Ring of Fire, Witch Dorothy, and Other Water Lilies of the Wanvisa Group -- A Review and Comparison
There are a number of new water lily cultivars that are progeny of Wanvia; in fact, a confusing number of the. Several are very similar in appearance and performance, and it is difficult to decide which, if any, to purchase. Several of these cultivars have an occasional blossom that is beautifully variegated, while most (or even sometimes all) of the blooms are disappointedly plain yellow.
This article intends to reveal the differences, and act as a review and comparison of the most popular of Wanvisa's offspring.
Wanvisa is actually a sport of Joey Tomocik, hybridized by Kirk Strawn of Texas and named after Joe Tomocik's daughter (Joe was a prestigious director of aquatics at Denver Botanic Garden). Wanvisa spontaneously appeard in a large soli bottom pond of Joey Tomocik in Thailand. It was discovered and grown out by a famous Thai hybridizer, Dr. Nopchai Chansilpa of Thailand. It is speculated that glyphosate (Roundup) used along the pond edges leached just enough into the water to alter Joey Tomocik's DNA and mutate it, without being strong enough to kill it.
Wanvisa takes its name from the annual holy day "Wan Visakabucha", because it first bloomed on this holy day. It is considered lucky to name children who are born on this day "Wanvisa" after the holy day, so Dr. Chansilpa felt it to be a lucky name for the water lily as well. (it went on to win the International Waterlily Competition in 2010, even winning over tropical water lilies, so he was apparently right!).
While it took the water gardening industry by storm, some of Wanvisa's offspring have surpassed it in bloom color and sometimes in the number of blooms. However, most of the offspring do not seem to be stable in their variegation. The most popular offspring are listed below in chronological order--not necessarily from worst to best or best to worst:
Paranee, Lava Walk, and Siam Fantasy were the first Wanvisa offspring to become available, and at their best, the flower has a yellow background with strong striping and speckles of coral red. Leaves are similar to Wanvisa, green that are so heavily marbled with brown that there is more brown than green.
The problem is that most of the time, for us and for many growers and customers, all three of these cultivars only produce yellow flowers, or flowers with a few faint stripes. It appears that its best variegation is produced in hot weather. Growers in Arizona and Alabama have said they get fairly reliable variegation in summer, so take your local heat index into account when deciding which cultivar to order. Some growers say that Paranee has more reliable variegation in their flowers than Lava Walk or Siam Fantasy, while other growers say the opposite. Heat does seem to be the primary way to maximize the potential for getting variegated blooms on all three of these cultivars.
One thing is certain--few, if any, growers and retailers will tell you about the instability of flower variegation in these three cultivars, because their goal is to sell you the plant; being honest distinctly reduces their chance of selling it to you. We all want to put our best foot forward, and here at LilyBlooms we also display the best photos of our plants; however, if there are potential issues with a water lily regularly producing a bloom similar to what is represented in the photo, we feel there is an ethical obligation to mention those potential issues in the plant description.
Ring of Fire is a completely different story! Ring of Fire is, quite simply, a stunning bicolor hardy water lily, with striking fiery coral red outer petals that contrast sharply with inner petals of yellow. There are are not enough superlatives to capture the magnificence of this strikingly variegated water lily!
Each bloom is slightly different, but every bloom we have seen is an eye-catching contrast of gorgeous yellow and red.
Unlike Paranee, Lava Walk, and Siam Fantasy, Ring of Fire's variegation appears to be very stable---appearing in every flower--as well as providing far superior eye-popping color saturation.
Ring of Fire also has deep chocolate brown leaves that provide a pretty background for its gorgeous blooms.
Witch Dorothy is also a fantastic new cultivar from the Wanvisa complex, with stunning blooms of deeply saturated hot pink with just a hint of orange undertones, and with petals lightly but distinctly and evenly speckled white. Like Wanvisa, occasionally you will see a blooms that have a wedge of solid yellow, as if the flower is a pie that someone took a slice from and replaced with a slice of lemon! When that happens, it can be a small slice, or a quarter, or even half of the bloom, providing a little surprise and variety in the bouquet of flowers!
Each bloom is slightly different, and every bloom we have seen is an eye-catching, with plenty of hot pink.
Like Ring of Fire, and unlike Paranee, Lava Walk, and Siam Fantasy, Witch Dorothy's degree of variegation appears to be very stable---appearing in every flower--as well as providing far superior eye-popping color saturation! Witch Dorothy does not have the extreme, shocking contrast of colors that Ring of Fire has; Witch Dorothy is more reminiscent of Wanvisa, although with much stronger--even stunning--color saturation and superior blooming.
Witch Dorothy has attractive chocolate leaves liberally marbled with green. For us, Witch Dorothy seems to be the most free blooming of all the Wanvisa group that we have trialed.