Victoria amazonicaGiant Amazon Water Lily

Victoria amazonica produces the largest leaf of any water plant in cultivation: a circular pad two to three metres across with a turned-up rim, ribbed and spined beneath, strong enough to spread its weight across a remarkable area of water surface.

The flowers open at dusk, white and heavily scented on the first night, and reopen pink on the second. It is not a landscape plant in the ordinary sense; it is a display specimen, and it needs warm, still, deep water to perform.

Specifications

• HeightFloating; the leaf pads sit at the water surface and the flowers stand 0.2 to 0.3 metres above it
• WidthLeaf pads 2 to 3 metres across, with a total plant spread of 6 to 8 metres
• Native toThe Amazon basin of Brazil, Bolivia and Guyana
• FoliageEnormous circular floating pads with upturned rims, ribbed and spined beneath; renewed continuously through the growing season
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilRich loam in a deep planting crate, set beneath the water
• LightFull sun
• WaterStill water 0.6 to 1.2 metres deep, warm year round
• ClimateRequires genuinely tropical conditions; growth stops and the plant fails in cool water

Additional Features

• FlowersVery large night-opening flowers, white and strongly scented on the first evening and pink on the second
• UsesBotanic garden and display pools, hotel and civic water features, and set-piece landscape water bodies
• SpacingAllow 6 to 8 metres of clear water surface per plant
• Low MaintenanceA specialist display plant: water temperature, depth and feeding all need active management
• Pest ResistanceAphid can gather on the pad rims; otherwise straightforward under correct conditions
• FormA single vast floating disc, unmistakable and unmatched at any scale
• Seasonal AppealPads build through the warm season to full size, with flowering across the peak months

The Giant Amazon Water Lily is a set-piece specimen for a heated display pool, and it should be specified only where those conditions can be guaranteed.