It occurred to me this morning, after posting a photo of the bench in Giverny, that although I've posted about the wonderful gardens there before, I've never shared more than one measly photo of the famous pond with its very famous waterlilies.
Monet's pond is largely populated with Nymphaea odorata, a fragrant, summer-blooming waterlily that is actually an invasive species in the west, where it can become weedy with an absence of cold winters.
The wide flat leaves (the petioles are at the center and reach to the bottom of the pond where they root) help keep the leaves afloat.
The sepals on the flowers are thick and leathery, which also helps keep the flowers (fragrant, as the species name implies) afloat.
Nymphaea of course means nymph and refers to the ancient Greek belief in feminine free spirits that were often found at springs or water bodies.
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