The Queen is back.. and she is not alone this time.

Despite the unbearable heat not everything is bad news these days! The Queen is blooming again! but this is not the same plant I showed you in the previous entry, there are two Gloire du temple sut lot plants in my pond. This Queen looks a bit "tousled"..

Day one

Day two: The shell pink color begins to fade

Day three she is completely white

I said the Queen was not alone, this is one of her heiresses: Pink Pom Pom. She looks a lot like the Queen but her pink color is more intense and doesn't change. This lily was hybridized by the american breeder Tony Moore in 2012 and her parentage includes of course Gloire du temple sur lot. She looks tousled too...this is very common in this family of lilies, I don't know why...sometimes flowers look perfect but other times they look shrivelled.

Day one

Day 2

Day 3

There is a second princess in the pond but she's refusing to bloom for the time being...I always read that these extra-double lilies aren't very popular due to their low flowering rate and often untidy flowers but they are my favourite lilies anyways!

See you next time!

Queen of the pond

This is the moment I've been waiting all year for! The Queen of the pond has bloomed, this variety is a very shy bloomer, but the flowers more than make up for any wait as you can see.

This lily, named 'Glory of Le Temple sur Lot' after the french Village where her creator - Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac - lived, was a sensation when it was introduced in 1913.

This beautiful lady has big,  unusual chrysanthenum shell-pink double blooms with over 100 petals, the few other extremly double lilies that exist today wouldn't come along for another 70 years

This variety is also one of a handful that can send up both pure white and pure pink flowers.

She is the Queen of the pond and considered by many to be Marliac’s ultimate hybrid and the most beautiful hardy waterlily in existence. Unfortunately I could not take pictures of the second and third day of this bloom because of the rain (Second and third day blooms resemble a Victoria cruciana blossom, only they are much smaller) I promise new pictures when she blooms again!

I hope the New Year has started well for you! see you next time!