Li Zijun checks the health of a water lily variety in a pond in a water lily park in Foshan, Guangdong province. [Photo for China Daily]

Award-winning water lily grower seeks to popularize flower among gardeners

For Li Zijun, water lilies don't just belong in ponds, but also on balconies and rooftops, where they can beautify urban homes for years to come.

The 27-year-old native of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, said that the flower should become as beloved of urban residents as orchids and other flowers grown at home.

A graduate of Guangzhou's Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, he is busy cultivating new varieties suitable for growing at home and is also breeding new hybrids that are more beautiful and better suited to being grown in city households, to help improve the urban environment.

He said that he has summarized his unique hybridization techniques and has successfully bred 10 intersubgeneric hybrids through trial and research.

"Through hybridization, I hope to be able to breed and cultivate new varieties with higher yields and better disease resistance in the future that are more suited to the needs of urban residents," Li said.

As living standards improve, Li believes the water lily sector has bright prospects in the country.

A water lily variety bred by Li blooms in the park. [Photo for China Daily]

The water lily is capable of absorbing lead, mercury, phenol and other toxic substances in water through its root system, making it a rare and useful plant for water purification, greening and urban beautification. Additionally, the plants have a long flowering period.

"I've found that the interest in gardening has been rising recently, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic," Li told China Daily.

"Many people now like to grow special and exotic plants or raise pets at home, and that creates space for the development of the water lily sector in the years to come."

He said that water lilies were first introduced to botanical gardens in China in the late 1970s.

"Unlike the lotus, which has been cultivated and appreciated since ancient times, the history of water lilies in China is short. It is still a new flower here," he said, adding that there are now many domestic enthusiasts and that professional institutions have started to study and cultivate water lilies. Those institutions have achieved rapid progress in recent years, he said, with some breeders even producing unique varieties that are competitive on the international market.

Li currently grows water lilies in large buckets on the rooftop of his ninth-floor home in downtown Guangzhou. He checks on them every day.

Passionate about the flower since he was 10, he previously ran a 0.73-hectare water lily park in Gaoming district of Foshan city, where he worked for a private horticulture company after graduation.

Li grows water lilies in large buckets on the rooftop of his ninth-floor home in Guangzhou, Guangdong. [Photo for China Daily]

More than 300 varieties of water lily were grown there, imported from Europe, Japan, South Korea and Thailand, 30 of which Li hybridized.

With a major in horticulture and landscape architecture, he bred his first new variety in 2012, which he named Detective Erika. It has deep purple flowers.

The flower won the titles of Best Overall New Water Lily and Best New Intersubgeneric Water Lily at the 2016 International Water Lily & Water Gardening Society Water Lily Competition in the United States.

Li resigned from the park in July because he no longer wanted to spend so much time commuting the more than 90 kilometers between home and work. He is now working with like-minded friends, studying and cultivating water lilies at home. He said he also plans to study other aquatic plants.

Source:China Daily
Editor: Lyu Yun