Floating Islands

Imagine crossing a pond on the pads of waterlilies. Round, flat, adrift like paper boats on murky tethers, their notched leaves are as seductive as their blooms, and almost as varied. Hundreds of waterlily species, or Nymphaea, grow around the world, from Europe to South America. Classed as hardy or tropical, they come in many colors, with leaves that might be purple, striped or hot chartreuse and as small as coins or as broad as boulders. Their flowers generally open in sunlight and close at dusk and can have powerful scents that will perfume an entire landscape. Most, according to pond specialist Don Hamburger of Aquasphere in Topanga, love life in Southern California. They shy away only, in some cases, from extreme heat. What’s more, you don’t have to own a lake to grow them. A simple watertight pot will do, as long as it’s at least 12 inches wide and deep. Hardies, which grow laterally from rhizomes, need elbow room; tropical tubers reach higher from a greater depth. In bloom from spring to fall, water nymphs, as they’re also known, go dormant in winter but rise again quickly. They like still, unruffled water, full sun and regular fertilizer tablets. In return, they’ll cover a pool before you know it with those sweet, inviting pads immortalized by Monet.

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Don Hamburger’s SoCal Waterlily Picks:

‘Blue Beauty,’ a big, blue-flowering tropical with a strong, spicy scent and long blooming season; ‘Mayla,’ a new, very large hardy hybrid that flowers profusely and dramatically, sending up fat, double-petaled fuchsia blooms; ‘Helvola,’ a miniature yellow hardy selection with silver-dollar-size flowers. It thrives in a small tub and--unusual for a waterlily--will bloom in some shade; ‘Albert Greenberg,’ an old tropical hybrid with variegated maroon-and-green leaves and fragrant pink-and-yellow flowers.