Madame Ganna Walska water lily, pond diva
“I’m an enemy of the average,” declared Ganna Walska, a Polish opera singer who went on to create the fantastical garden Lotusland in Santa Barbara, California. It’s high on my bucket list. One day I will visit.
Until I make the pilgrimage, I’m enjoying the decidedly above-average beauty of this passalong ‘Madame Ganna Walska’ water lily from Philip of East Side Patch. The star-shaped, violet-pink blossoms rise above the pond’s surface as if to catch admiring gazes from the crowd. Large, purple-mottled leaves spread across the water like its namesake’s larger-than-life personality. Although she’s a tropical water lily, she survived being encased in ice in Philip’s stock-tank pond during last winter’s extended freezes.
I hope Madame will show the same hardiness in my stock-tank pond. I want to keep enjoying these extraordinary blossoms for years to come—at least until I see the grand lady’s garden itself.
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
What a sumptuous flower, and stunning leaves too. I’ve been wondering what’s been going on in the big stock tank, if it’s been a lot of trouble to maintain, etc.
(BTW, that’s a great blog title, Enemy of the Average!)
Denise, the stock-tank pond couldn’t be easier. In hot weather like we’ve been having, I have to top off the water level once a week, and I fertilize the water lilies once a month. Not that we’re past live-oak leaf-drop and pollen season, that’s all the maintenance it requires. Mosquito fish live in the tank and eat any mosquito larvae. —Pam
Pam, we saw Lotusland this spring. You should definitely go sooner rather than later. It will be an inspiration for you design practice like no other garden.
I would love to go! Selfishly, I keep worrying that one year a California wildfire will take it out. —Pam
Nice. I need to talk to philip. : ) What size is your tank. 6′ diameter?
It’s eight feet in diameter, Greggo—huge! —Pam
Mmmm, that is a beauty!
I’ll be happy to divide it for you next spring, Cat, if you want to try this one. It’s a biggie though. How big is your tank? —Pam
That sure is a beauty…and as always, so jealous of the stock tank pond!
They are easy to set up, Scott. Instant pond. —Pam
Hi Pam.
Happy to see the Walska waltzing all over the surface of your stock tank. One of the best smelling water lilies around! I cannot wait to see Lotusland as well…one day.
A pilgrimage is definitely in order. Thanks so much for sharing Madame Ganna with me. I’m really enjoying those lovely flowers and rad leaves. —Pam
If this lily is any indication of the so named garden you have a lot to look forward to. What a beauty. So is your garden.
Thanks, Lisa. 🙂 —Pam
I hope you and Phillip get to go to Lotusland, someday, Pam. That’s a really beautiful water lily! Do you know if was named while Madame Ganna Walska was around to enjoy the honor? I read that Julia Child actually selected the unnamed rose that became ‘Julia Child’ rose and that Nancy Reagan also chose her namesake.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I did a little research online about that, Annie, but couldn’t find the answer before posting. I just investigated more deeply and found reference to it on Lotusland’s website: it “was bred by hybridizer Jack Wood and named for Madame Walska (pink was her favorite color).” Funny, I wouldn’t characterize the blossoms as strictly pink, but maybe in California’s rarefied climate they look different? Anyway, in looking up Jack Wood, “acclaimed waterlily nurseryman,” I see that he named it in 1989. Walska died in 1984, so I assume she never knew about her namesake. —Pam
Don’t you just love water lilies, Pam? This one is a beauty. I miss my Midnight water lily and my Director Moore, which I lost in the freeze of 2009. I plan to buy more this year.
It might be a blessing in disguise to lose one or two in a freeze. Then you can try something new. A different lily every year! —Pam
Gorgeous! We had a tropical water lily one year and it was fun to have something that just bloomed its head off until the bitter end. And so much more dramatic than our other white and yellow lilies. Everything in your garden is looking so lush.
I’m sure our weather right now would feel like high summer (or a heat wave) to you, Linda. The plants are growing like gangbusters before the malaise of summer sets in. —Pam
As you probably know the MGW is a viviparous tropical and is an aggressive vivip.
I have potted up 20 MGW’s from one plant since the middle of July. Just break off a pad that has a bud started in the middle, turn it upside down floating, and in about 5-6 days it will have roots, plant pad and all root side up,cover the pad with dirt in the pot, set a couple of rocks on it to hold it down. You can have a bunch of these in no time. Plant them in 1 to 2 gallon pots and they will tuber for you to save through winter. Definitely one of my favorite tropical s
Robert
I had no idea how to propagate these, Robert. Thanks so much for the information. —Pam