Description of Nymphaea 'Chalene Straw'

Nymphaea 'Charlene Strawn' is a hardy yellow water lily grown for strong scent and a long season of bloom. Your row says Chalene Straw, but the widely sold cultivar is Charlene Strawn, and the spelling mix-up is common. It grows from a rhizome and makes a generous clump of pads, then produces fragrant yellow flowers through summer into early autumn. It suits ponds where you want yellow that does not look harsh and where you enjoy viewing from close up.

Appearance

This cultivar produces rounded leaves that can reach about 20 cm across, creating solid surface cover. Flowers are a clear pale to mid yellow, often described as soft yellow with a golden centre. The blooms are typically around 15 cm across and sit just above the surface in calm water. Many growers comment on the fragrance, which can be strong on warm days. Colour can look richer in full sun and slightly softer in light shade, but it stays within the yellow range rather than shifting to orange or pink.

Care Guide

Give Charlene Strawn full sun in still water for the best flowering. Plant it in a wide aquatic basket with heavy loam based compost and top with washed gravel. Lower it in stages so early growth does not have to stretch. Depth guidance varies between sellers, but many place it in medium water once established. A sensible approach is to start around 20–30 cm over the crown in the first season, then settle it into roughly 30–60 cm as the plant matures, adjusting if pads struggle to reach the surface. Feed with aquatic fertiliser tablets through summer and remove old pads and spent flowers to keep the plant open. Over winter, keep the rhizome below the ice line and leave it alone until spring.

Suitability for Garden Ponds

Charlene Strawn is often recommended for medium to large ponds because it can form a generous patch of foliage, with leaf spread frequently listed around 0.9–1.5 m. That surface cover gives fish shade and makes a sheltered zone for pond wildlife. In a smaller pond it can still work if you keep it in a basket and accept that it may become the main surface feature. If you like fragrance, place it where you sit near the pond edge so you catch the scent when the flowers open. Keep floating debris away from Nymphaea 'Charlene Strawn' so buds can rise and open cleanly at the surface.

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