Purple water lily

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Purple water lily

July 6, 2013 by Mike Powell

Although it was hot and steamy this morning when I traveled to Kenilworh Aquatic Gardens in the District of Columbia with some friends, the gorgeous lotuses and water lilies in bloom made the trip worthwhile.

Most of the water lilies were white or pink, but in one area they had these especially beautiful purple water lilies. This photo is the first installment of several postings that I plan to do of the dragonflies and flowers that I managed to photograph today.

Posted in Art, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography | Tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, District of Columbia, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, purple water lily, water lily | 8 Comments

8 Responses

on July 6, 2013 at 8:20 pm | Reply cindy knoke

I have never seen a purple one! Lovely~
- on July 7, 2013 at 4:46 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I think the purple ones are tropical ones and they had them in a separate area of the aquatic garden. For me, they are beautiful and exotic.
on July 6, 2013 at 11:06 pm | Reply Stephanie

Mike. This is such a lovely shot. We have many of these in Singapore also. And this particular variety reminds me of a raging fire inside ….. 🙂
- on July 7, 2013 at 4:45 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I suspected that they were native to more tropical locations than where I live, so it makes sense that you would have them in Singapore.
on July 7, 2013 at 8:38 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

That’s a beautiful flower. I’ve never seen a purple water lily.
- on July 7, 2013 at 1:01 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I don’t think they grow in the wild in this country and think they may be an import from a tropical location. Weather here certainly feels like a jungle recently–mid 90’s and high humidity.
on July 7, 2013 at 10:29 am | Reply tybeetabby

Very beautiful. I like the contrast with the black water. Your photos are lovely…although I must admit, I am not a big spider fan….I’m sure you would have loved the 3 inch one in the bathroom sink that I had my husband dispatch. If I hadn’t been so scared, I would have taken a picture for you. 🙂
- on July 7, 2013 at 12:57 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. No need to apologize about the spiders. Some of my Facebook friends complain that I post too many bug pictures and, in fact, this photo was a partial response to their complaints. The water was not quite as dark, but I had to underexpose the image so much to get a decent shot of the flower that the water turned out almost black.