Giant water lily (Victoria amazonica)

The Giant water lily (Victoria amazonica) is the water lily with the largest flower in the world. It is a myth that this plant only flowers once a year, in a beautiful summer it blooms almost weekly.

White and pink

What is special is that the flower only opens at the end of the afternoon and only blooms for two nights. The first night it has a white color and it distributes a delicious pineapple-like scent, the second night it is pink but odorless. This trick is meant to lure beetles that pollinate the flower and thereafter move on to another flower. The giant water lily in the Hortus is sown every year in January and planted out in February-March.