N. 'Darwin' and N. 'Hollandia'
 N. 'Darwin' Photo & © A.Protopapas Click image for Gallery |
 N. 'Hollandia' Photo & © Perry Slocum Click image for Gallery |
N. 'Darwin' appears in our Names List as a Latour-Marliac hybrid from 1909. 'Hollandia' appears in the List from Trehane, Index Hortensis, 1989, as a synonym for 'Darwin'. In Perry Slocum's profile we found the following:
"Back in 1966, Perry noticed a gorgeous double pink lily in a commercial water garden near Gatwick airport outside of London. Ordering 50 plants to be sent to Slocum Water Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida, Perry introduced the cultivar 'Hollandia.' Now one of the most common and reliable pink hardies in North America, 'Hollandia' is a delightful pink with a special inner glow even on the most overcast days. (Ray Davies of Stapeley Water Gardens in England has since determined 'Hollandia' is probably the once-thought-lost 'Darwin.' The lily is now sold under both names.)"
We have been told that both 'Hollandia' and 'Rembrandt' were
imported from the Koster nursery in Holland. Since Latour-Marliac
cultivars are said to be sterile it is possible that 'Hollandia'
is different from 'Darwin' since it is said to set seed. We have
also been told that 'Hollandia' was in fact created by Otto van
der Velde, a one time employee of Koster. He also created a few
other waterlilies including 'Rembrandt'. Koster is said not to
have purchased any waterlilies from Marliac as he told his
son that Marliac was far too expensive for his waterlilies at
the time.
Based on this information, we see no reason to believe that 'Darwin' and 'Hollandia', even though they are similar, are the same waterlily.
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