Ray Davies Takes the Stage (Finally!)

Posted in Around the Garden on July 2 2012, by Matt Newman

News that a rock star is living it up in our Hardy Water Lily Pool had some of us…well, confused. I pictured the lead singer of The Kinks doing the backstroke between the pads of the Nymphaea–not exactly Garden-approved behavior, superstar or not. But the revelation that this was a water lily named ‘Ray Davies’ only brought up more questions.

We answered those, too. In the meantime, Nymphaea ‘Ray Davies’ played coy with its color. My visit to the pool toward the end of last week turned up a circle of foliage sans flowers, with no sign of a show. Then came Ivo.

Our bearded photographer always seems to land himself in the right place at the right time. I’m willing to blame some kind of cosmic alignment of the planets if I have to, but whatever the magic behind Ivo’s timing, he managed this snapshot of ‘Ray Davies’ in action on the day that its first flowers peaked. These two left the stage not long after.

The musicality of the Water Lily Pond is sort of a surprising theme, but it’s the places we’re running into it that are even more fascinating. Tai Montanarella, the NYBG‘s Manager of School and Family Programs, sent along a little coincidence not long after this post went up:

“While I am pretty sure that the nine-year-old girl who took the GreenSchool workshop Observe and Create did not recognize the name of ‘Ray Davies’ while viewing her inspiration, she too got the sense that she was viewing a stage where a fantastic performance was underway.”

I’m hoping to see more from this water lily going forward. Something tells me we’re not looking at a one-stop tour.