Though most abundant in the wild come fall, the flowers are cultivated by Vietnamese farmers year-round.
Wild waterlilies are generally white.
Each flower blooms for a few hours a day (or night) over the course of three to five days before sinking beneath the surface and dropping its seeds.
In the early hours of the morning, at certain temperatures, there’s a brief window when the night bloomers are open at the same time as the day bloomers, which emit a plummy, soapy fragrance.
Marc Hachadourian, the director of glasshouse horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, says that it resembles the smell of Juicy Fruit chewing gum.
Persons:
there’s, Marc Hachadourian
Organizations:
New, Botanical