James Knock, who lives in the United Kingdom, has been a dedicated collector of Strawn waterlily cultivars for many years and is an expert in their identification and cultivation. Most cultivars were obtained directly from Strawn Water Gardens in the years 1994 through 1998.

In these galleries, James takes us through seasonal and age related changes in coloration of many Strawn cultivars. High summer in England, sometimes only two to three weeks long, provides the most dramatic colors of all, often not seen in other climates. None of the images have been color enhanced or color adjusted.  

 
^ Early summer, third day

Bring a little sunshine to your pond! One of the things I particularly admire about many of Kirk's hybrids is the wonderfully simple but descriptive names he conjured up for them. 'Sunny Pink' sums up this sumptuous variety beautifully.

The flower colour of 'Sunny Pink' is almost impossible to describe. It is so variable that it would be fair to think of it as a changeable. Early season plants, and to some extent young plants, often produce the most glowing pink first day blooms that one can imagine. Then on days two and three they gradually soften to a more subtle pink with that characteristic sunny centre. By mid-season this colouration usually evolves into a lovely yellow and pink combination. Then at the height of the British summer the two tone effect makes way for pink once more.

The really strange thing is that it's perfectly possible to have all of these combinations at the same time. This is probably due to our very changeable climate and having mature plants growing side by side with young ones. Whatever the exact cause, it makes for a wonderful display.

At the height of summer mature plants hold their flowers well above the foliage. Young leaves are particularly attractive, being covered with large reddish blotches. Unfortunately these fade as the leaves mature. In common with many of Kirk's hybrids the flower form becomes more and more stellate as plants mature. To my mind it has the perfect flower form, which never seems to distort even after less than desirable weather conditions.

Sunny Pink produces huge blooms over a very long season and is reliably free flowering. This is an exceptionally vigorous hybrid, so not one for a small pool. The root stock can be enormous and as thick as your arm. Subsequently it needs lots of space to roam.