John Wedgwood, with Sir Joseph Banks, founded in 1804 what is today the Royal Horticultural Society. John Wedgwood (1766-1844) was the eldest son of Josiah Wedgwood, uncle of Charles Darwin. Josiah had established an extremely important business in England making pottery and John was intermittently a partner in the firm. Though his passion for the business was far less than his passion for flowers, he introduced many floral patterns and designs on Wedgwood ware. Among these was the celebrated "Water Lily" pattern, sometimes called "Darwin's Water Lily". Unlike the other founders of RHS, over two centuries passed without a plant being named in his honor.

At the time of the Bicentenary of the Royal Horticultural Society, Lady Alexandra Wedgwood, wife of Sir Martin Wedgwood, the present family member of the RHS, suggested that it would be fitting to have a waterlily named for John Wedgwood. In June of 2005, Curator Jim Gardiner of the RHS at Wisley, England, asked Andreas Protopapas if he could help with this. Andreas has therefore named his stunning new yellow-orange cultivar 'John Wedgwood'.

References: Royal Horticultural Society The Wedgwood Museum Personal communications 2005, 2006  Wedgwood's "Water Lily" Image from The Wedgwood Museum