Description of Nymphaea 'Charles de Meurville'

Nymphaea 'Charles de Meurville' is a vigorous hardy water lily for medium to large ponds. It grows from a thick rhizome and builds a broad raft of floating leaves, then produces large flowers through summer. Gardeners usually shorten the name to Charles de Meurville water lily, and that cultivar name is the one worth using when you search or label the plant.

Appearance

This cultivar makes plenty of rounded pads, with mature leaves often reaching about 25 cm across. Young foliage can show a bronzed tint before it settles to green. Flowers are larger than average and can reach about 20 cm across. The colouring is distinctive: outer petals look paler, while the inner petals deepen to darker pink-red tones. A bright centre of stamens adds contrast, and the blooms sit on or just above the surface in calm water.

Care Guide

Give it full sun and still water. Pot it into a generous basket with heavy loam based compost and cap with washed gravel. Start it slightly shallower so new leaves can reach the surface without stretching, then lower the pot in stages. In many ponds a useful long-term depth is around 45–75 cm over the crown, and you can go deeper in larger water if the plant still reaches the surface cleanly. Feed with aquatic fertiliser tablets through the growing season and keep up with dead leaves so they do not rot in the pond. It is hardy, so leave it below the ice line in winter.

Suitability for Garden Ponds

Charles de Meurville suits ponds where you want a bold flower and plenty of surface cover. It spreads to a wide patch, often around 1.5 m across, so it needs room and looks best when you do not crowd it with other lilies. The pads shade fish and help limit light for algae in summer, while the big blooms still show clearly above the foliage. In smaller ponds, keep it in a basket and be ready to divide when the rhizome fills the pot. A wide basket helps Charles de Meurville spread evenly and usually improves flowering. Keep a small patch of open water near Charles de Meurville so you can enjoy the flowers from the edge. If Charles de Meurville makes lots of leaves but few flowers, feeding often helps more than changing depth. Clear floating debris so buds on Charles de Meurville can rise and open cleanly at the surface.

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