🌸 A giant lotus with cream/yellow flowers for ponds and water features
The 'Sunburst' giant lotus is a spectacular variety of Nelumbo nucifera, selected for its large, golden-yellow flowers with radiating petals reminiscent of an open sun. It is a large, vigorous, and easy-to-grow pond lotus, ideal for adding a tropical and luminous touch to a water garden.
🌿 Variety Characteristics
'Perry's Giant Sunburst' is distinguished by its mature size (flower stalks from 60 to 150 cm) and its intense yellow color, which is uncommon for the Nelumbo genus. The flowers, 15 to 25 cm in diameter, open in the morning and close in the late afternoon for 3 to 4 days, emitting a subtle fragrance and attracting bees, dragonflies, and butterflies.
The large, round leaves, rising above the water, create a true tropical setting. This variety is perennial and resumes growth every spring from its overwintering rhizome, provided the water does not freeze solid.
💧 Growing Conditions
'Sunburst' requires full sun, 6 to 8 hours of direct light per day, and warm water to flower well. It grows in shallow water (15 to 50 cm above the substrate) in a pond, a large container, or a natural pond. The substrate must be heavy : pure clay or rich aquatic potting soil, never a classic garden soil which floats and muddies the water.
For abundant blooms, plan for a container at least 40 cm in diameter and 30 cm deep, and apply a slow-release aquatic fertilizer in spring. This variety is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 10.
🏠 Recommended Uses
The 'Sunburst' giant lotus thrives in a garden pond, a large ornamental container, a landscape pond, a natural pond, or any permanent water feature exposed to full sun. It is also perfect as a focal point in a Japanese water garden, along a terrace with a large container, or as a prestigious plant in a private botanical garden. Its height and habit make it an unmissable centerpiece.
📊 Technical Specifications
- Common name : Perry's Giant Sunburst Lotus
- Scientific name : Nelumbo nucifera (cultivar Sunburst)
- Type : Perennial aquatic plant
- Flower color : Vibrant golden yellow
- Flower diameter : 15 to 25 cm
- Mature height : 60 to 150 cm (flower stalk)
- Flowering season : Summer
- Exposure : Full sun, 6 to 8 hours per day
- Water depth : 15 to 50 cm above the substrate
- Substrate : Heavy clay or rich aquatic potting soil
- Germination temperature : 22 to 30 °C
- Germination time : 7 to 21 days after scarification
- USDA Hardiness : Zones 4 to 10
- Status : Non-GMO
📘 Practical Guide and Tips
Seed preparation : scarify the rounded end of each seed with a fine file or sandpaper, by 1 to 2 mm, until the creamy inner layer appears.
Soaking : place the scarified seeds in warm water (25 to 28 °C) in the light. Change the water daily. Germination begins within 7 to 21 days depending on the ambient temperature.
Planting : as soon as the first leaf appears, carefully transfer the young sprout into a pot filled with clay, under a thin layer of water, gradually increasing the water level as the plant develops.
Typical use : ideal for a landscape pond of 1 to 3 m², combined with Nymphaea water lilies and some oxygenating plants to balance the aquatic ecosystem.
Mistakes to avoid : cold water at the beginning of the season, lack of sun, too light a substrate, and pots that are too small which limit rhizome development and flowering.
