International Waterlily Collection

A Place to Fuel the Imagination.

Welcome to the Home of the I.W.C.

The International Waterlily Collection has been designated by the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society as a premiere collection of lilies in existence. This collection is the life work of one man with the mind of a scientist, the heart of a poet and the soul that embodies preserving waterlily heritage for the generations to come. His name is Ken Landon. Ken is only able to display about 1/2 of 1% of the collection each year so there is always something new and wondrous to see.

Where does it exist?
The collection is displayed at Civic League Park in San Angelo, Texas in the United States of America. Directions to the Collection.

What will I see?
You'll see old favorites, new hybrids, lilies that may not exist anywhere else in the world, huge Victorias, the spectacular N. Blue Cloud and the first glimpse at new species material collected in the wild.

First Annual International Waterlily Collection

IWC New Waterlily Competition Entry Forms

IWCContest

Here it is in a PDF

The International Waterlily Collection 2012 New

Waterlily Competition2

Here it is in a Microsoft Word document

New Video of Ken, Tim and Zac

We demonstrate how to divide a hardy waterlily in this video. The plant is Nymphaea 'Wanvisa' which is very proliific in its growth habit. In a long season growing area like ours, you need to divide it several times a year to attain maximum blooming. When a plant is over-crowded it is essentially fighting itself for nutrition.

Great Friend of the Collection

Dr. Ralph Chase Passes Away

January 3, 1923 - March 16, 2012
Here is a link to the obituary information on the
San Angelo Standard-Times Website.

Ralph and Jill

Two waterlily honored recipients discuss their namesake waterlilies that were created by Ken at the 2010 event. Dr. Ralph 'Rafael' Chase was honored in 2009 and Queen Jill was honored in 2010.

Botanists Are Committed to

Rescuing Plants

By Tracy Hobson Lehmann

Published 10:42 a.m., Friday, March 9, 2012

A new article in the Houston Chronicle that talks about preservation efforts. Ken was being awarded by the DAR for his conservation efforts and this article mentions his work.

"The mustachioed critter in the Dr. Seuss tale "The Lorax" might feel like a lone voice in the fictitious wilderness of felled truffula trees. ("I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.") But the fuzzy orange guy has good company among real-life botanists and teams of conservation-minded volunteers across Texas who seek out imperiled plants almost as rare as the bright, fluffy truffula trees in the 1971 children's story that is now a movie. "
To read more follow the link above.

New Journal Format Created

N. capensis var. alba K.C.Landon

Magdalena Hybrid Photos

We have a lot of new photos for you to be amazed by. There are 6 new pages devoted to two Australian species and four pages devoted to hybrids created by Carlos Magdalena of Kew Gardens. Go take a look at the Australian page to see all of the new pages. We are fortunate that one of our friends from Belgium is sharing her photographic journey with us. Thanks go out to Séverine Lyssens-Danneboom. These plants are displayed here for information only as Kew has not released any of the material to date.

Nymphaea atrans

Nymphaea 'Kew's Stowaway Blues'

September 15, 2012

We will be showing a huge number of new plants this year. In fact we will have more new material on display than most other botanical gardens have plants.

We now have an official day for Lily Fest 2012. It will be on September 15, 2012. That is the 3rd Saturday in September.
Make plans, reservations, and any international document filings you need now. The waterlily extravaganza of the century will be here in just 9 short months.

Here are links to hybrids by Charles and Ruth Leach. They are going to be kind enough to allow us to show their hybrids next year along with many other hybridizers. Stay tuned for more updates.

Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Blue Star'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Blush'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Cotton Candy'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Itsy Bitsy Blue'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Neon Blue'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Pink Night'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Pink on Pink'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Polar Ice'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Red Night'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Ruth'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Resurrection'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Serendipity'
Nymphaea 'Hickory Bend Snow Shadows'

July in January

Here are some images from July that I thought would brighten up your cold January days. To see the most up to date images that we upload, go "Like" us on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Waterlily-Collection/98465558398

Nymphaea 'Rhapsody in Rose'

You've all seen Nymphaea 'Rhapsody in White' and N. 'Rhapsody in Blue'. Now we proudly introduce the first pictures of Nymphaea 'Rhapsody in Rose' a new hybrid by Ken Landon. Now we have a pink star lily above the chocolate marmorated pads.

Nymphaea ‘Texas Dawn’

Official State Waterlily of Texas

‘Texas Dawn’ is one of the best yellow-flowered waterlilies since N. ‘Marliaces Chromatella’ made its appearance in 1887 according to expert, Perry D. Slocum. It received the prestigious International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society’s American Award in 1990 and was recognized as ‘lily of the decade’ during the ‘80s.

Just recently it was awarded another high accolade. It was named first as one of the Texas Superstar WaterGarden Plants by the Texas A & M Agriculture Program. Then upon final voting, it was named as the leader of the group of waterlilies.

N. ‘Texas Dawn’ is a hybrid hardy waterlily created from a native Texas species, N. mexicana and a selected hybrid, N. 'Pink Starlet'. N.‘Texas Dawn’ is among the most popular ‘yellows’ to date. A profuse bloomer whose fragrance is delightfully lemony. This lovely and highly recommended lily was developed by Kenneth Landon in San Angelo, Texas. Ken stated “ When I first saw the flower its coloring was reminiscent of a Texas sunrise, hence I named it N. ‘Texas Dawn'.”

It was recently voted the official state waterlily by the Texas Legislature, and approved by Gov. Rick Perry in June. It's a hardy lily that will grow in the shade. The fact that is holds its blooms high above the water and blooms more profusely like a tropical has made it a highly sought after plant by pond enthusiasts and hybridizers world-wide.

Here is a link to the House Concurrent Resolution, H.C.R. No. 24 drafted by Representative Drew Darby.

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/bills/hcr/HCR24.pdf

This was made official at 4 pm on June 17, 2011.

We have been priveleged enough to witness history in the making here in San Angelo, Texas. School children who take the course in Texas History in our state will forever more learn of this accomplishment by Ken Landon just as they learn that the state flower is the Texas Bluebonnet.

Tim Davis

Lily Fest 2011

Wrap Up. Go read about Lily Fest and see video of the presentations.

Noriyuki Kato photo

Honorees chosen for newly named waterlilies for 2011

Miss Genna Duncan

Miss Griffin Greene

Mrs. Laura Lee Davis

Meet Mike Giles

Here is video of Mike taken by Zac DeGarmeaux. Zac and I collaborate on all sorts of projects. We are amassing the largest collection of photos and videos of waterlilies and hybridizers in existance. We are working on a separate website that will soon be unveiled for all to share.
Mike Giles is the greatest contributor to the collection in the last decade. The sheer volume of his hybrids is immense. The way he is rewriting history as it relates to Intersubgeneric (ISG) hybrids is a story that is still unfolding and will over the next decade at least. The following is video Zac filmed of Mike at his place in October of 2011. Enjoy Mike's story.

Nymphaea elegans forma rosea

Here is a pink form of Nymphaea elegans collected in the wild earlier this year.

New Hybrid "11A"

Blue Cloud Seedling

New plant is bigger than the parent.

Nymphaea 'Midnight Caprice'

by Manfred Kuo of Taiwan

Nymphaea 'Laura Lee'

Nymphaea colorata

Baby Allison at age One

Follow this link to see Allison's own page. Video and pictures.

Video of Nymphaea

'White Hot' by Mike Giles

IWC on Facebook

We are on Facebook now. If you have ever been to visit and are a fan of The International Waterlily Collection, please join our group. We hope that in this way you can share your photos, videos and personal experiences. This is a way for you, the fans of Ken's life's work to interact with the collection. We might even contact some of you for permissions to use your materials on our site to help spread information to the world about this fabulous place. You must be a member of Facebook to join but it is free and a way to see people who share your interests.