Water lily flowers at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Visitors are welcome to tour Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens throughout the year from 9 AM to 5 PM. There are forty-four different ponds with a maze of paths running between them, with the largest ponds near the entrance. Most just hold the same species of plants, so there is no need to visit all of them. At the back left corner of the gardens is the entrance to a boardwalk that leads out to the marsh.

Paths through the ponds at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens began as a hobby for Walter Shaw, who purchased thirty acres along the Anacostia River in the 1880s. He started the gardens by importing a dozen water lilies from his home state of Maine and planting them in an abandoned ice pond on the property. As his hobby grew into a business, he dredged additional ponds, keeping the water from draining back into the marsh by a system of dikes. These dikes are the paths that visitors walk on as they tour the gardens. Each pond is connected to at least two other ponds by underground pipes, and some of the ponds are connected to the marsh by pipes as well, which keeps the water circulating. The pipes can be opened and closed, and can therefore control the water level in the ponds.

You will find both lilies and lotuses (or loti) at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Lilies are the plants with leaves that float on the water, while lotuses have leaves that grow above the water. Because of the wide variety of plants in the ponds, visitors are likely to see flowers any time from May through September. The mornings are the best time to visit, for most flowers close up once it gets too hot in the afternoon. I visited around 2 PM in early June and they were still open, but all depends on heat, not a specific time of day.

Water lilies

Lotuses

There are two types of lilies at the park: hardy and tropical. The hardy lilies are kept in the ponds year-round. The tropical species are removed from the water and stored in the greenhouse for the winter, then transferred back to the ponds once the weather warms, usually in late May. They can be distinguished from each other by their leaves. Hardy lilies have leaves with smooth edges, while the leaves of tropical lilies have serrated edges.

Smooth leaf edges of the hardy lily

Serrated leaf edges of the tropical lily (photo by Kamweti Mutu)

When people think of lilies they often picture plants with leaves so big that a person could go out in the water and use them as a flotation device. These are Victoria Lilies, named after Queen Victoria of England. Leaves can be up to seven feet wide and have turned-up edges two to eight inches high. Their fifteen-inch flowers typically bloom in August and September, opening at dusk and closing when the sun comes up. When I visited there were none on display because a snapping turtle had eaten the ones from the previous year. The National Park Service had to order new ones from another water lily company.

Victoria Water Lily at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (photo by Amaury Laporte)

Lotuses have water repellent leaves that grow on stems above the water. None of these were in bloom during my visit, but they were in the ponds. They have seed pods shaped like shower heads.

Lotus Flower at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (photo by Gwendolyn Stansbury)

Lotus seed pod (photo by Victoria Pickering)

Lotus leaf

In addition to flowers, you may see various waterfowl. The park is a popular spot for bird watchers and photographers. Geese with newly born goslings had taken up residence when I visited.

Geese at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

I spent an hour at the gardens, and this included a trip out to the marsh on the Marsh Boardwalk. Altogether, I walked one mile during my visit. The terrain is perfectly flat, and though dirt, even those in wheelchairs can visit unless it has just rained and the paths are muddy. The National Park Service does recommend that those in wheelchairs have help when touring the gardens.

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