Waterlily culture in the western hemisphere began in 1786 when Nymphaea sp. was first introduced into the large estates and botanic gardens of England.
Before any of us were born there was a waterlily pioneer who spent his life almost entirely on the development of the waterlily. His name was Joseph Marliac.
Joseph Marliac, born in 1830 to a family-owned nursery in France, learned early an appreciation for the hardy and the tropical waterlily. His father?s 62-acre nursery was graced with 2.5 acres of springs that produced fairly warm water at a rate of 25,000 gallons per day. This prime watergardening land was divided into 40 ponds that were subdivided into 600 sections. By the time Joseph was old enough to learn the business, these ponds were producing all sorts of aquatic plants.
Beaver, moose, muskrat, porcupine, and deer eat waterlily leaves and roots and waterfowl eat the seeds. Waterlilies also provide excellent cover for largemouth bass, sunfish, and frogs.
The water lily family, Nymphaeaceae, is an old and evolutionarily primitive one, and is grouped with buttercups (Ranunculus) and magnolias in the order Ranales. Furthermore, fossil evidence suggests that nymphaeas have not changed much over the past 160 million years. All they have done is move about the globe, keeping in the tropical and temperate zones. Another well known genus in this family is Victoria, the giant amazon water lily.
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"Creativity is in the eye of the beholder, I've gained it for you to behold it" - Candice Johnson
