A special open water gardens planned for Labor Day weekend

By Charles Leach
HCP columnist

LYNCHBURG – We tried making our hobby of water gardening into a business after the company we ran closed because the industry it served moved from the United States to Mexico and then to China.

It was a shame, because our little company – staffed by people who grew up on farms in Highland County – had produced some of the most amazing world-class water-based inks and systems ever created; but inks and systems required the kind of skilled employes left behind in America.

It was a reality of this brave new world that we had to deal with.

After trying to turn our hobby into a business for well over a decade, we had to deal with another reality of this brave new world. People no longer bought plants grown locally by neighbors who loved and know about the plants.

They buy them from mega-stores that, in turn, buy them from factory farms down south, or in the case of waterlilies in China, that use low-paid, often part-time workers, without benefits who often know little about the plants.

The people selling the plants who, in my youth, probably would have been employed in high-paying jobs with benefits making product right here in America, are also often working in low-paid jobs and have few if any benefits.

Please excuse the rant, but after accepting reality and giving up on trying to please non-existent customers, we went back to doing things we liked to do. Something that the love of my life for over half a century liked to do was collect and store tropical waterlily seeds for me to plant over winter which she proceeded to do in excess (in my humble opinion).

The summer of 2014 might be called the summer that almost wasn’t, but it led to a revelation. Because water temperatures in the above-ground tubs were dropping as low as 48°F (39°C) on a cold nights, and water temperatures in our in-ground pools were only about 5°F higher well into July, nearly a month later than usual, we delayed putting plants out until mid July.

I finally decided that we had put the plants out because many were being stressed from being cramped inside and we needed to make room for new seedlings.

The situation was complicated by my having planted some of all the different seeds that Ruth had gathered resulted in a bumper crop of seedlings. What did was putting three or more seedlings in almost all of 50 above ground tubs in what we call our seed farm rather than having only one variety per tub in order to easily keep track of what the pod patents of seeds were.

Almost all our Hickory Bend hybrids and seedlings were in the above ground tubs while almost all purchased varieties wound up in the warmer in ground pools.

It was with trepidation that I put the tropical lilies out and my fears grew when nighttime temperatures were still dropping as low as 50°F (40°C) and water temperatures in the above-ground tubs dropped to as low as 54°F ((43°C).

Water temperatures in the in-ground pools was about 5° F (2.8° C) warmer but still far below what is recommended for tropical waterlilies because the established rule is that they should not be put outside until water temperature is consistently above 70° F.

To my amazement, even with water temperatures often in the mid 50s, almost all of our Hickory Bend hybrids and seedlings in the above ground tubs not only survived but thrived while most of the purchased hybrids died or struggled to survive in the warmer in ground pools. In mid-August nighttime temperature again started dropping as low as 50°F (40°C) but our own varieties remained happy as could be.

Thinking back, it makes sense. While we were trying to be a business we would buy already blooming tropical waterlilies such as from Florida to put on a show in a large display pool ear;y in the season but we had to buy new ones each year because ones we grew from saved tubers from these tenderflorida beauties didn’t have enough time to mature and bloom well during our growing seasons and tubers they made were less viable with each generation.

Over the years, purchased varieties that couldn’t cope with our short and cool growing seasons, even ones not surviving past the first year, sometimes left seedlings that did and became part of our collection.

It also makes sense that seedlings of these more tolerant hybrids would be inclined to be as or more tolerant of cool and short growing seasons. Whatever the explanation, it seems that we were developing a strain of cold and short season tolerant tropical waterlilies so, that being the case, as the new seedlings got around to blooming in 2014, instead of keeping only seedlings of a couple that were unique in some respect as usual and composting the rest, we kept even seedlings whose flowers resembled existing varieties rather than composting them as usual because they were cold tolerant whereas a registered counterpart probably isn’t. Doing so left us dealing with wintering a lot of new hybrids, plus seedlings that hadn’t bloomed yet, and with a new mission. It is said that we grow too soon old and too late smart.

We are now in our 70s, and embarking on a mission of establishing a line of tropical waterlilies more suited to temperate climates. Wish we could look forward to many decades to accomplish the mission.

In 2015, we have almost doubled the size on what we call our seed farm located along our driveway to contain 86 tubs, each containing a separate variety of a Hickory Bend tropical waterlily hybrid almost all of which can be found nowhere else in the world. In addition to that, we have converted three large pools adjacent to the drive and parking area that to display more Hickory bend hybrids. All these tubs and pools are wheel chair accessible and the flowers in the tubs are at a level that they can be smelled and touched by people in wheelchairs. Furthermore we have converted 34 tubs along walkways that previously displayed hardy waterlilies to display more Hickory Bend Tropical Hybrids.

Unfortunately, these are all in ground and only three are wheelchair accessible.

I would like to make this an annual Labor Day and weekend tradition but must again face reality. I will soon turn 76 and am in failing health. So far this year, it has been a struggle to get even the tropical portion of the water gardens half way ready for visitors, the hardy portion is an embarrassment and I have declared much of the remaining portion of our property a weed preserve.

Given my health problems, there is a good chance that I will not be able to continue to cultivate the amazing cool temperature and short season tolerant tropical waterlilies we have created and, as there seem to no longer be any but mega type waterlily nurseries left with people with them interested in anything but the bottom line to communicate with, when we can no longer carry on our unique waterlilies will be gone forever.

That being the case come see them while you can but make it between the hours of 11 a.m. and about 4 p.m., flowers of some don't open much before 11 a.m., and flowers of some start closing about 4 p.m., although some open as early as 9 a.m., and some stay open until 7 p.m. or later.

There are even a few night bloomers that open at dusk and stay open till noon. Don't forget your camera!

Unlike hardy waterlilies, tropicals come in just about every imaginable shade of blue, purple and shades between pink and purple in addition to yellows and pinks and near red. We will be available to answer questions but be advised that I do not hear well so my answers might be a little unrelated. (Being somewhat deaf has its advantages in that what I think I hear is often far more interesting than what was actually said!)

We are located at: 3324 Panhandle Road, to the right off Route 134, just north of Lynchburg, 1.5 miles east, just around the first bend or a west off Route 124, just before the second bend. Look for the Hickory Bend Sign on the south side.

Charles Leach is a columnist for The Highland County Press.