larger plants tended to produce larger, more robust flowering All plants of N. lutea produce flowers that are a pale structures. My objective in breeding was to select plants lemon yellow. The flowers are produced over a short with a long flowering season that were small to season during mid-summer. Hybrids have been created intermediate in size, with potential for production in between the Sacred and American species with several smaller pots and containers of 40 litres or less. cultivars available commercially from the breeding efforts of Mr. Perry Slocum. I made crosses in the mornings, usually between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m., by removing ripe anthers from open PROCEDURES flowers which were producing pollen. The pollen was I started growing lotus in 1995 as a result of a research transferred to unopened flower buds when the stigmas project I managed while working at Alabama A&M were producing a clear fluid from the surface. The University. Lotus plants quickly interested me so I Page 8 The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 flower buds were selected which I judged to be one or During the first two summers I selected several plants two days prior to opening. showing some desirable characteristics, e.g. early and persistent ability to produce flowers, general vigor and Pollen was placed on stigmatic surfaces by holding the overall robust nature, lack of susceptibility to insects anthers with tweezers and opening flowers with the aid such as aphids, and adaptation to small containers. After of a small pencil inserted into the tip of the bud to pry a further two years of trial and propagation I have open the flower. I gently brushed the ripe surfaces of named some of the superior performers. the stigmas with the detached anther to allow pollen to stick. It was not necessary to emasculate or remove anthers from such flowers since the stigmatic surfaces changed colors showing their stage of maturation. I labeled each flower using a small jewelry tag with the names of both parents.
For healthy lotus, start with a firm healthy tuber with at least two nodes, each with a leaf sheath and axillary bud. The tuber is actually an underground stem (stolon) and not a root
NOTEWORTHY NEW HYBRIDS ‘Embolene’ is an intermediate sized plant bearing pink and white bicolor flowers that fade over 4 or 5 days to a very pale pinkish white. The plant bears large numbers of flowers over a long season from June through August, and even into September if no seed capsules are left to mature on plants. Tuber production is very good When available for pollen the stigmatic surfaces were usually pale and plants started from a two or three node tuber yellow and generally turned brown when pollen was produced, indicating the period of receptivity had expired (as shown here). generally flower by the last week of June in Alabama. Foliage and flowers of ‘Embolene’ make a magnificent Pollinated flowers usually lost petals and anthers within display in ponds or containers and with good 24 hours. Seed capsules developed rapidly and management can be a focal point throughout the remained green for about 1 month after pollination summer. before turning brown and reaching maturity. Mature seeds were harvested, stored and then germinated the following spring by soaking in water after filing the hard seed coat to reveal the inner flesh. The soaking water was changed daily and the seeds germinated within 4 - 6 days at around 23-27oC (75-80oF).
The lotus seed is unusual since the first structure to emerge is a petiole or leaf stalk rather than the primary root of the seedling. The petiole produced by the germinating seedling extends rapidly to reach the surface of the water. Seedlings with signs of petiole growth were transplanted to small containers containing about 2 - 5 cm of soil and were immersed in watertight 20 or 40 litre pots.
‘Embolene’ To my surprise, about a third of the seedlings from my first hybridization attempts produced flowers within the ‘Alexander the Great’ is a large lotus with leaves about first year. After two years of cultivation almost 90% of 55cm in diameter on stalks that rise up to 1.5 metres the seedling plants had produced flowers in the growing out of the water. Flower stems rise about 15cm above conditions prevailing in north Alabama. the leaves and bear magnificent large flowers which are a vivid dark pink to red. Blooms are produced over a long The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 Page 9 season from late June to late August. Tuber production CONTACT is good and plants respond to regular application of a Stephen Garton is the Assistant Professor/Extension complete fertilizer. The plant makes a splendid specimen Specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences & in containers or ponds. Containers of at least 60 cm Landscape Systems at the University of Tennessee and diameter are preferable since this plant may outgrow owner of Lotus Nursery and Garden. Growing and smaller vessels. hybridizing lotuses has been his specialty since 1995. Contact him at 865-974-7324 or [email protected]
TALES FROM THE
LOTUS TRAIL (Part Two) GRANT MITCHELL
Further exploits from Grant’s travels through China in search of lotus, in the summer of 2001
ON TO WUXI I walked through the park where there are a few big ponds of Nuphar with heaps of flowers and lots of other plants including a collection of over 300 varieties of ‘Alexander the Great’ Azalea, but only a few flowers at the moment. Deflated and exhausted, I headed back to my friend’s but stopped off at another famous garden on the way. It is on the edge of Tai Hu, the lake that Wuxi is famous for. It’s a beautiful garden with a few varieties of lotus growing in pots. I came upon a pond of white lotus - a really beautiful variety with huge double flowers - what a surprise. I tried to find out the name of the variety but the boss wasn’t there...
In a park within the park, there was a Ming Dynasty garden (1410?), built around a pond full of koi and a band was playing traditional music on their traditional instruments, very relaxing... In the park outside was a ginko tree over 600 years old! On the way back I ‘Big Ben’ (above) has similar growth characteristics to stopped again at Li Yuan garden to try and find out the ‘Alexander the Great’ but its flowers are borne on taller name of the white lotus. They showed me their nursery stems and they are of a rich full pink holding their with lots of lotus in pots but said that the white one was pigment for the entire five days of blossom life. Flower an old one and they didn't know its name. They also season is long and similar to ‘Alexander the Great’. told me about another lotus park a few hours north of Nanjing (where I was going this afternoon) at a place ‘BonnieClyde’ is an exceptional plant with a prolonged called Jin Hu or Golden Lake. ... flower season from May to September, providing spent flowers are removed before seeds are allowed to swell. 2nd August - ‘LOTORAMA’ The leaves are about 30cm in diameter and held 60- I arrived in Nanjing and immediately went across town 75cm above the water. Flowers are a rich dark pink that to another bus station to get a bus to Jin Hu, as I’d fades to a delicate pale pink on the fifth day of bloom, decided on the way from Wuxi to go and see what was and are borne on stems which rise about 15-20cm there.... After we had jammed as many people in as we above the leaves. The tuber production is slight and could, off we went, over the huge Nanjing bridge. This usually restricted to the two swollen terminal internodes is a double-decker bridge that the Chinese completed of the runners. after the Russians pulled out of the project half way through its construction, taking the plans with them! It Page 10 The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 was, at the time, a marvel of engineering as it spans the and this place is designed for that as an attraction. I Yangtze River where it is very wide. ... managed to get three seeds (when in Rome!) that looked old enough to be viable and some others that are The next day I headed out to the lotus place, which was very suspect... actually about 50 km away. Everyone who saw me was amazed to see a foreigner and they were all laughing and We went to look at the huge fish dam that is the main pointing and yelling out to each other. ...There was a source of the family’s income, it is one of many owned pond of beautiful lotus with huge creamy flowers tinged by different people. The houses are on a narrow spit of with pink along the edges...Wonderful!!! We had already land, only about 25 feet (8 metres) wide, between a passed a lot of different coloured lotus along the huge lake and the fishponds and paddy fields. I asked roadside, but close up was much better. A woman with them what happens when it floods and they said that two small children and myself got into a little 3-wheeler they just get on their boats! The lake is one of three and headed off to the lotus place. Along the way I huge ones that surround the Jin Hu area and are part of realised they were saying that today was a lotus festival the Grand Canal. At times it has lines of barges sliding and that entry was free, then I remembered that it was along it, but most of the time is calm and peaceful with the 28th.... the same date that the lotus festival was on the far bank covered in lotus and the occasional in Guang Chang all those kilometres and memories fisherman checking traps. behind me. The traffic was terrible as we bounced along the narrow, rough track through hundreds of acres of Lao Wang said he would get me some lotus root to eat pink edged white lotus!!!! so we took our stuff and got into the long concrete skiff with his mother and leant back and soaked it up as he I also spied what could only be Euryale ferox growing in poled us up the backwater next to the lotus, checking some of the roadside swamps. I was told later that they the odd fish pot as we went. .... Myself and my camera eat the seeds raw or cooked and that you can eat the nearly went for a swim when I stepped on a slippery stem cooked or pickled, the same with the root, but all part of the boat whilst getting on, but we all got a laugh have to be peeled first. They said that the flower was a out of that! He swung the boat into the lotus and the pink colour and that they grow them when the next thing I knew, he had jumped overboard and was temperature is 15 to 20 degrees C. wading around in chest deep water, under the lotus leaves, searching with his toes for a big fat root. I would We finally arrived at the entrance with the rest of the just get a flash of his brown body or a gleam of his white partygoers and after walking a little way came upon a teeth as the leaves parted and finally he held up three huge display of lotus of all shapes and colours, in a series sections of root and a runner. We all munched part of of newly laid out paddy fields. As I walked down off the the runner, about ¾” (2cm) thick, on the spot and little bridge I noticed a creamy yellow double flower and shared the growing leader which they say is the sweetest upon looking closer realised that it was something really and juiciest part, and they were right mmm! We glided special. Not all the flowers were as full as each other but back down the way we had come, with almost no sound some were unbelievably full, like a huge ball of petals. It except for the birds and insects, with the reflection of is called the ‘Paeony Lotus of Friendship’. I looked the trees on the mirror-like surface, and were deposited around but it was almost overwhelming, so many on the opposite bank which was an easier track back to colours and varieties in all stages of opening and falling the road... That night I took my friends out to a good apart, sometimes just the pod with golden stamens restaurant for dinner and everyone was happy. I felt that shivering in the breeze, and all the time dragonflies I hadn't done justice to the lotus park so early the next buzzing around. They too were in so many colours and morning I slipped out of the apartment and caught the sizes, from bright red or yellow to black with one white bus out there again. I left my friends asleep on their segment. There were also paddy fields of waterlilies but bamboo mat on the hard floor. They have a bed like nothing special. mine but neither of them have a mattress, just hard boards and a bamboo mat! The next day I reluctantly My new friend wanted to get going as the children returned to Nanjing. wanted to go for a boat ride, I thought I'd return later to have a better look, so off we went through the 6th August - NINE LOTUS FLOWERS voluminous crowds to the hum of “Lao Wai!” “Lao IN A JADE GREEN SEA Wai!” which means “foreigner!”. We got onto a boat I left Nanjing after staying a day more than I wanted to and paddled off into the lotus, forging up a narrow (no tickets available) and headed for Huang Shan... the channel with huge lotus leaves and flowers towering over Yellow Mountains, one of the most famous scenic spots us. The Chinese ripped off flowers as souvenirs, and in China. I was worried it might be ruined or made very pods to eat the seeds, but that is just the way they are, The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 Page 11 expensive by the ever-expanding Chinese tourism to get viable ones and soon they will probably all be industry since my visit 19 years ago. I got off the train eaten. Tomorrow I'm back on the bus to Huang Shan at Huang Shan city, which is about 70 km from the and hopefully my last sheer lotus peaks to climb... I'll mountains, and had been told on the train by an official need a holiday after this!!!!! tout that I could only stay in an expensive hotel as I was a foreigner! ... a minute later I was offered a room for 8th August - EURYALE TOO half what I had been told! I didn't want to be there on I was wandering down a back street and came upon yet the weekend due to the crowds so the next day (Friday) another temple, with a big smouldering pot of incense I decided to go to another place that someone had told outside, and there were another two ponds of lotus. me about... Jiu Hua Shan. They were very similar to the other double one but to me seemed to be of a slightly lighter pink. It’s hard to The famous Tang Dynasty poet and traveller Li Bai Àî tell the difference sometimes especially if you can't hold came to this place in 754 (or about then). ...He was so the two side by side. There was another Euryale there impressed he wrote a poem referring to these mountains which caught my eye as it had a profusion of small as ‘nine lotus flowers in a jade green sea’, and the name leaves, the biggest I could see was about 1 foot (30cm) stuck and the place is now called Jiu Hua Shan or ‘Nine in diameter. The leaves were a mixture of colours ...red Lotus Mountain’. The journey turned out to be a seven- brown, orange brown, green brown etc., a sort of hour trip with two changes of buses. The scenery was collage of Autumn tones but it was in an active growth great, mostly winding down river valleys filled with new stage, the average leaf was about 6” (15cm) in tea plantations and bamboo and the odd pond of lotus. diameter. The veins of the leaves were red and the As I left the last town the bus passed several nurseries bigger leaves were dark green with spikes sticking up out full of the most fantastic bonsai although some of them of them. It looked great and I asked a monk what colour were 5 feet (1.5m) tall. We headed along a valley the flowers were and he said it opened white and then towards sheer rock faces and towering peaks but my turned red. An old man I asked said it was pink, so who apprehension was growing again and I was wondering if I knows? [The IWGS list had some debate on the true had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire! Up and colour. See propagation details overleaf.]. They both up we wound past Buddhist Monasteries of a yellow told me that the seeds were really delicious. I don't ochre colour and finally reached the top, well at least know much about Euryale, but it seemed to me to be the last bus stop. “Mai piao mai piao.” (buy a ticket) - totally different to the others I have seen on this trip, the 4th verse of the Chinese national anthem! You have however I guess it might be the different climate as it is to buy a ticket to get into the town. I had no sooner got up in the mountains or even a difference in the soil? off the bus than a guy approached me about a room at a reasonable (?) price so off I went past more monasteries 18th August - BACK TO HANGZHOU with more of them jutting out in various places on the I'm glad all that mountain climbing is over! I have just surrounding mountains. ... returned from Huang Shan, the Yellow Moun-tains, truely one of the natural wonders of the world. There was a great view from the front of the hotel and Unfortunately someone told the whole of China and down below was a big pond filled with an exquisite mid they are all there right now, or so it seems. .... to dark-pink lotus. What a treat... I headed down for a closer look at the fantastic, huge flowers and really tall The next day I got the bus back to Hangzhou and the leaves. In another pond beside it were a whole pile of day after I went to my friend’s lotus nursery. She said hardy waterlilies and giant Sagittaria. The next day I got that most of the flowers were finished. When I had been up at about 5:30am and headed up to somewhere here a couple of weeks ago they were damaged by the where everyone else was going, I thought it was to the typhoon! We went there anyway and there were still top of the mountain and then just a walk down. On the enough for me to get repetitive strain injury in my way there was another pond of lotus but this time it was shutter finger, clicking off photos, so many beautiful a double variety, (the first I've seen outside a nursery on varieties, from huge double whites splashed with wine- this trip) fat, soft pink petals on the outside with smaller red to fat petaled singles in various shades of pink to white petals within. I'll have to check that out. The bus small, delicate, ice-white tubes of half opened buds, the took me to the bottom of the largest mountain and I tips of which seemed to reach up towards the sun in ended up climbing up steep stairways for about three supplication! hours, with the odd detour and rest... After another sumptuous lunch overlooking the night Today I'm just on my way back from taking another bloomer pond I took a quick walk around the Lotus look at the double lotus, it’s a beautiful thing... I can see Flowers Swaying In The Breeze Park (Breeze Ruffled some big fat seeds there but frustratingly it is too early Page 12 The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4
Lotus Park) and then headed off around the lake’s edge Euryale ferox - THE GORGON LILY salivating over the huge dark pink singles and light pink A number of IWGS list members have tried growing singles tipped with almost red, watching lost petals from Euryale with thorny leaves similar to Victoria, but spent flowers wandering the lake like little pink smaller and without the lip. The flowers are cupped, 4 rudderless boats, some laden with cargos of golden to 7cm across, and usually purple-violet fading to white stamens. They say that there are 14 varieties growing at the centre. It is found throughout tropical Asia, India, around the lake but I don't think I saw that many, but China and into Korea. The fat, starchy seeds are used then I didn't go everywhere as the lake is huge. It’s so for food and in some herbal remedies. picturesque, especially in the evening as the sun sinks behind the hills... the sky takes on a beautiful hue, which Plants grow from shallows up to water a metre deep. In is reflected on the oil like surface of the lake... the ornamental situations, 10-20cm cover and plenty of lotus... the dragonflies... the traditional music floating room seems to suit them best. They do well in on the breeze from the locals playing in the park beside temperatures over 20°C and are often grown from seed the lake... words aren’t good enough. as an annual. Wayne Morrow bags the blooms to catch Final part to follow ...... the seeds though the spiny sepals usually tear through the bags. Fortunately, seeds float for a time and can ABOUT often be rescued. He refrigerates the seeds for future Grant Mitchell is based in NSW Australia and he has use. Fernando Santos found that seeds stored for a year travelled extensively throughout China over the last 20 to eighteen months had lost all viability. Other writers years. He grows many aquatics at his nursery: stress the need to keep the seeds moist. http://www.geocities.com/lianglianwatergarden/
LOTUS IN AGRICULTURE As well as their ornamental value, by far the most important economic use of Lotus, is as an agricultural crop. The seeds and rootstocks are popular as a foodstuff throughout the Far East, and this has lead to flourishing production to meet demand.
China exports lotus products across the world and is a major supplier to the Japanese market. The growth in culture in Vietnam is relatively recent, and up to three Euryale ferox The thorn encrusted bud has forced its way right crops a year can be produced. Most of the seeds are through the leaf of this plant! Photo: J.Allison exported to Taiwan, which also imports lotus products from Thailand. LOTUS LEAVES AND INNOVATION Science has the answer to why raindrops collect in Lotus is being tested as a possible export crop in silvery droplets on lotus leaves. It is down to the leaf Australia, and Central Queensland University has coating of many tiny nodular projections (no more than produced a useful website with information on lotus one micron in size) on an undulating surface with culture and uses, with links: protrusions of around 20 microns. This combination http://www.ahs.cqu.edu.au/info/science/psg/AsianVeg results in a high ‘contact angle’ of about 160° to water /Lotus.html drops, with low resistance to droplet movement.
A Malaysian site with a brief overview of lotus: Droplets roll off the ‘super-hydrophobic’ leaves, and so http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/lotus.htm help to keep the surface clear of dirt and debris. Engineers have been keen to mimic this attribute on glass, in order to help windows clean themselves. Japanese researchers have had success using special coating films containing low levels of titanium oxide. In other countries silane/titanium coatings have been used to create ‘Lotus-effect’ self-cleaning coatings, whilst others have concentrated on the way the glass is fired in the factory. See our website section for this journal issue for links to further items on this topic. The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 Page 13
PUMP PERFORMANCE PUMP AND PLUMBING Usually, the best efficiency point of a pool pump will be in the range of 40-80% of the full rated flow. HINTS AND TIPS Operating in this range can also give the best bearing life. Operating at minimum flow/maximum head is the least efficient mode of use and tends to put the most strain on the pump and bearings. Valve restrictors Some tips on the types of pumps typically used in should be on the pump outlet, don’t restrict the pump ponds, garnered from various sources including inlet. Never lift a pump by the power cord. Always presentations at Pondapalooza 2003 by Water’s Edge, protect the cord from damage. KS, and Coastal Fountain Supply, GA, and from product literature by Tsurumi pumps. A well-designed inlet strainer will clog less and be easy to clean - well worth paying extra for! Ideally the PUMP COSTS strainer mesh should have openings half the size of the The purchase price of a pump is only part of the cost. smallest fountain nozzle. Always fit pumps with future Over the life of a pump, power consumption often maintenance in mind e.g. access and sufficient free pipe. makes the largest impact on the true overall costs. Unions on the pump make it much easier to disconnect for cleaning. Some of the most reliable submersible pumps can run for eight to ten years continuously, with only basic In high scale areas, run new pumps 24hrs per day to maintenance, often only failing due to breakdown of the reduce the risk of seizing up. When maintaining, clean power cord. Less reliable brands may require major pump parts with an appropriate acid cleaner. bearing replacements (where possible) every two or three years if they are not to fail. FITTINGS Don’t over-tighten underwater threaded fittings. Use Running costs = (Watts ´ Hrs / 1000) ´ KWH rate. PTFE/‘Teflon’ tape or paste wherever leaks from threads e.g. For a pump running 24 hours per day (8760 hrs might cause problems. Use five or more wraps of PTFE per year), 100 watts power consumption will cost tape and wrap on in the correct direction to avoid it around: peeling off. Use a non-toxic silicone spray lubricant on $75 per year (typical US rate of $0.085 per KWH) seals, pushfit-fittings, and hard-to-turn fittings. Never £66 per year (typical UK rate of £0.075 per KWH inc. use ‘WD-40’ with fish! tax) Hexagonal fittings can be tightened with a wrench. Hand As an example for two pumps, both rated at 1/3 tighten ‘o’ ring unions - no wrenches. Replace ‘o’ rings horsepower, both giving around 190 litres per minute annually to avoid surprises, especially on UV units. flow, along with the cost of purchase and three years of Avoid metal fittings which may corrode. Use stainless running in brackets. hose clips with stainless nuts. To minimise leaks due to Brand A costs $550/£333 and is rated at 260 watts hose distortion, wrap a strip of rubber liner around the ($745 / £505) hose before fitting the clip. Brand B costs $225/£136 and is rated at 750 watts ($787 / £630) Swing check valves foul less than ball check valves, but Despite higher initial cost, in this case, Brand A is the make sure they face the right direction! Use a quality, cheaper long term option, especially in the UK and smooth-bore, crushproof, opaque hose for best life. mainland Europe where power costs are higher. Cheap spiral hose can crack in time. Use larger bore hose wherever possible. e.g. 1½” bore allows over 2½ Such calculations are dependent on an accurate wattage times the flow of 1”. Avoid un-necessary elbows or tees figure; unfortunately some manufacturers can be a little as they greatly reduce flow. economical with the truth. Pumps tend to use the highest amount of energy when pumping full flow at low On glued fittings, always use the correct glue for the heads, and use less power at higher heads or when type of plastic. Avoid old/stale glue. Cut pipe ends valved down. Power output (P2) will always be less than neatly, chamfering off burs. Do a trial dry-run on power input (P1), due to inefficiency in the pump. complex fittings. Use an appropriate cleaner/primer Check which figure the manufacturer is quoting, you first. Coat both female and male surfaces with glue need to know the ‘P1’ power input figure, to know the before insertion. Give the glue time to set! true consumption costs.
Page 14 The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4
IWGS COMMERCIAL MEMBERS Our commercial members are among the finest retail and wholesale sources of waterlilies and companion plants, products and services. A portion of all commercial membership dues go to support the Research Awards program. In addition, the categories listed after each member's name indicate additional support to the Society.
Commercial members’ complete details - full address; telephone/fax; web details; and a key to products and services - are included in our Membership Directory (the latest edition is due very shortly). These details are also available on the ‘Commercial Members’ section on the Society’s web site, with useful web and Email links reached through www.iwgs.org
Commercial members’ major details are noted below. Any changes and/or additions to Commercial (or any other) membership listings should be sent to the office: IWGS c/o Paula Biles 6828 26th St W Bradenton, FL 34207 or fax them to (941) 756-0880 or Email them to [email protected] with a copy to the journal at [email protected]
Member Name Contact Person City/County/State Country Phone Category Absolute Aquatics Kenneth & Christine Rust Hopkins SC USA 803-783-1928 Bronze American Aquatic Gardens Rich Sacher & Bill Dailey New Orleans LA USA 504-944-0410 Gold Aquaflora Vinkeveen b.v. Frank Riechelman Vinkeveen NETHERLANDS 31-297-286709 Bronze Aquapic Solutions James Allison Cheltenham, Glos. UK 44-1242-244636 Bronze Aqua Productions SPRL Bruno Jurdant Limal BELGIUM 32-10-411256 Silver Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc James Layton & Gary Jones Chalfont PA USA 215-822-8181 Silver Aquascape Designs, Inc Jim Wullschleger & Melissa Lyons Batavia IL USA 630-326-1700 Platinum Aquatics & Exotics Donna & Thomas Kiehl Largo FL USA 727-397-5532 Silver Bee Fork Water Gardens Craig Williamson St Louis MO USA 314-962-1583 Silver Bergen Water Gardens & Nursery Larry & Sherry Nau Churchville NY USA 585-293-1639 Bronze Bittersweet Hill Nurseries Hildreth Morton Davidsonville MD USA 410-798-0231 Silver Briggs Nursery Jason Hills North Attleboro MA USA 508-699-7421 Bronze Burns Water Gardens Bob & Rowena Burns Baltimore, Ontario CANADA 905-372-2737 Bronze Charleston Aquatic Nurseries Brian & Stuart Schuck John's Island SC USA 843-559-3151 Gold Crystal Gardens H2O Allan Joy & Randy Slater Hollywood CA USA 323-876-5816 Silver Dietter’s Water Gardens Rob Dietter Branford CT USA 203 214-9904 Bronze Emperor Aquatics Scott Paparella Pottstown PA USA 610-970-0440 Gold Epic Plant Company Mark Denee Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario CANADA 905 468-5191 Bronze FiberTech/Createk-Stone Norm Cloutier Southbridge MA USA 508-764-7501 Silver Florida Aquatic Nurseries, Inc. Brad McLane Fort Lauderdale FL USA 954-472-5120 Platinum Flower Barn G. Griffith & T. O’Brien Johnstown PA USA 814-536-4433 Bronze Fourth Generation Nursery Rip & Ginger Sokol Mendon MA USA 508-634-1914 Platinum The Garden’s Edge Mark Willoughby York PA USA 717-747-9266 Bronze Goose Neck Water Gardens Bob & Linda Harsch Milldale CT USA 860-628-5888 Silver Green & Hagstrom, Inc. Jack & Cathy Green Fairview TN USA 615-799-0708 Platinum Green Vista Water Gardens Stephen C. Blessing Springfield OH USA 937-324-5039 Silver The Growing Place Nursery & Flower Farm Kathy Thomas Naperville IL USA 630-355-4000 Bronze Hazorea Aquatics Danny Benjamin Kibbutz Hazorea ISRAEL 972-4-9899137 Silver Hill's Water Garden Center John & Barbara Hill Perrysville OH USA 419-938-7208 Bronze Hyannis Country Garden Michael Preston Hyannis MA USA 800-352-GROW Silver Hydrosphere Water Gardens & Fisheries Chris Dahl Bradford, Ontario CANADA 905-715-2447 Bronze ITML Horticultural Products Nancy Couture Brantford, Ontario CANADA 800-736-4865 Bronze Lake Placid Water Gardens Bruce McLane Parkland FL USA 954-309-6201 Bronze Liberty Landcrafters & Pond Plants Peggy Carney Liberty TWP OH USA 513-755-6335 Bronze LilyBlooms Aquatic Gardens Bob & Curt Larson North Canton OH USA 800-921-0005 Silver The Lily Pond Sylvia & Larry DeVisme Phoenix AZ USA 602-273-1805 Silver Lilypons Water Gardens Richard & Margaret Koogle Buckeystown MD USA 301-874-5133 Platinum Maryland Aquatic Nurseries Richard Schuck Jarrettsville MD USA 410-557-7615 Platinum Masterson's Garden Center, Inc. Michael Masterson E. Aurora NY USA 716-655-0133 Bronze McDonalds Aquatic Nurseries Randy & Jill McDonald Reseda CA USA 818-345-7525 Silver Moore Water Gardens Farley & Susan See Port Stanley, Ontario CANADA 519-782-4052 Muddy Waters Aquatic Nursery Trish & Greg Wheat Beaufort NC USA 252-728-6049 Bronze Nelson Water Gardens & Nursery, Inc. Rolf & Anita Nelson Katy TX USA 281-391-4769 Platinum Nest Egg Farms Belinda Maynard Miami FL USA 305-251-7400 Bronze Opal Horticulture Co. , Ltd. Suwanna & Rainer Gaide Tungkruh, Bangkok THAILAND 662-426-2591 Bronze Oriental Aquarium (S) PTE Ltd. Eu It Hai Singapore R. O. SINGAPORE 65-679-37566 Silver Pacific Water Gardens Neal & Pamela Lucht Molalla OR USA 503-651-3302 Silver Palm Hammock Orchid Estate, Inc. Robert Yankowski Miami FL USA 305-274-9813 Bronze Paradise Water Gardens Paul W. Stetson, Sr. Whitman MA USA 800-955-0161 Bronze Patio Garden Ponds Joe & Louise Villemarette Oklahoma City OK USA 405-634-7663 Silver Plantabbs Products Wayne Davis & Frances Clifford Hunt Valley MD USA 410-771-1996 Gold The Pond Place/Scenic Harbor Nursery Mary E. Paulsen Hoquiam WA USA 360-532-0602 Bronze Pondkeeper Magazine Roseanne Conrad Duncansville PA USA 814-695-4727 Bronze The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4 Page 15
Pontasia J.B. & Linda Philips Austin TX USA 512-258-7817 Bronze Reimer Waterscapesâ Henry & Carole Reimer Tillsonburg, Ontario CANADA 519-842-6049 Silver Roadhouse Nursery Jan & George Bahr Poulsbo WA USA 360-779-9589 Bronze Scherer Water Gardens Bob Scherer Northport NY USA 631-261-7432 Gold Shady Lakes Water Lily Gardens Jan Phillips Alameda NM USA 505-898-2568 Silver Springdale Water Gardens Inc. Keith & Tish Folsom Greenville VA USA 540-337-4507 Gold Strawn Water Gardens LLC Dean & Cindy McGee College Station TX USA 979-696-6644 Silver T.H.F. Ornamentals Ruth Ann Schultze Poteet TX USA 830-742-4148 Bronze Tilley's Nursery, Inc./The Waterworks Tom & Rick Tilley Coopersburg PA USA 610-282-4784 Silver Valley View Farms Punkey Foard & T. McQuaid Cockeysville MD USA 410-527-0700 Gold Wallis Creek Watergarden Nola & Michael Fenech Mulbring, NSW AUSTRALIA Bronze Wasatch Koi & Water Gardens Dennis Steed Salt Lake City UT USA 801-487-1363 Bronze Water and Garden Creations Frank & Carole Schwartz Raleigh NC USA 919-662-7677 Bronze The Water Garden Karen & Randall Tate Chattanooga TN USA 423-870-2838 Gold Water Garden Gems, Inc. Burt & Sally Nichols Marion TX USA 210-659-5841 Gold Water Gardening Magazine Sue Speichert St. John IN USA 219-374-9419 Gold Water's Edge Deb Spencer & Susan Davis Lawrence KS USA 785-841-6777 Platinum Windy Oaks Aquatics Marilyn Buscher Eagle WI USA 262-594-3033 Bronze Yileen Garden Co., Ltd Yuesheng Ding Nanjing, Jiangsu CHINA 86-25-888-5422 Bronze
NEW MEMBERS: Picot Co., Inc. William Knowles Needham, MA USA 781-455-0060 Bronze Pondbiz.com Ken Becker Woodland Hills, CA USA 818-887-7722 Bronze Super Fresh Co., Ltd. Sujin Nopjaroenwong Bangkok, THAILAND 666-816-6226 Bronze Water Tropicals Katharine & Robert Lune West Palm Beach, FL USA 888-545-4374 Bronze
GARDENING WITH WATER
The best possible selection of plants can be of little interest to the average gardener unless they are presented well. And in temperate climates, most of the plants will be invisible for a large portion of the year. This is where strong garden design, with bold structural elements, can really complement the planting and still provide interest in the dreary winter months when the plants are all dormant.
This striking design by John Wood, was shown at the RHS Hampton Court Show in 2003. The pool has been built directly beside a home office window, giving an ideal view both of the waterplants and the wildlife that visits the pond.
The rustic, rope edged deck, allows a safe close- up examination of the pool and waterlilies, whilst the curved shallows are filled with a profusion of marginal plants. The granite sett (rectangular block) pathway and patio tie in with the strongly radial symmetry in the rest of the garden. At the near edge of the pool, a moist area caters for lush foliage plants such as Darmera peltata the umbrella plant (or Indian rhubarb).
There is no doubt that examples like this will encourage many more gardeners to include water in their overall garden design, but plant suppliers need to take care to advise on the best plants for the conditions and space available.
Page 16 The Water Garden Journal, Volume 18 No.4
THE WATER GARDEN JOURNAL IN YOUR NEXT JOURNAL Volume 18 Number 4 Useful Plants for Bog Filters EDITOR JAMES ALLISON EDITORIAL BOARD PAULA BILES Marginals and Moisture Loving Plants BETSY SAKATA Growing Tropical Lilies in Europe BARRE HELLQUIST Plant Patents WALTER PAGELS DISTRIBUTION PAULA BILES Preview of new Books: The Official Publication of the INTERNATIONAL WATERLILY AND Encyclopedia of Water Garden Plants WATER GARDENING SOCIETY Water and Wetland Plants of the Prairie Provinces
PRESIDENT WAYNE DAVIS VICE PRESIDENT TOM TILLEY
TREASURER TISH FOLSOM
SECRETARY ROBERT (BOB) BURNS EXEC. DIRECTOR PAULA BILES IWGS TORONTO SYMPOSIUM BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2003-2004 2004 Robert Burns, Rowena Burns, Roseanne Conrad, Susan Davis, Wayne Davis, Tish Folsom, Cathy Green, Barre Hellquist, Brad McLane, Rolf Nelson, Jim Purcell, Sue Speichert, Tom Tilley, Charles Thomas (ex- CONFIRMED DATES: officio). Main Symposium: 21st - 24th July
th th WEB ADDRESS: www.iwgs.org Post Symposium: 25 -26 July
ADMINISTRATIVE ADDRESS and More details on page 2 SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society, Make space in your diaries now! 6828 26th St W, Bradenton, FL 34207, USA Voice & Fax 941-756-0880, Email [email protected]
EDITORIAL ADDRESS The Water Garden Journal, 4 Dagmar Road,
Cheltenham, Glos. GL50 2UG , UK TALES FROM THE LOTUS TRAIL Voice (011 44) 1242-244608, See the article starting on page 9 Email [email protected]
Volume 18, Number 4. The IWGS Water Garden Journal (ISSN 1069-5982) is published quarterly by The International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society (The Society), 6828 26th St W, Bradenton, FL 34207, USA Voice & Fax 941-756-0880, Email [email protected] All rights reserved. © 2003. Bulk rate postage paid at Bradenton FL, USA and additional mailing offices. Basic subscription/ membership rate for one full year is $30. Further details and back issues are available from the administrative office in FL. All changes of address and incidents of non-arrival of journals should be notified to the office in FL. Opinions expressed by authors and any products reviewed are not specifically endorsed by The Society, nor does The Society accept any liability arising from the contents of this journal.
China - Lotus seedheads on sale in a street market. MISSION STATEMENT Photo: Grant Mitchell
The International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society (IWGS), is a
non-profit organization of multi-national membership dedicated to the Cover Picture: Nelumbo ‘Charles Thomas’ furtherance of all aspects of water gardening and their associated An unusual lavender-pink hybrid originating from a cross of plants. As an organization we support and promote education, N. nucifera ‘Shirokunshi’ and ‘Pekinensis Rubra’ by Perry D. Slocum research, and conservation in these areas. Photo: J. Allison