Nymphaeaceae is the scientific name for the water lily family. Water lilies are lovely as they float leisurely on the water and look beautiful.
White flowering water lilies are common, so I was delightfully surprised to see many different colors of lilies at the Olbrich Botanical Garden in Madison Wisconsin, where we took a weekend road trip. They were impressive.
According to Wikipedia: “Water lilies are rooted in soil in bodies of water with leaves and flowers floating on or rising from the surface.” It was interesting to learn that the water lily family forms five genera (groups) with about 70 known species.
Several different types of water lilies can be found floating in the Sunken Garden in Olbrich Gardens. The sunken garden is a formal, traditional, English-style garden with an 80-foot reflecting pool, and small “water falls” over a cement drop at one end.
The pool is surrounded by mostly by spring bulbs, annuals and perennials with a view of Lake Monona in the distance.
A few more water lilies were growing in the pools surrounding the Royal Thai Pavilion in the Thai garden section of Olbrich Botanical Gardens.
Seeing all the different colors was a fun discovery…The water lilies added a lot of “splash of color” to the water pools.
They show off their beauty in a gentle and quiet way.
There was much to see in the lush gardens at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison. The winding paths, little quiet spaces to sit, wonderful variety of flower gardens (17, plus an indoor conservatory), and large trees that provide a canopy of shade over some trails, a Prairie-Style viewing tower to climb for an overlook, and so oh, much more….
If I lived closer I’d visit there often…