Lars, that is just beautiful, and it blooms for six months at least? Wow!

Annie

Beautiful Lars....do you know the name of this flower?

I've never seen a tropical water lily so I'm interested.

SharonCb

Great photo, Lars. What a gorgeous flower. Thank you!

Wow, I now have new wallpaper! Thanks!

Sharon, I think it is a Nymphaea pulcherrima, but I'm not completely sure. I bought two different similar ones, but one did not survive the raccoon attack. This one is supposed to be fragrant, but I haven't gotten close enough to it to tell.

Lars

Oh my what a treasure is there when you Google those names, Lars.
I have never seen a blue water lily and yet there seems to be not only blue but many other colours as well as bicoloured flowers.

One of my tropical plant books lists N.Caerulea (from Egypt and also blue) and N.Stellata.
There are some beautiful waterlily photos of N.Caerulea here.

I found less on N.Pulcherrima but as it is also blue, then that could be the one you have. I saw some pics of that one here.

The N.Stellata that I saw on Google looked to be more of a mauve colour.

Now I want a pond ! I already tore up a lot of our of lawn to plant rose bushes, so maybe I'll have to go for a big earthenware waterbowl instead, lol.

SharonCb

Good God. Lars, the vibrant colors on that water lily are breathtaking!

Sol

That flower is gorgeous, Lars -- and also my favorite color combination. Just beautiful, thanks for posting.

Beautiful flower!

Thanks for the comments on the picture!

Sharon, I think it might be Nymphaea caerulea, as you suggested. I don't even remember where I bought it, as it was several years ago. The blue ones are pretty expensive, usually around $35 - $50 per plant.

We put our pond is ourselves, and it took about a week to do all of the digging, which is the hardest part, and I did only about 1/3 of that. They are fairly high maintenance, but really worth it, IMO. Since you live in a mild climate like mine, you can grow the tropical water lilies also, which have the most varieties of colors. I don't think there are any hardy water lilies that are blue - mostly just reds, yellows, and whites. I had some hardy water lilies, and I ended up giving them away because they were too invasive and would choke out the tropicals.

Lars

You're tempting me Lars! I can't imagine anything lovelier than having a little pond with a gentle bubbler at one end with floating tropical water lilies near our back patio so we could gaze at it while dining outside. Even Wolf had suggested one year that we could put in a little water feature. Hmmmm and now we have a new gardener who has a partner and the two of them can build fences, paint walls and build anything out of concrete :-). He has offered to any odd jobs around the house, including building projects. How lucky can we get.

That goes in my project file along with a new little patio in the front garden where there's a sunken suntrap corner, beside a high hedge, totally hidden from any neighbour's views, which also gazes directly at the volcano. A perfect place for a tiny secret coffee and lounging retreat.

SharonCb

Lars...that's just gorgeous!

Lars,
Wow, really beautiful!

Gorgeous! Both the flower and the photography.

Thanks for sharing.

Karen

Stunning Lars:)What a bluetiful color!:)

My friends brought me a Lotus as a gift this Sat when they came for dinner.. I just hope I can get it to bloom.I am concerned of our lack of sun this summer..Especially in my tiny pond..

It's been overwintered indoors and just out of hibernation.They are gorgoeus these pond flowers!

I was trying to see if I had pictures of the lotus flowers at Echo Park, but I did find {{gwi:1469580}} from a previous festival. I'll make a point of photographing the flowers this year. I didn't have as good a camera the last time I went.

I thought lotus were hardy to zone 4.

Lars

What a stunning bloom ! Thx for sharing Lars. I love the look of "tropicals" -- the colors are always so vivid !

Diane

I was not expecting this real dragon boat..

Here where I live our Dragon Boat races are boat races manned by breast cancer survivors..I would love them to have such beautiful ships:)

Breathtaking Lars.