For the first time, in 2019, the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society (IWGS) held its New Waterlily Competition at Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Florida. Tim Jennings of Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, the host of the competition for the past several years, confidently passed the torch to Danny Cox at the Naples Botanical Garden due to some ongoing major renovations at Longwood Gardens. Tim and Danny worked closely together to ensure a smooth transition to the new venue.
A total of 21 entries were submitted from around the world by waterlily hybridizers across three categories: hardy, tropical and mixed class. The entries were grown under the supervision of Danny Cox, the Aquatic Areas Specialist at Naples Botanical Garden. The 12-member judging panel was composed of private collectors, hybridizers, nursery plant growers and botanical garden aquatic plant growers across six countries.
2019 IWGS NWC Judges:
- Dave Brigante (Hughes Water Gardens, USA)
- James Allison (Aquapic, UK)
- James Bennett (Bennett’s Water Gardens, UK)
- James Knock (Water Garden Plants, UK)
- Joe Summers (Chalily, USA)
- John Loggins (Lone Star Aquatic Nursery, USA)
- Nopchai Charnsilpa (hybridizer, Thailand)
- Richard Gallehawk (Dorset Water Lily, UK)
- Sander Dekker (The Netherlands)
- Séverine Lyssens-Danneboom (Belgium)
- Tim Jennings (Longwood Gardens, USA)
- Tomas Escribano (Spain)
2019 IWGS Best Overall New Waterlily:
- Nymphaea ‘Key West’ by Florida Aquatic Nurseries (USA)
2019 IWGS New Hardy Waterlily:
- 1st Place — Nymphaea ‘Bangkok Marble’ by Jakkaphong Sangngam (Thailand)
- 2nd Place — Nymphaea ‘A. Tongkam’ by Pattanan Ganjanapas (Thailand)
- 3rd Place — Nymphaea ‘Nongbualampu’ by Pornchai Sukkasemsamranjit (Thailand)
2019 IWGS New Tropical Waterlily:
- 1st Place — Nymphaea ‘Key West’ by Florida Aquatic Nurseries (USA)
- 2nd Place — Nymphaea ‘Purple Passion’ by Florida Aquatic Nurseries (USA)
- 3rd Place — Nymphaea ‘Peppermint Splash by Florida Aquatic Nurseries (USA)
2019 IWGS Mixed Class Waterlily:
- 1st Place – Nymphaea ‘Red Blue Ocean’ by Pornchai Sukkasemsamranjit (Thailand)
- 2nd Place – Nymphaea ‘Confeito’ by Zijun Li (China)
- 3rd Place – Nymphaea ‘Cherry Boom Boom’ by Zijun Li (China)
Naples Botanical Garden also offered voting for a People’s Choice Award. To read more, visit www.naplesgarden.org/waterlily.
As the competition draws to a close for 2019, the IWGS would like to thank Danny Cox and his team at Naples Botanical Garden for their support in hosting the New Waterlily Competition.
We also give thanks to the judges who volunteered their valuable time and knowledge to this competition. (Thank you, Mary Dominguez, for photographing the waterlilies for the judges!)
Finally, thanks to the sponsors for their generous donations that made the growing of the competition waterlilies possible. This includes in particular OASE (recirculating pumps, surface skimmers and bulkhead fittings), Plantabbs (fertilizer) and STM Plastics (planting containers). We appreciate your support!
In 2020, the IWGS New Waterlily Competition will return to Naples Botanical Garden, where the IWGS 2020 Annual Symposium attendees will get the opportunity to view the exciting new entries up close and personal.
