Lilypons Gardens

Lotus

On Sunday I dragged Walt out to Lilypons Water Gardens in Buckeystown, Md., on probably one of the hottest days of the summer.  This place has been on my list of go-to places for a long time.  Lilypons was started way back in 1917, when a Frederick County landowner turned his goldfish and waterlily hobby into a business that is still doing well today. Lilypons is well known for their mail order business selling supplies, plants, and fish for water gardening, as well as for their many demonstration ponds and gardens. I think there are more than 50 ponds on 300 acres of land,  filled with water lilies, bog plants, and fish.

There were lots of waterlilies, but I was especially enthralled with these huge ponds filled with lotus (below).  I loved everything about them, their huge leaves, the blooms, and the seedpods. The plants are so big and full that at first it doesn't even look like a pond, until you get closer and see the water and hear the croaking of bull frogs! There is a ton of wildlife around, as you can imagine, and it is a destination for birdwatchers. We heard lots of bull frogs, but fortunately didn't see any snakes.

Ponds full of lotus

Lotus flowers

Love these lotus leaves

Waterlilies

We didn't spend a lot of time there because of the heat, the humidity, and the bugs, but it was a lovely drive through Maryland farmland.  There is a wholesale nursery on Buckeystown Road,  with acres and acres of trees and plants that I find just mesmerizing.  We stopped to look around for a few minutes and I was immediately drawn to a row of redbud trees with the most incredible colors. I have never seen this variety before,  called Cercis 'Rising Sun.'  As we headed home, we were ready for a cold treat, so we stopped at Rocky Point Creamery near Point of Rocks for some home made ice cream--yummo.

Cercis 'Rising Sun' (Redbud tree)

Maryland cornfields