Later this month, the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, tucked in a corner of Northeast D.C., will play host to visitors from all over the globe as they take in the acres of water lilies and lotus plants that dot the ponds at the gardens.
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The lotuses are starting to bloom, but there’s more to see at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
Later this month, the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, tucked in a corner of Northeast D.C., will play host to visitors from all over the globe as they take in the acres of water lilies and lotus plants that dot the ponds at the gardens.
The annual Lotus and Water Lily Festival doesn’t kick off until July 18, but many of the lotus plants that range from the palest pink to deep magenta are already in bloom.
Mariana Fariña is on the board of the Friends of the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, a partner of the National Park Service. She said visitors shouldn’t worry that they’ll miss peak bloom — the plants flower at differing rates.
As visitors stopped at Fariña’s table just inside the gates of the garden entrance, she pointed to a map and advised them that in one corner of the gardens, where there are smaller ponds, they would see a concentration of lotuses in bloom.
“In the smaller ponds, they warm up faster, which means they start blooming earlier in the season,” she said.
She pointed to another area of the map, where the ponds were bigger, deeper and a little bit cooler. She said the lotuses planted there bloom a little bit later.
Before sending a couple off to the flower-lined paths, Fariña said that along with the lotuses, “You’re going to find gorgeous, bright blue dragonflies. You’re going to find a lot of birds. You’re going to find — if you are quiet enough — a lot of frogs.”
Robina Barlow was taking a walk through the gardens with members of her church Wednesday. She visited because of her husband, who is an avid photographer. She said there’s a striking photo of a lotus blossom that graces their home.
She came on a quiet day, ahead of the annual festival she said, because they wanted to avoid the crowds without missing out on the lotuses.
“It’s just fabulous when you watch how they open,” Barlow said.
Jena Jolley, who was part of Barlow’s group, said she didn’t have a favorite flower among the plantings in the sprawling gardens.
“I was just awe-struck by everything,” Jolley said. “Being outside is very important to me, free green spaces are very important to me.”
The National Arboretum, which is not far from the gardens, is also a favorite spot of hers.
Photographers and birders spread out among the boardwalks and pathways of the gardens, focusing on the red-winged blackbirds, the herons and ospreys that soared above the water gardens.
Many plan their trips for peak bloom of the lotuses, and other visitors, such as Rusty Brainard, who has lived in D.C. on a part-time basis for years, stumbled upon the gardens by accident.
Brainard said that he’s a bit of an obsessive hiker, and loves to go on long walks, adding he was in the middle of his 18-kilometer mark while on the boardwalk of the gardens.
“I typically walk Rock Creek, and then I started walking Sligo Creek,” he said.
On a walk in May along the Anacostia River Trail, he ended up in the aquatic gardens.
“I feel blessed to have kind of stumbled across such a treasure,” Brainard said. “I’ve been coming to D.C. for decades for work visits and it was never on the map of places to go.”
The Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Lotus and Water Lily Festival begins Friday, July 18, and runs through Sunday, July 20, with a range of activities for visitors.
Fariña told visitors to be sure to return to the park at any time of the year.
“Keep coming! Even in the winter. Keep coming, because it’s a different kind of gorgeous,” Fariña said.
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