Bergen Water Gardens is honored to showcase the wonderful lotus and waterlily hybrids of Mr. Weihua Lu of Guangzhou, China. Weihua was born in Guangzhou in January 2002. He is Currently studying at the college of Art and Design, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, majoring in environmental design.
Here is Weihua’s biography in his own words:
“I have been fond of plants and gardening since I was a child. I began to plant
lotus from the first grade of junior high school and waterlilies from the second
grade. In 2016, I was encouraged by Li Zijun’s new waterlily N. Detective Erika
winning the IWGS championship. I also started to learn from his hybrid lotus
and waterlilies on the roof. Coincidentally, we are both from Guangzhou, and
three years later I was admitted to the university where he studied. Even though I
majored in art design at university, I still do cross-breeding of aquatic flowers in
my rooftop garden. Since 2016, I have collected and planted more than 300
native species and horticultural varieties of waterlilies and lotus, and I am familiar
with their subgeneric strain classification, hybridization history, hybridization
technology and variety registration. At present, 12 new varieties of waterlilies and
lotus have been selected and bred; 2 have been registered.”
Awards for Aquatic Plants:
– In 2022, the new lotus variety Linting Chun’ai won the champion of the IWC Lotus
Group of the International Water Plants Contest in Italy.
– In 2022, the new lotus variety Foshou Nianhua won the runner-up of the Lotus
group in the International Water Plants Contest in Italy.
– In 2022, the new varieties of waterlily Lavender Mist won the champion of
tropical waterlily of the “Second National New Varieties of Water Lilies
Competition” in China.
– In 2022, the new varieties of waterlily Lavender Mist won the overall champion of
the “Second National New Varieties of Water Lilies Competition” in China.
– In 2023, the new lotus variety Linting Chun’ai won the second prize of the “37th
National Lotus Exhibition – Large and Medium-sized Lotus New Varieties” in China.
Linting Chun’ai Lotus
Linting Chun’ai(林亭春霭)Lotus was created by Mr. Weihua Lu of Guangzhou China in 2018. Linting Chun’ai Lotus is double petal yellow/green lotus. It is medium plant with large buds, and the name of this lotus comes from an ancient Chinese painting of the Yuan Dynasty “Spring Mists over a Riverside Pavilion”. This lotus has good heat resistance and is an excellent bloomer. The color of the flowers is a rich lemon yellow, which will not fade easily in the sun. The petals of the inner ring are small and dense, converging into a spherical shape during the first two days of opening. This lotus won the second prize in “2023 China Lotus New Varieties Competition”. It is a most popular new lotus with the visitors at Lotus Mountain, China.
Fuguang Yuejin
Fuguang Yuejin(浮光跃金)Lotus was created by Mr. Weihua Lu of Guangzhou China in 2018. Fuguang Yuejin Lotus is single petal, pink flower lotus. It is large size plant, huge leaves, with flowers that stand over the leaves. This is a free flowering variety suitable to large pots or ponds. Fuguang Yuejin will produce a lot lotus seeds. The name of lotus comes from the ancient Chinese text Yueyang Lou Ji, which means floating light and leaping gold. This lotus name is from the small, dense yellow spots that appear on leaves within a month of planting. The most distinctive feature is that early in each planting, the leaves produce very dense and distinct yellow-white spots, which are not found in other lotus varieties.