Wonderful Water Lilies

Earlier this summer, I posted several sets of water lily photos ( on June 22,  June 27,  July 1 and  July 8)  – photographed at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. I had a chance to photograph a few more wonderful water lilies on my recent trip to Longwood. Here are a few of my newest water lily photos.

Queen of Siam – a bright pink day flowering water lily

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Albert Greenberg – a paler pink day flowering water lily

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Peach Blow – a pale purple and white day flowering water lily

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And a trio of Rose de Noche Water Lilies – a bright pink night flowering variety

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

I’ve still got a few more water lily photos that I”ll post later in the week.

A Few More Pink Water Lilies

Here are the last few water lilies that I photographed on a recent trip to Longwood Gardens. On that one trip, I photographed 16 different varieties of water lilies (nymphaea). They were absolutely incredible. If you like water lilies, you definitely should plan a trip to Longwood. Apparently they will be at peak bloom later this summer.

First is a Charles de Meurville Water Lily – the inner petals are a dark pink with the color lightening to almost white on the outer petals.

Charles de Meurville Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

The David Water Lilies are a striking combination of red, pink, white and yellow.

David Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

The Sturtevant Water Lily is a spectacular large raspberry colored flower.

Sturtevant Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And finally a Comanche Water Lily – a nice soft pink water lily.

Comanche Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

I hope you’ve enjoyed my photos of the water lilies at Longwood Gardens. In case you missed them, the other posts in this series are Pink Water Lilies, Purple Water Lilies, and Water Lilies.

Water Lilies

When I headed up to Longwood Gardens recently in hopes of photographing water lilies, I expected to see mainly white water lilies, since those are the ones I’m nost familiar with. I’ve already posted photos of some of the pink and purple water lilies I photographed. Here are some photos of the white water lilies I saw.

First a group of water lilies – white petals with just a hint of pink at the base. Unfortunately, I forget to take a photo of the sign for this group – so I’m not sure what variety they are.

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Next is a St. Louis Water Lily – a stunning white water lily. This one was much larger than many of the other water lilies I saw.

St. Louis Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And finally, Virginalis Water Lily. I had fun photographing this flower, trying to get the reflection just right.

Virginalis Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

I’ll post the last few water lily photos in a few days.

Purple Water Lilies

For me, one of the great surprises of my recent trip to Longwood Gardens was all the shades of purple I found in some of the water lilies (nymphaea).

The first to catch my eye was a Blue Cloud Water Lily. Between the incredible purples of the petals and the bright yellow center – it is an amazing flower.

Blue Cloud Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

I really liked the look of the Panama-Pacific Water Lily – with it’s petals in various shades of purple.

Panama-Pacific Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Eve’s Solitaire is another stunning purple flower. I really like the way I was able to photograph the flower with its reflection.

Eve’s Solitaire Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And finally, Madame Ganna Walska Water Lily – with petals in shades of lavender.

Madame Ganna Walska Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

I’ll be posting more photos of Longwood Garden’s in a few days. If you missed them, I posted photos of some pink water lilies a few days ago.

Pink Water Lilies

Last Friday, I headed up to Longwood Gardens, in hopes of photographing some water lilies (nymphaea). I’ve heard so much about their water lilies and lotuses that I was really looking forward to seeing them in person. I was not disappointed – in just a few hours, I photographed 16 different varieties of water lilies! And according to the staff at Longwood, while the water lilies are nice at this time of year – they’ll be fantastic in August. I’ll definitely be heading back to Longwood again over the summer to photograph more water lilies.

In the meantime, here are a few of the pink water lilies that I photographed last week.

First is a Sunny Pink Water Lily, a wonderful pale pink water lily.

Sunny Pink Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Next is two Luciana Water Lilies – with petals in various shades of pink

Luciana Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

The Perry’s Viviparous Pink Water Lily is a wonderful bright pink flower.

Perry’s Viviparous Pink Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

I love the petals on the June Allison Water Lily - pink at the tip and along the edges and white in the middle.

June Allison Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And finally the Jack Wood Water Lily – of course I think any flower in this shade of fuschia is wonderful

Jack Wood Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

I’ll be posting more water lily photos in a few days – including more pink water lilies, some purple water lilies and a few white ones.