A Bloom within a Bloom

This is a picture of a Cynthia Anne blossom bud displaying a viviparous characteristic. The flower bud never did open up, and instead, it is sprouting a new plant from inside the bud. The new plantlet appears to developing its own roots, which you can see on the left side of the bud, and in addition to developing 4 leaves, it also has its own flower bud. This type of occurance is common to several varieties of tropical water lilies (generally a new plantlet occurs from the leaf rather than the bloom). Feedback from the Water Gardeners International group indicates that many of the Kirk Strawn hybrid lilies with parentage with N. mexicana are viviparous.

Grunging in the Lily tanks

Its hard to believe that its August 28, 2010, and its 12 degrees outside. My hardy water lilies decided that it was not worth the effort to open their blossums, and stayed tightly closed all day. I can’t say I blame them. I was also bundled up in my hoodie whenever I went outside.
The outside water lily tanks are usually full of blossums. Currently blooming are Cynthia Anne, Mangala Ubol, Norma Gedye, Mayla, Moondance and Woods Blue Goddess. This weekend was grunging time for the tanks. The south tank lilies had started to develop string algae around the base of the plants. This is the first time we have seen string algae on the lilies this summer. The north tank did not have any string algae, but did have an abundance of aphids on the leaves. Its strange that the 2 tanks, which are side by side, should have 2 separate problems. After my grunging efforts today, followed up with water treatment, the problem appears to be solved – for now.