Amazon lily circa 19th century

[Mikey]

I recently was on the live chat and mentioned I had a book containing a sketch of a giant Amazon Lily in a pond in England in the mid 19th century.  What I found interesting is that hybrids of this magnificent plant were not introduced and made available to us until relatively recently.  I told the group I would have our son scan the sketch and photo to present here.

I was given a book about the Garden at Chatsworth (Britain) written by the Duchess of Devonshire.  The gardens have been renown for centuries and the book had the below sketch and photo of the Victoria Amazonica.  The 6th Duke of Devonshire hired a young man, Joseph Paxton, to be his head gardener.  Upon learning and seeing the Victoria Amazonica being successfully grown in the botanic gardens at Kew, Paxton begged the head of the botanic gardens to let him have a seedling.  Now none of us have ever begged a friend for a seedling have we?...    Paxton received the seedling in 1849 and immediately built a special tank for it.  After it quickly developed the huge leaves Paxton immediately enlarged the tank.

Below is an artist's sketch of the plant.  The 6th Duke of Devonshire writes that Paxton's 7 year old daughter, weighing 100lbs, was placed on one of the pads where it held her weight.


Below is a photograph taken at the turn of the 19th century of Victoria Amazonica in a conservatory at Chatsworth gardens.

[ponderer]

TY for posting that. I have previously seen a photo of a couple enjoying tea , full set and all, on one of those pads. Let's look for that!

[PondmaninAL]

Mikey, thank you for post this. I would so love to grow one that huge but it would require a huge pond of it's own. For now, I will stick with dwarfing them to a manageable size.

[karen J]

Fascinating!

The 6th Duke of Devonshire writes that Paxton's 7 year old daughter, weighing 100lbs, was placed on one of the pads where it held her weight.

I do have a little bit of suspicion about that.... my daughter is 13 and barely weighs 95 pounds. My 8 year old son weighs fifty-something. They're both on the "normal" curve.

The quest for plants was very popular with the Brits. Ever read "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean? Obtaining plants was a cutthroat, deadly endeavor back then!

[Mikey]

I do have a little bit of suspicion about that.... my daughter is 13 and barely weighs 95 pounds.

The Duke probably also had some pretty good fishing stories....    But then again, those clothes she was wearing may add another 10lbs 

Sounds like an interesting book.  Some of the Dukes of Devonshire spared no expense in their gardens.  One Duke was mentioned as being rather frugal due Britain's hard economic times during their involvement in WWI.  A beautiful conservatory had to be torn down because it was too expensive to heat and was in need of repairs.  Many tropical plants were lost.

[miguynmkoi]

This is so very interesting, Mike!  I have seen these large pads on our travels in gardens and conservatories and they are amazingly huge (not in the "the fish I caught", sense!  ) but alas I will never be able to have the space to grow one, one pad would not even fit into any of my ponds now! 

Love reading stories of the people back when times were slower and simpler.  The adventures in the quest for bigger and better gems that Mother Nature has hidden is fun to read.  Pictures are even better!  Thanks Mike!

[emm]

Wow, that is really something Mike!  One day I hope to see one with my own eyes.

emm

[Jerry]

I remember an old Tarzan film where "boy" lays on one!
I am close to 2 streets  one is Devonshire the other Chatsworth!

Super post Mike!

[Desertponder]

Very cool!

And yes, 100 lbs would be a bit much for a 7 y/o.

[ponderer]

Here's a photo I found today