LilyFest 2008 Report to the Austin Pond Society by Darren Bayhi

LilyFest 2008 Report to the Austin Pond Society by Darren Bayhi

The following is a report made by Darren Bayhi of the Austin Pond Society to his members of his visit to LilyFest 2008.

San Angelo LilyFest 2008
A waterlily festival in semi-arid West Texas? Yes! You may not have known that Texas houses one of the finest waterlily collections in the US.   First, a little geography and history.  San Angelo was founded in the 1860’s on the Concho River, a tributary of the Colorado River. Over 200 years before that, however, the area was visited by Franciscan monks.  The monks came across a stream filled with blue flowers.  They called this stream ‘Rio Florido’, Flowered River.  This became known as the Concho River and that native blue tropical waterlily was later named Nymphaea elegans.  Jumping ahead to 1988, the San Angelo parks director proposed to Kenneth Landon to create a lily pool as an ‘Aquatic Beautification Project’ in the neglected 1930’s era reflecting pond in Civic Park.
Ken Landon had been working on waterlily research at the University of Texas in the mid 1970’s. By the late 70’s he had amassed the largest collection of waterlilies in the world. Ken volunteered his time and part of his extensive collection to fill the pond.  In 1993, the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society sanctioned it as a premier collection in the world. In the 15 years since, there are only 3 other certified collections in the United States. Under Ken’s tireless work and supervision, the International Waterlily Collection and Civic Park has gone from the original pond to 6 ponds, fences, walkways and even lights to view the night-blooming lilies.  The park, however, can only hold a small fraction of his collection, which represents about 90% of all known species.  His collection comprises the International Waterlily Preservation Repository (IWPR), through which he collects and shares specimens and seeds.
Since the ponds can only hold perhaps 1% or less of the IWPR, Ken has to decide what will be displayed each year.  This is not just a number of plants, but also species and varieties to be grown.  For 2008, eight species and 176 hybrid varieties were rotated.  Here you’ll find lilies that are endangered or extinct in their native habitat, such as the dark purple Zanzibar lily. The Blue Lotus of the Nile (N. caerulea) from the collection was used to supply seed to boost the dwindling numbers in the Nile River.  Many of Ken’s hybrids can be seen in the pools, like the vivid yellow, N. ‘Texas Dawn’ and lavender-blue N. ‘Blue Cloud’, hybridized from the Australian N. gigantea. This year, there was an unnamed, night-blooming white lily from India under research that was still open approaching noon.  The most popular attraction has to be the Victoria lilies from the Amazon River.  The main pool contains 3 varieties of these large, night-blooming plants, V. amazonica, V. cruziana and V. ‘Longwood Hybrid’.
Held this year on September 5, the San Angelo LilyFest is in its fourth year.  It was also the 20th anniversary of the Civic Park collection. The festival is a time to recognize Ken and park staff, an opportunity for fundraising, but mostly, a chance to show off the lilies. After opening remarks, Dr. Ralph Chase of the Elegant Lily Fund (ELF), dressed as a Franciscan Monk, spoke on the early history of San Angelo and the fund. The Elegant Lily Fund is an endowment to assist in maintaining and enhancing the International Waterlily Collection.  After recognizing his staff, Ken Landon proceeded to the lily dedications.  The N. ‘Reta Sage’ was named for a longtime Garden Council member and supporter of the IWC while N. ‘Mayor J.W. Lown’ for the San Angelo mayor.  Tim Davis, a hybridizer from Houston, was recognized for his lavender lily,N. ‘Debbie Ann’, named for his wife.  Each person was presented with a framed picture of their lily and certificate of registration.
Next it was time for Ken Landon’s tour of the ponds. He uses no notes as he talks about the names, characteristics and history of the lilies from memory. While it was just under an hour, Ken could have continued it for much longer.  The N. ‘St. Louis Marmorata’ was grown this year as a historical example of the early work by George Pring ; it was developed in 1917 and unreleased to  the trade.  His quest to find the Star of Mexico (N. flavoviren), thought to be nearly extinct, was an ‘Indiana Jones’-like adventure. He found it in a remote, unmapped lake above Mexico City, travelling by dugout canoe with a native guide. With this lily, Ken has created many star lily hybrids, such as N. ‘Mel Bel’, N. ‘Rhonda Kay’, named for his sisters, and the yellow N. ‘Ruth’, named for his mother.   This yellow star lily took seven years to develop and no one has developed another yellow star lily since.
If you enjoy waterlilies, San Angelo should be on your list to visit. While the pools may not be as large as other certified collections in the U. S., the diversity of lily species is unmatched. The best time of the year to visit is summer and early fall, but there’s always something blooming from April to October.  You can read about the IWC on their site – www.internationalwaterlilycollection.com
The following quote is from a 2003 article in the San Angelo Standard Times, but it still remains true.
“Without Ken Landon there would be no display. No other person or institution in the world could provide the inventory for the display or the skills and knowledge to cultivate and maintain the display. Ken Landon IS the International Waterlily Collection and the San Angelo waterlily display.”
Resources:
City of San Angelo;  International Waterlily Collection website;  San Angelo Standard Times;  Plantanswers-TexasA&M website