·Water Lilies

A Piece of Living History

Giant Victoria water platters are back! Historically this type of water lily was in Como Park in the 1920s. These night blooming South American natives can grow pads or leaves up to six feet wide and hold up to 120 pounds of distributed weight. Their flowers are open for two nights at a time. The first night these flowers are white with a pineapple aroma and on the second night they turn a scarlet red! Other tropical water lilies fill the pools with splashes of color during the day.

The Victoria water platters have returned to the large pool on the south end of the Visitor Center, outside the Tropical Encounters exhibit, with the addition of other tropical aquatic plants including rice and water lettuce.

In addition to the Victoria water platters a new aquatic garden will debut this summer at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. Work is nearly completed on the new water garden that includes over 55 species of submerged, marginal and floating plants in the 140,000 gallon pool outside the Visitor Center.

The new water garden display features individual planters that combine textures, colors, and heights of aquatic and bog plants to create an artistic design, which any home water gardener can take inspiration from and use in their own masterpieces.

Some of the species featured include hibiscus, rain lily, creeping Jenny and sweet flag. Papyrus is also represented, which originates from the Nile's fresh waters and was used for ancient paper making.