‘Blue Beauty’ Water Lily

'Blue Beauty' Tropical Water Lily

‘Blue Beauty’ Water Lily

The ‘Blue Beauty’ Water Lily is one of the more popular water lilies. It is a hybrid developed in 1896 when hybrid studies were just being undertaken. Originally called ‘Nymphaea pulcherrima’, a pseudo-Latin name translated as “beautiful water-lily,” its name was changed to ‘Blue Beauty’ in the 1930s.

I love the bluish-lilac color, but even more I love the blue-gray, two-toned shadows of the two lilies. This is one of those photographs where I think the shadow as interesting as the subject. The lilies that stand above the water — this one grows 6″ to 8″ above the surface of the pond — seem to cast rather impressionistic, moody shadows on the barely rippling pond surface.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. While at the Chicago Botanic Garden Art Festival, she paid a morning visit to the tropical water-lily ponds. What a wonderful collection!