Join the Fun, be a Part of the 2nd Annual 2024 CWGS Photo Contest
By: Kim Kimpton
Get the perfect pictures of your garden beauties or of those gardens you visit. Take your phone or camera and tell those plants, ponds, and pollinators to say “cheese!”
The deadline to submit your photographs will be here before you know it. The submission period is August 20th through midnight on September 3rd. Please use this link to submit your photos:
https://script.google.com/macros/s/AKfycbwZfhzsBYMBqgS4k32eyy1GPpdDd34whKqgFCml3mLdPbeCxrHn4WtvtBvLskrSh3LD5Q/exec
The 2024 categories are:
• Waterlilies
• Lotus
• Marginal Plants
• Whole Plant Collections/Gardens/Containers of Aquatic Plants
• It's Alive - Pollinators, Fish, & Birds
• Water Features/Fountains
• Artistic (black and white photographs, funny photos, up close, and anything else that doesn’t fit another category) New this year!
We can’t wait to see your beautiful photos! ALL photo submissions will be shared in a presentation on September 9th. "Best of Show" winner will receive a $50 prize.
Full rules for submission can be found here:
https://www.colowatergardensociety.org/Category.cfm?CategoryID=189
Still have questions? Please contact Kim Kimpton at kimkimpton1@gmail.com. Please do not send your photo submissions to this address.
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September 9th Presentation on Lotus by Laura Bancroft
By: Vicki Aber
We are really getting excited for our September speaker. Laura Bancroft is coming all the way from Alabama to speak to us about her favorite subject, LOTUS. Laura is an internationally recognized expert in lotus. Her nursery, Ten Mile Creek, supplies a dizzying number of beautiful lotus.
The title of her talk is: “Lovely Lotus: From Makeup to Meatloaf”. She’ll cover general information about lotus along with tips for best growth practices. She is also working on getting samples of the different beauty products made using lotus as well as cooking tips. She will also be bringing seeds to share, if you want to try your hand at growing lotus from seed!
We often have a large interest in lotus at our Sale, so I know people really like this plant. What is not to like? The big flat leaves that repel water are reason enough to grow this plant. They are often the plants that visitors to my garden can’t believe are hardy. But wait… there are big, beautiful, amazing, stunning blooms. After they bloom, there is the iconic seed pod that is often used in decorations. There is a size for every gardener from some that will grow in a teacup to some that need a very large pot.
If you have grown lotus, you know what I mean. There is always something new to learn. You should come to this talk.
If you have grown lotus, but not had the results you wanted, this is the talk for you. If you have never grown lotus but would like to. Maybe you think they are too difficult (they aren’t) or need too much room (not necessarily). Laura will convince you that they are for you.
If you don’t have an interest in growing lotus but want to hear a very skilled speaker with beautiful pictures, this is well worth your time.
Be sure to add September 9th to your calendar. We will be meeting at Denver Botanic Gardens in the Sturm Auditorium in the Freyer-Newman Center, just north of the main entrance. We will gather at 6:00 pm with the announcement of the Photo Contest winners along with a presentation of all the pictures submitted, then on to the Main Event at 7:00 pm.
Tell your friends!
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Plant Report - Harvesting Lotus Biomass in South Alabama
By: Lora Lee Gelles
It’s so fun to have life experiences! For me, flying down to Alabama to visit Laura Bancroft of Ten Mile Creek Nursery was one of them. Earlier in 2022, Laura invited me to come out during what I thought was the harvest of lotus — but this was on a whole other level!
Laura went on to explain to me that I would be experiencing a “biomass harvest.” This happens once a year — a team from New York arrives and sets up camp for a few weeks, and then the fun begins.
Roots of the Harvest
So, how did this whole amazing process come to fruition? Ten Mile Creek Nursery is the largest grower of certified organic lotus in the United States, where they harvest and sell about 400 different varieties of lotus. Laura is especially well known in the business for her lotus, and she works alongside her son Ben, who has been taking over the reins of the biomass production.
They were contacted by Ashland, an international biochemical company based in New York, to grow certified organic lotus en masse to be produced and used specifically for high-end skin creams, suntan lotions and other beauty and health products. Ashland was previously working with lotus growers in China and Thailand, but by the time the plants were picked and shipped, they had lost most of the fluid before they could be processed in the United States.
Ten Mile Creek Nursery has 25 acres divided into 17 ponds that are filled with certified organic lotus grown specifically for biomass harvest. The crews move from pond to pond each day until every lotus is cut down. Everything is tagged from each pond that the lotus comes out of for quality control purposes. Some crews are cutting, and other crews are in charge of taking the harvest back to the processing area. The cut lotus needs to be fresh and processed immediately
before any liquid is lost.
Laura had me out in the field at 5:30 am to beat the extreme summer heat of South Alabama. Ten Mile Creek Nursery hires a seasonal crew of about 35 people who eagerly show up each day to harvest every part of the lotus — the stem, leaves, buds and flowers. The rhizomes are not harvested, instead left to grow and replenish the ponds.
Laura uses plastic baby pools and scarfs up all of them in her area. Once the large trays of cut lotus make it back to the area where the Ashland team has set up shop for processing, the amazing process begins.
Liquid “Gold”
The harvested lotus stems, leaves, flowers, and seed pods are put on a conveyor that carries it into the grinder. From there, the ground biomass goes through a press to remove all the liquid. The fresh green liquid gets pumped out into a barrel-sized container and placed into 5-gallon buckets. Once the liquid is in the bucket, it gets whisked away to a giant onsite walk-in cooler, where it is immediately frozen. The finished frozen product gets shipped back to New York at the end of the harvest, where it is refined without the use of any solvents or chemicals. The result is the wonderful serums, lotions, and perfumes that Ashland is in pursuit of for their clients.
Rest assured, nothing goes to waste, for the leftover solid material that they call “cake” is used for compost and returned to the ponds to nourish the next crop of lotus that grows. The daily goal is to process around 5,000 lbs. of fresh biomass. The day I was there, they broke a record and had a weigh-in of 6,700 lbs. Ashland’s goal is to process at least 45,000 lbs. in the two weeks they are there. The total amount this year exceeded that goal by several thousand pounds. (Ten Mile Creek Nursery is paid by the pound.)
After my visit, curiosity got the best of me, and I splurged on a jar of Lotus Night Recovery Cream by Fresh. Let me tell you, the product is amazing! I can see what all the hype is about — I can see a difference in my skin. There are so many overall health benefits to lotus, and skin creams now make the list. After seeing the process and experiencing the magic of lotus on my skin, now I’m hooked!
Did Someone Say, “Snake?”
Before I booked my ticket to Alabama, I asked Laura if I would encounter any snakes on my visit to the lotus fields. I told her I was deathly afraid of them. She didn’t think I would be that close to the workers, but I told her that I like to get right in there and take photos. She mentioned that they drain the bogs the evening before they work in them so that the snakes can slither out and not cause a problem. She then told me not to worry, for they have someone in the field with a machete at all times. (What??)
Of course, I also had to ask if there was a chance I’d see any alligators, and she replied, “Of course there are alligators in the area — this is Alabama!” After a short-lived total flip out, I booked my airplane tickets.
As we pulled up to the fields in the morning, I saw a gentleman walking around with a shotgun. I turned to Laura and asked her what was going on. She went on to explain that since it had rained cats and dogs the evening before, whatever water they had drained out of the lotus bogs filled right back up, which meant one thing — snakes!
There’s nothing like being on-site and hearing someone yell, “Snake!” Everyone stands perfectly still until someone comes over to scare it away. (That’s what the shotgun is for.)
I was out there for 45 minutes, and I heard the scary s-word four times. Laura assures me that most days they see no snakes at all, so I guess I just hit the jackpot. Thankfully I survived, and I want to thank Laura for the crazy adventure that I can now tell my grandchildren about.
About the Author:
Lora Lee Gelles has over 25 years of experience in publishing. She purchased POND Trade magazine in 2013 and has been thrilled with her new job ever since. As publisher, she is tasked with a few “minor responsibilities” that include organizing the content schedule, recruiting writers, acquiring articles, selling ads, and designing the magazine. In her pre-POND Trade life, Lora Lee worked as an art director, marketing manager, and art department supervisor for multiple trade magazines. She spends many hours in her garden that has been featured on garden walks. There is now a pond amidst the flowers. She lives in the Chicagoland area and her only regret is not being able to enjoy her garden and pond year-round.
This article was reprinted with permission from the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society (IWGS) from the Water Garden Journal, 2023 Volume 38, Number 1, pages 19 – 21.
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October 14th Meeting - 2024 Season Wrap-Up, 2025 Planning, & Board Elections
By: Vicki Aber
Our last meeting of the year before the Christmas party is coming up on October 14th. We will be in Classroom 2 in the Freyer-Newman Center at Denver Botanic Gardens. There will not be a speaker, but lots of opportunity to ask questions and share what worked and didn’t this past growing season. We will talk about how our gardens grew, problems we encountered, and successes. We will also discuss how our CWGS events did or didn’t meet members needs and desires. We will talk about what was good and what we can do better. This will inform the Board to see what we want to do next year.
If you have any questions, concerns, recommendations, suggestions, or complaints but aren’t going to be at the meeting, please contact me. Your honest feedback is a very valuable tool for future meeting/event planning. You can email me at docvicki@msn.com or call/text me at (303) 669-9760.
We will also be electing officers and Board members. Terms are for 2 years and any one person is allowed two consecutive terms. The positions that will be elected this year are:
Vice President: currently Dennis Weatherman, he is term limited
Secretary: currently Tamara Kilbane she is eligible for another two-year term
Member at Large 2: currently Jim Arneill
Member at Large 4: currently Sue Weatherman
Member at Large 6: Open
Member at Large 8: currently Dorothy Martinez
Board member duties include:
1. Attending at least 50% of all Board, committee meetings, and functions including special events.
2. Serve on at least one committee per year.
3. Be informed about the organization's mission, services, policies, and programs.
4. Uphold and work to promote the organization's mission.
5. Establish policy, set general guidelines, and coordinate scheduled activities of all Society events.
6. Contribute to the development, maintenance of the Society, and ensure its financial solvency.
If you are considering a position on the Board, come to the October 14th meeting or contact me directly. It really isn’t as much work as it sounds and we have a great group of fun and knowledgeable people to hang out with.
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2024 Water Blossom Celebration – A Bloomin’ Success!
By: Kim Kimpton
Take a lovely summer day, decorate it with spectacular aquatic blooms, populate it with excited visitors and eager educators, and you get a fabulous event. We were blessed with big crowds this year and were ready and waiting to offer water gardening advice, and plenty of fun educational opportunities. Some visitors engaged CWGS volunteers and Gardens’ interns in the ponds. Others were shown around The Gardens’ ponds by enthusiastic guides. And volunteers at our educational tables shared information about aquatic and carnivorous plants, aquatic gardening, and of course, our Club. The exchanges were constant and gratifying.
The fun didn’t stop there. We gave away plants! Sundews and Papyrus plants were given away to visitors eager to try their hands at a smaller scale garden. The plants were propagated and grown by Tamara Kilbane (Curator of Aquatic Collection) and her excellent volunteers. Volunteers at the tables were also able to demonstrate a tea cup container water garden as well as explain and answer questions about aquatic gardening in ponds. The volunteers’ enthusiasm was contagious because they enjoy all aspects of water gardening.
So many hands to thank for making this event the success it is every year. Twenty-eight volunteers supported this event. Thank you all for showing up, pitching in, and sharing your talents with visitors and each other.
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December 9th – Last Event of the Year Our Annual Holiday Party & Gift Exchange
By: Dorothy Martinez
Remember to add December 9th to your calendar. We have a treat in store with our Annual Holiday Party and Gift Exchange.
The Holiday Party will be held at The Arbor House located within Maple Grove Park on the outskirts of Golden. The facility is a charming log cabin complete with Christmas lights and tree. The parking area is very near the facility as well as ample parking for 30+ visitors.
This event is not one to miss and the gift exchange is definitely a highlight of the evening.
Schedule:
6:00 pm – 6:30 pm, Reception with hors d'oeuvres
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm, Dinner
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Gift Exchange
More information and a map will be included in the Winter edition of the Newsletter.
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