The Sacred Lotus

One plant I really wanted to grow is the sacred lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, or 荷花，which is a truly majestic plants, no pond lily (Nymphaea spp.) can compare. Their leaves standing tall above the water and their large scented flowers blooms aloft. They grow out of the mud and stainless.

They do need a lot of hot sun hence nearly impossible to grow successfully in England.

I grow one seed a year, tried and failed but haven’t given up so far. Last year I had the best, strongest of all. For sometime I even had hoped they might survive. Unfortunately lack of sunshine eventually destroied the plant. As the leaves decay, I have noticed these intricate patterns so I tied two leaves up then took a photo of them with my mobile.

After some photo editing, and some drawing from Procrate, I’ve turned it into a painting.