2018 New Waterlily Competition
In 2018, the IWGS New Waterlily Competition was on its third year at Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, PA).
16 entries were submitted from around the world by waterlily hybridizers across the three categories: Hardy, Intersubgeneric (ISG) and Tropical.
The entries were grown under the supervision of Senior Gardener, Tim Jennings at Longwood Gardens.
The 2018 judging panel consisted of 19 judges from different countries whose expertise ranges from nursery and botanic garden waterlily growers to hybridizers to enthusiasts.
THE JUDGES (in alphabetical order)
- Brian Galligan (Naples Botanical Garden, USA)
- CuiWei Yu (China)
- Dave Brigante (Hughes Water Gardens, USA)
- Deb Spencer (Water’s Edge, USA)
- Farley See (Moore Water Gardens, Canada)
- Gianluca Bonomo (Piante d’Acqua, Italy)
- Iain MacGregor (Water Garden Life, Australia)
- James Allison (Aquapic, UK)
- James Bennett (Bennetts Water Gardens, UK)
- James Knock (Water Garden Plants, UK)
- John Loggins (Lone Star Aquatic Nursery, USA)
- Mark Wilson (Any Pond Limited, UK)
- Matthew Koch (hybridizer, USA)
- Miguel Castillo (Venezuela)
- Richard Gallehawk (Dorset Water Lily Co, UK)
- Rolf Nelson (Nelson Water Gardens, USA)
- Séverine Lyssens-Danneboom (Agua, Belgium)
- Tomas Escribano (Spain)
- Zijun Li (hybridizer, China)
THE WINNERS
The votes have been counted and the results for the 2018 IWGS New Waterlily Competition winners are listed below:
2018 IWGS BEST OVERALL NEW WATERLILY
Nymphaea ‘Mahasombut’
by Nattawut Rodboot (Thailand)
2018 IWGS BEST NEW HARDY WATERLILY
1st Place
Nymphaea ‘Mahasombut’
by Nattawut Rodboot (Thailand)
2nd Place
Nymphaea ‘Paranee’
by Miss Paranee Ampornsiri (Thailand)
3rd Place
Nymphaea ‘Nattamon’
by Mr Pornchai (Thailand)
2018 IWGS BEST NEW INTERSUBGENERIC (ISG) WATERLILY
1st Place
Nymphaea ‘Thongkai’
by Nopchai Chansilpa (Thailand)
2nd Place
Nymphaea ‘Bangkok Pink Panther’
by Jakkaphong Sangngam (Thailand)
3rd Place
Nymphaea ‘R. Moerings’
by Florida Aquatics (USA)
2018 IWGS BEST NEW TROPICAL WATERLILY
1st Place
Nymphaea ‘Rassamee jan’
by Mrs Pojanee Thongbai (Thailand)
2nd Place
Nymphaea ‘Corona Red’
by Jakkaphong Sangngam (Thailand)
3rd Place
Nymphaea ‘Fahtawan’
by Nopchai Chansilpa (Thailand)
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Tim Jennings and Longwood Gardens for their support in hosting the IWGS New Waterlily Competition on-site for the past 3 years, Jolisa Copeman (Intern at Longwood Gardens) for her incredible photography work on the competition waterlilies and last but not least, the judges who volunteered their valuable time and knowledge to this competition.
As this year’s competition draws to a close, 2019 will see the IWGS New Waterlily Competition re-locate to a new location – sunny south Florida in the USA. The competition waterlilies will be grown under the supervision of Danny Cox, Aquatic Areas Specialist at Naples Botanical Gardens.