2013 Waterlily Competition Winners

2013 New Waterlily Competition

Denver Botanic Gardens in Denver, CO, USA served as the growing site for the annual IWGS New Waterlily Competition, which drew 19 entries from hybridizers around the world this year. These entries were divided into the following categories: Hardy, Day-blooming Tropical, Intersubgeneric, and Anecphya.
Photos were taken of each entry’s first, second, and third day blooms, a side shot of the bloom, as well as each second day bloom with a ruler and each plant with a yardstick. Grower’s notes were maintained throughout the season to record growth characteristics which were not clearly visible in the photos, such as duration of bloom, average height of blooms above the water’s surface, rate of growth, and any issues or abnormalities noted in any entry.
After taking the photos and grower’s notes under careful consideration, an international panel of 13 judges provided scores for each new hybrid in the following categories: Flower, Foliage, General Impression, and Unique Characteristics. The judges’ scores were then combined and the hybrid receiving the highest number of points in each category was awarded first place for that category. The entry receiving the highest overall number of points was named the Best New Waterlily of 2013 and the Second Best New Waterlily of 2013 went to the entry with the second highest number of points overall.

THE 2013 JUDGES

James Allison of Aquapic Solutions,
Rich Sacher of American Aquatic Gardens,
Tom Gleeson of Australia,
Derek Lyle of Missouri Botanic Gardens,
Marc Hachadourian of New York Botanical Garden,
Craig Presnell of Luster Aquatic Nurseries,
Tim Jennings of Longwood Gardens,
Jim Purcell of Oregon Aquatics,
Kelly Billing of Maryland Aquatic Nurseries,
Deb Spencer of Water’s Edge,
Dave Brigante of Hughes Water Gardens,
John Loggins of Lonestar Aquatic Nursery, and
Danny Benjamin of Hazorea Aquatics.

THE WINNERS

The IWGS would like to congratulate Florida Aquatic Nurseries for their winning entry, ‘Plum Crazy’. This tropical day-blooming waterlily boasts vibrant plum-colored blooms and striking pads mottled with bright green and deep purple. Its compact growth habit and high petal count flowers add to the overall beauty of this new hybrid.

The results for the 2013 IWGS New Waterlily Competition winners are listed below: