Lily Pond

[franceslievens]

Comments

[lijability.livejournal.com]

Nymphaea caerulea, otherwise known as the Sacred Blue Lily of the Nile or sometimes Egyptian Blue Lotus (though others sometimes give that name to another flower, Nelumbo nucifera).

At least I think so. The white water lily (Nymphaea ampla) grows over part of my farm pond (an old oxbow lake, the one in my avatar). From the write-ups on those pages maybe I should be farming that plant! Might make for some supplementary income.
...

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the weather at your farm, but those lilies grew under glass in stuffy rainforest-like environments...

Beautiful flowers, though. :-)

[lijability.livejournal.com]

We have some cold winters here but water lilies that are native grow even up into Canada. The ones I have seen on our farm sometimes get flooded out. But usually by August, at least a few have made a showing in what we see as the far (west) end of the pond. I remember measuring some of the leaves one year, they were two feet across.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

We also have water lilies in Belgium, not the ones with the big leaves, but still. But the blue variety does need a bit more heat and won't get through winter, though!

[lijability.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure the Egyptian blue needs a more moderate climate. I was thinking about our native species. The one page I linked above said that most all of the genus Nymphaea have the same psychotropic properties. That pond would be something completely different if I could get water lilies to grow out say 2-5 meters from the shoreline. It might make for some better cover for bass and bluegill (sunfish) and better fishing. I think the problem is the flooding that raises the level of the pond as much as 3 meters some years (and makes my cornfield into a much bigger lake!).