One morning last month, Bill and I visited Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, DC to photograph the water lilies. We’ve photographed the lotus blossoms in the past – this was the first time we’d spent a morning with the water lilies.

At Kenilworth, there are a series of man-made ponds filled with water lilies. The most famous are the Victoria Water Lilies which have the large lipped leaves. The Victoria Water Lilies weren’t blooming when we were there but there were several other types of water lilies in bloom.

Here are some of the water lilies we saw on our visit.

Woods White Water Lily (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Red Flair Water Lily (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Texas Shell Pink Water Lily (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Antaries Red Water Lily (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Mission White Water Lily (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Kenilworth Gardens is open daily (except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day) from 7 AM to 4 PM. The gardens entrance is located on Anacostia Avenue in Washington DC. No admission fees are charged at Kenilworth Gardens.

I’m hoping to get back to Kenilworth Gardens this month to see (and photograph) the Victoria Water Lilies.