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Florida Aquatic Nurseries wins three awards with it's new Tropical Waterlily hybrid, N. 'Ultra Violet'. N. 'Ultra Violet' won 'Best Overall New Waterlily' and 'Best New Tropical Waterlily' from The International Waterlily and Water Garden Society in 2008 . N. 'Ultra Violet' also took Best New Tropical Waterlily in The Peoples Choice Award contest from Sarah P. Duke Gardens where the competition was held. FAN also won second best new Tropical Waterlily in the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society contest for N. 'Virginia McLane'.
Every year The International Waterlily and Water Garden Society host the best new waterlily of the year contest. Entries from all over the globe were sent to Sarah P. Duke Gardens in May and grown throughout the summer. A panel of knowledgeable judges chooses a lily each year that they believe to be the best of these international entries. FAN was fortunate enough to win.
FAN dedicated lots of time to hybridizing Tropical Waterlilies the last several years and felt that we had created some new colors that did not exist in the field of tropical waterlilies . The judges agreed by judging our new deep purple colored lily N. 'Ultra Violet' as best in show and our new red colored lily N. 'Virginia McLane' as second best tropical lily behind N. 'Ultra Violet'.
N. 'Ultra Violet' is a spectacular waterlily with an exceptionally large, full deep purple flower. The inner circle of the flower is a bright golden yellow color that adds to the beauty. Not only is the flower eye catching, but the pads of the plant are a solid deep maroon color. This combination of a purple flower with maroon pads is truly unique and makes for an outstanding waterlily. It is easy to understand how it was voted as the Best New Tropical Waterlily for 2008 and was the winner of The Peoples Choice Award from Sarah P. Duke Botanical Gardens.
Not to be out done N. 'Virginia McLane' is also a spectacular waterlily. It has a bright red flower with a golden center. The flower is the deepest red on the market today. Its pads are mottled with maroon and green making for a stunning plant overall. It must have been a tough choice for the judges who awarded this plant as the Second Best New Tropical Waterlily.
We are also excited about several other lilies that we entered that did not win. N. 'Bull's Eye' is a vigorous grower with green pads and a large deep violet red flower that catches your eye from quite a distance. Another lily, N. 'Coral Sky' has beautifully mottled pads and a large, full coral pink colored flower.
All of these plants should be available in spring of 2010. Why so long? It takes years to produce and test a new lily before we decide to show it. When the decision is finally made to release a new plant like N. 'Ultra Violet' it takes even more time to produce the numbers that are required. Starting from one plant takes lots of time and effort to make the hundreds of plants that the market requires for release.
FAN is not a stranger to winning awards for their new hybrids. Most recently N. 'Southern Charm' won second best in the 'Peoples Choice Award' contest from Sarah P. Duke gardens last year. Numerous other awards have been bestowed to FAN from the IWGS including Best New Waterlily of the Year for N. 'William McLane' in 1997 and Best Medium or Large Hardy Waterlily for N. 'Moondance' in 2001. This is the first time FAN won first and second place in the same IWGS competition and we hope that the future will bring more award winning waterlily hybrids to us.
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