Bergen Water Gardens is thrilled to introduce the first black lotus. The Chinese, ‘Mò hóng’, literally translates into Ink Red. In China, Mò or ink is understood to be a deep, rich, black color and is often used to describe the color black. At Bergen Water Gardens, we have learned the color of Black Red lotus will depend on if its a first, second or third day flower and the outside temperature. Most often, the flower is the darkest and most black on the second day. It also gets a deeper color as the night time temperatures drop lower.

Black Red lotus has proven to be a strong grower and a superior blooming lotus. This lotus is a large lotus has grown very well for us in Western New York. It starts blooming early in late July and is still blooming in late September to early October. It’s flowers have soared to over six feet during the 2020 season. The leaves have a dark hue to them, generally darker than Chinese Red Beijing leaves.

The Black Red lotus was hybridized by a grower in Northern China. His latitude is similar to ours in Western New York. We both have seen a vigorous, tall lotus with extremely dark red to black flowers. We do want to report another grower in southern China experienced shorter plants, with less impressive blooms. Until Black Red Lotus is grown more widely, it’s too early to say if extremely hot temperatures effect it’s growth and color.

This lotus is easily seen and recognized by our visitors at Bergen Water Gardens from over 100 feet away. The Black Red lotus has a distinctive color that stands out and towers above all the other lotus around it!  It’s best to grow this spectacular lotus is a larger pot, greater than 17 inches in diameter. We highly recommend this exciting, new lotus!