Hello Friends,
I met Ao Weerada in 2013, early in her waterlily hybridizing career/hobby. Her knowledge and enthusiasm is amazing! She is a well known grower of waterlilies, especially for commercial use in various high end products. I'd like to share some information with you about this amazing, young hybridizer, Ao Weerda.
In 2001, at the age of 24, Ao began working with a Japanese company that exported live tropical fish and aquatic plants. She had the opportunity to visit many aquatic nurseries and fisheries and learned many aspects about waterlilies and lotus, along with importing and exporting them. Ao was in the right atmosphere to get to know all of the waterlily and lotus suppliers in this particular industry in the country.
One day, one of Ao's clients asked her if she could supply dried waterlilies and extracts for perfumes, teas and tinctures. . .the rest is history!
Ao began hybridizing in 2004, as she needed more plants for her farm. One of the first successful hybrids she produced was named 'Suwanna' after her mother. She submitted this plant as an entrant in the 2007 waterlily competition and won. Parent plants of 'Suwanna' are Khao Thamanoon and Blue Capensis.
In 2008, Ao began to dedicate most of her time and energy focusing on waterlilies and their by-products and the export of dried waterlily components and extracts.
Ao grew waterlilies on 30 acres and collected many waterlily varieties from Dr. Sam Primlarp, and other waterlily collectors, as well as importing some varieties for her own collection.
Ao has focused much of her time on hybridizing tropical waterlilies and collecting new varieties from around the globe, as well as presenting and exhibiting some of her very best hybrids at Buafah Gardens in Thailand as well as other Botanic Gardens.
Our friend & Hybridizer, Ao Weerada, along with her husband, Bon, has created some fabulous waterlilies. She is from Thailand and these are some of the hybrids she has produced at Buafah Garden, also located in Thailand.
1.) Galaxy Waterlily A beautiful dark-purple flower with rich, yellow centers and reddish-bronze, mottled pads. Very exotic looking and the high petal count blooms are spectacular!
2.) Suwannata Waterlily Scrumptious blue blooms with subtle striations and striping held above lightly flecked, green pads. This waterlily adds beauty and interest to any pond setting. This lovely specimen was hybridized in 2012, its parentage is Nymphaea colorata x Nymphea Suwanna.
3.) Milky Way Waterlily Definitely 'Out of this World!' Luscious white flowers look as though they have been hand-painted with streaks of sweet pink! Centers of the flower are bright yellow and the flower shape is simply perfect!
4. Cosmos Waterlily Beautifully formed, purple flowers with extremely high petal count and yellow centers. Simply divine.
5.) Fouette Waterlily Stunning with red, slightly ruffled petals on the magnificent flowers with amber- yellow stamens. An exciting hybrid that adds some electricity to your water garden feature this year.
