2014-2020

 

Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, legacy of Pierre S. du Pont, 1870-1954,    American

 

Past the fruiting Paulonia trees

 

 

 

and into the conservatory;

 

tarrying not long because it is hard to leave such fragrance and these colours

 

 

 

Allamanda (Allamanda cathartica)

 

 

Fuschia

 

 

Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)

 

 

 

to reach the enclosed courtyard of five pools of  waterlilies and water platters

 

 

 

Tropical waterlilies  (Nymphaea):  some flowering in the day and some at night. The flowers last from 3 to 5 days.  Foliage dies back in autumn but the rhizomes remain in the water through the winter.

Water platters:  two species which grow in the wild and one species hybridized by Longwood by crossing seeds collected in South America from 1961 onwards. 

 

These water platters can grow to diameters of more than 6 feet and are said to be the only distinct plant form visible from satellites.

Black dye is added to the water to restrict the growth of algae.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the enclosing walls, many plants.

Within the pools, some aquatic plants among the lilies and the water platters.

 

 

 

Red Stemmed Arrowhead, in the plantain family

 

 

Ludwigia, Evening Primrose Family

 

Ludwigia, Evening Primrose Family

 

 

 

New leaf of the Victoria Longwood hybrid waterplatter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hardy Waterlililes (Canna hybrids)

 

 

 

 

 

To re-enter the conservatory

 

 

 

August 26, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

to reach the metal chairs outside the conservatory facing the calm of the formal gardens;

 

to sit for a while quietly.