Lotus in China 

All over China populations of the wild Asian lotus Nelumbo nucifera can be found. But there are also hundreds of lotus varieties in cultivation in China. Some are centuries old, but there are also very good recently hybridized lotuses. Chinese lotus varieties show up in all sizes. There are dwarf ones that can be kept in a bowl on the window sill and huge ones that grow almost two meters high. 

Winter can be quite cold in the north of China. Thus lotuses are kept there usualy in special pots that can be winterized in the cellar. Not only the plants are beautiful, also their Chinese names often are beautiful and poetic: ‘Flying Rainbow’, ‘Tipsy little Fairy’, ‘Snow in the River’. On the other hand some names are quite sober: ‚New red Lotus’ or ‚White Lotus with red Rims’ are examples. 

Lotus in Northern America 

Nelumbo lutea is the lotus that is native to Northern America. It occurs from the south coast of the US to the Great Lakes. Despite it is common in a huge area it is rarely used in gardens. Its growth can be aggressiv and many of the wild populations are only moderate bloomers. During the last decades lotus became a very popular bedding plant in North American, that can be found everywhere from Texas to Canada.  This situation is mainly due to the work of Perry D. Slocum. He was the first horticulturalist in the west who intensively worked with lotus and started a breeding programm. His lotus varieties are extremly floriferous and appear in breathtaking colours. Some of his hybrids were the first ever lotuses to be patented. Since the patents are expired now those varieties are now available also from other nurseries. 

Lotus in Japan 

Japan is a country with a long tradition in lotus cultivation, nethertheless lotus is not common at all in privat gardens. This fact is caused by the physical geography of Japan. About 75% of the country is mountainous, the remaining 25% of plains harbour the gigantic cities, the infrastructure and the agricultural areas. Private gardens are therefor true luxury and they are almost always very small. Japanese love to admire lotuses and the places where they can do so are shrines, temples and monasteries. Almost in all cases there is a pond with lotuses there and usualy it houses a varieties that is unique to this place. Of course sacral sites do not sell plants and hence Japanese lotus varieties are probably the rarest ones in the world. 

Japanese lotuses are most elegant. Most of them are single varieties with simple but absolutely perfect shape and colour. Also their names match this elegance: ‚Shin’nyoren’ - ‚Lotus of absolute reality’ - can you think of a more poetic name? 

Our experienes with Japanese lotuses were excellent. They do perfectly under the conditions of Central Europe. 

Lotus in Korea 

In 2006 we received the first lotuses from Korea. All of them flowered the first year and they turned out to be very robust and extremly floriferous plants. They do even better here than the Japanese varieties do. As far as we know we were the first ones ever to import Korean lotus to Germany. There are many local varieties of lotus in Korea but it seems they do not show up in horticultural literature and they do not have standard names. In many case they are simply called after the place they come from, sometimes in combination with a colour (like ‘red lotuses from XYZ.’). Our Korean friend collected many of those varietes and meanwhile he has started a breeding programm. We are convinced that in the years to come he will surprise us with outstanding new varieties. 

Lotus in Europe 

There are no (more) native lotuses in Europe. The varieties that once lived here died out during the last glacial periods and like many other plants they never found back to Europe during the present interglacial. However there are many regions in Europe with climatic conditions that are suitable for lotus. An example are some lakes in Northern Italy where the Asian lotus Nelumbo nucifera naturalized and forms huge populations nowadays. 

By the end of the 19th century French waterlily hybridizer Marliac also worked with lotus for a short time. It is not known if he really made crosses or if he just imported lotus varieties from China that he selected and named. After having placed a few varieties on the market Marliac gave his best attention again solely to the hybridation of waterlilies. His lotus varietes are still available today, mainly in France and Italy. 

During the late 20th century the nursery of Manlio Calvisi in Italy worked with lotus and introduced the variety ‚Mario Zanfardino’ 

Lotus in Bavaria 

Our collection of about 150 lotus varieties provides us with the possibilty to start our own breeding programm. Our goal in this programm are robust plants that bloom well under our climatic conditions. So far we named seven of our crosses and introduced them to the range of lotus we sell. Their names are: 

Elfenzauber

Joseph-Ernst Fürst Fugger

Julchen 

Mindelperle 

Rubin vom Mindeltal 

Schmetterlingstraum 

Schöne Kirchheimerin 

We are extremly proud of ‚Rubin vom Mindeltal’ (‚Ruby of Mindel Valley’). It is a very double variety that shows an almost true red. The flowers stalks are very strong, strong enough to support the heavy flowers even on rainy days.