Water lily room

The home of the queen of Kaisaniemi

You can find the most famous plant in the garden, the Santa Cruz water lily, in the middle of the water lily pond – or can you? If you are visiting between November and March, there will be no sign of the plant. The Santa Cruz water lily is annual, spending its winters in seed form on the pond floor. Our gardeners collect the seeds and begin to grow new waterlilies under artificial light in late winter. A few seedlings are planted in the pond in mid-March.

The Water lily room houses wetland and aquatic plants as well as useful tropical plants which are marked with yellow signs. The plants in this room are used to make food, textiles and medicine.

Get to know the plants in this room:

The room houses tropical wetland plants , aquatic plants and yellow-labeled useful plants.
The Kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum) spreads its sweet scent in the water lily room.
The water in the pond is regularly dyed with black dye to keep algae growth under control.
The Santa Cruz water lily has bloomed with a white flower the previous night. The flower is now closed and will turn from white to pink during the day. The flower in the picture already has pink nuances. Next night it will bloom in pink colour, after which the petals close for good and seed development begins. You can find more information about the plant on the information sign in the room.