Common name: Water Lily
Family: Nymphaeaceae, Water Lily
Height x width: 6-12" x 1-18' spread depending on cultivar
Growth rate: moderate
Foliage: floating, alternate, simple, base deeply cut into 2 lobes; on stems from submerged rhizomes either tuberous or stoloniferous
Flowers: floating or held above foliage and water surface; mostly white, yellow, blue, red and variations through summer with each bloom lasting 3-4 days for hardy types and 6-8 days for tropicals, open in either day (diurnal) or night (nocturnal); may be cup or star-shaped; may be fragrant especially the tropicals which are also nice cut
Hardiness: zones 3-9 for hardy cultivars, zone 10 for tropicals
Soil: organic loam
Light: sun, some tolerate part shade ('Dauben' tolerates most shade)
Pests and Problems: leafspots, aphids, leaf mining midge, waterlily leaf cutter, waterlily leaf beetle (none usually serious); waterfowl such as ducks and geese may feed on plants as can large fish, deer and turtles
Landscape habit, uses: water gardens, ponds, water containers (most require more space to spread, 'Ellisiana' and 'Paul Hariot' are suitable for containers of at least 10 gallons of water)
Other interest: genus name from the Greek nymphe meaning water-nymph, refering to its habitat
Other culture:
• use slow-release fertilizer in basket providing low fertility
• water pH should be 6.0-7.0
• hardy types should survive if sufficient water above plants to keep from freezing, otherwise and for tropicals lift and store indoors in moist sand and cool
• tropicals should have a water temperature of 65-70ºF summer and 50ºF winter
• temperate species may need dividing every 3rd or 4th year, tropicals more often.
Species:
Most selections are found in commerce as hybrids, with the following two species sometimes seen in U.S. commerce.
colorata--zone 10, native to Tanzania, light blue flowers to 4" across opening in day
odorata-- Fragrant Water Lily, Pond Lily; zones
3-10, native to eastern U.S., white flowers opening in day, fragrant
Cultivars:
Of the over 100 cultivars currently found in U.S. commerce, the following
are the most frequently seen. Group refers to: tropical day-blooming
(TD), tropical night-blooming (TN), hardy (H, day blooming).
| Cultivar | group | flowers | foliage |
| 'Afterglow' | TD | pink, orange, yellow combined | green |
| 'Albert Greenberg' | TD | rosy yellow | strongly speckled |
| 'Attraction' | H | red dotted white, pink sepals, large | large |
| 'Blue Beauty' | TD | deep blue, gold center, black sepals | large, long lobed, wavy |
| 'Charlene Strawn' | H | yellow, scented, held high | green |
| 'Chromatella' | H | primrose yellow | green |
| 'Comanche' | H | orange to copper, small, held high | purple when young |
| 'Dauben' | TD | periwinkle blue | green speckled |
| 'Director Geo. T. Moore' | TD | deep violet, gold centers, large | small, blotched |
| 'Ellisiana' | H | claret, small, profuse, early | green |
| 'Evelyn Randig' | TD | magenta-rose, large, fragrant, erect | dark green, purple stripes |
| 'General Pershing' | TD | deep pink, large,fragrant, 1' high | large, pink tinted purple |
| 'Gladstone' | H | snow white, large, thick petals | dark red, rounded |
| 'Gloire de Temple-sur-lot' | H | pink aging white, double | large |
| 'Golden West' | TD | light orange to apricot | light green, large, mottled |
| 'Hollandia' | H | pink, large, double, fragrant | green |
| 'James Brydon' | H | metallic red, large, scented, double | large, tinted purple |
| 'Leopardess' | TD | cobalt blue, scented | dark green, brown spots |
| 'Mrs. Geo. H. Pring' | TD | white, star-shaped, scented | large, blotched brown |
| 'Panama Pacific' | TD | deep plum, gold stamens | bronze, red veins |
| 'Paul Hariot' | H | yellow to bronze red, small, scented | mottled |
| 'Pink Beauty' | H | pink fragrant | green |
| 'Pink Perfection' | TD | rose pink | strongly mottled |
| 'Pink Sensation' | H | pink, star-shaped, held high | rounded, large |
| 'Red Flare' | TN | vivid red, star-shaped, fragrant | mahogany |
| 'Rose Arey' | H | rose pink, large, star-shaped, fragrant | tinted red |
| 'Sioux' | H | yellow to peach to orange-red | bronze |
| 'Splendida' | H | ruby red, orange stamens | dull green |
| 'Sunrise' | H | bright yellow, scented | elliptic, brown marked |
| 'Virginalis' | H | white tinted pink, semi-double | tinted purple |
| 'Yellow Dazzler' | TD | lemon yellow, star-shaped, held high | large |
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