BOYLSTON, Mass. – The Ramble Family and Children’s Garden at New England Botanic Garden is constantly refreshed and rearrangied, but the one plant taking center stage for the 2025 Waterlily Weigh Off right now is the Victorian Waterlily.
Vicky, the Victorian Waterlily, is an Amazonian species in the Amazon River basin; not native to New England.
New England Botanic Garden grew the species as an annual. So, the individual was grown from a seed they obtained from an aquatic specialty nursery in Pennsylvania.
The buoyant pads can span up to 10 feet in diameter and even hold the weight of an adult.
The Denver Botanic Garden came up with the fun idea to challenge other botanic gardens around the world and see how much these massive lily pads could hold.
“This is Vicky here, and she was able to hold about 30 pounds, which was a pretty big number for us,” director of horticulture Steve Conaway said. “We don’t have ideal growing conditions for this plant. We have a short growing season. Other botanic gardens will have big, enclosed glasshouses where they’re growing these tropical plants year round, or they’re in a more tropical climate. Some of those botanic gardens, had posted numbers well over 100 pounds.”
“This common thread between botanic gardens, of having living collections of really interesting plants,” Conaway said. “We’re always thinking of ways to engage with the public and sort of share all of the cool things that, we grow here in the garden. But also, just the story of these plant adaptations is really fascinating.”
The winner of the 2025 Water Lily Weigh Off will be announced Thursday, August 28. Last year’s winner in Missouri held about 142 pounds
Sticking with the theme of Vicky’s unusual look, the Botanic Garden’s upcoming fall exhibit will be called ‘Stanger Plants’. They’ll have an illuminated display of all kinds of weird and fascinating sculptures of imagined alien plants. The ‘Stranger Plants Exhibit’ will run Aug. 30 – Nov. 2.
Comments are closed.