Pennsylvania Water Platters

I guess that tonight’s hard rain put me in the mood to blog about water platters. I saw them at two different conservatories / gardens on opposite sides of Pennsylvania this summer. Yesterday I discovered just how much they had in common.

Jonathan and I have a membership to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh. We visit about 8-10 times each year. We get our money’s worth. I am extremely fortunate that I live and work close enough to Phipps to make this doable.

That being said, I also wanted to explore Longwood Gardens in Chester County, outside Philadelphia. (I first read about Longwood Gardens in one of the mailings that Phipps sends to its members.) Lucky me: I have a sister named Katie who lives in Eastern PA. Katie toured Longwood last December with her husband and she really enjoyed it. Katie agreed to take me and our sister Elizabeth to Longwood when we stayed at her house in late June.

So I saw the summer show at Phipps in June, and then a few weeks later I saw Longwood’s summer show. Jonathan and I did an encore viewing of Phipps’ summer show again yesterday. (Phipps’ summer show closes October 4.)

Yesterday when we walked around Phipps’ Victoria Room, I noticed something: The sign identified the water platters as “Amazon Water Platter (Victoria x “Longwood Hybrid”).” My Google search (okay, this website from Longwood Gardens) taught me that Longwood Gardens developed their “Longwood Hybrid” in 1961 from Victoria cruziana and Victoria amazonica.

I had the felicity to see the Longwood Hybrid on both sides of Pennsylvania this year.

Water Platters at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Western PA:

Water Platters at Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia, Eastern PA: