I am often asked what the horticulture staff of Powell Gardens does in the winter. The process we follow to grow the magnificent Victoria waterlilies shown above (photo taken last summer by Mark Gawron, Senior Gardener for the Island Garden) starts now, in midwinter. The Victoria waterlilies have arrived!

Mark Gawron says Victoria waterlilies are the prize jewel for avid water gardeners. I like to start the Victorias in mid-January. We receive the seeds from Florida and I credit the process of cultivating the Victorias from Water Gardens International’s website http://www.watergardensinternational.org/.”

We received five varieties of Victorias this year. The seeds arrive from Florida in labeled plastic baggies filled with water. Victoria amazonica depicted here.

Mark Gawron nicks (scarifies) the seed as soon as possible, keeping the seed out of water for the smallest amount of time possible. This is a slow process; each seed must be scarified individually by hand.