Nymphaea Chateau le Rouge
Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac was born on the 6th of March 1830. As a child he lived in Lot-et-Garonne , southeast of Bordeaux, where his family had a domain of a few acres.
The family home was called Chateau le Rouge, a name that might sound familiar if you ever heard about this waterlily with the same name from1975.
His father as well as his uncle, baron Bory de Saint Vincent (waterlily from 1936) where both passionate botanists. As a little boy Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac studied in Toulon, later on he went to Paris to study law. The February revolution of 1848 forced him to quit school and go back to his hometown to look after the family possessions but it also gave him the chance to devote himself to his passion. Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac his dream was to build the biggest bamboo nursery in Europe and he had the space and knowledge to do so.
Nymphaea Gloire du Temple-sur-Lot
When he was 32 years old, Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac married and settled down in Temple-sur-Lot, this name must ring a bell due to the legendary Nymphaea Gloire du Temple-sur-Lot, 1913.
After that, he started building his first greenhouse, to overwinter exotic plants and trees.
At that moment he was already fantasising about brightening up the local streams and lakes with colourful waterlilies as an addition to the native white Nymphaea alba. To obtain this goal he searched for different waterlilies native in United States of America, Mexico… to make crosses with the Nymphaea alba.
Nymphaea Marliacea Chromatella
In 1875, Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac started the nursery Latour-Marliac, in 1877 he was already able to sell the first coloured waterlily, the bright yellow Nymphaea Marliacea Chromatella . His dream came true!
Before he started this nursery he already knew how to cross the native Nymphaea alba with the exotic varieties. How? What? Where? Nobody really knows , he kept his knowledge to himself and a lot of his varieties are even sterile. We don’t know if it was a commercial decision or that he wanted to keep the varieties pure, it’s impossible to find out now. If you look at the problems we have at this moment with the true varieties, you can only admire him for his choice, even if it was out of a commercial believe.
Nymphaea Pygmaea Helvola
Following the Nymphaea Marliacea Chromatella, there were a lot of beautiful new varieties, like the lovely Nymphaea Marliacea Rosea from 1887. In 1889 Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac thought his collection was impressive enough to show at the Exposition Universelle de Paris. We are talking about the world exposition they build the Eiffel Tower for. At that exposition, he received first price in his category And even more importantly, that’s the place where Claude Monet became intrigued by the beauty of these waterlilies en where he decided to build a pond at his home. So he would be able to paint his favourite subject from home. This changed both men there lives forever.
Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac’s collection consisted of: Marliacea Albida, Marliacea Carnea, Marliacea Chromatella, Marliacea Rosea, Marliacea Rubra Punctata, Odorata Sulphurea, Odorata Sulphurea Grandiflora and Pygmaea Helvola.
In 1894, at that time he already cultivated more than 25 varieties, Claude Monet placed his first order at Latour-Marliac. This order consisted of different types of aquatic plants, 5 varieties of lotus and 3 different types of Nymphaea, Nymphaea mexicana, Nymphaea Laydekeri Rosea and Nymphaea Sulphurea Grandiflora. In 1904, he decided to add some american waterlilies and ordered at Latour-Marliac the following: Nymphaea Atropurpurea, Nymphaea Arethusa, Nymphaea William Falconer and Nymphaea James Brydon. A specialist should be able to recognise these varieties on his paintings :-).
Nymphaea Princess Elizabeth
On 26th of January 1911, Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac died, leaving more than 80 varieties to his name, 54 of them are still for sale at Latour-Marliac Nurseries.
After his death his daughter and son-in-law (Maurice Laydeker) took over the nursery until after the second world war (1939-1945). During that period, 43 other waterlilies were named, we suppose a lot of them were still cultivated by Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac himself, and selected by his daughter and son-in-law from the seedlings.
It doesn’t come as a surprise that between 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 not many new varieties were established. Although three important ones were named in 1940 Nymphaea Elysée, Nymphaea France and Nymphaea Princess Elizabeth. The last one named after Elizabeth II.
After the Second World War (1939-1945) the grandkids took over the nursery. They ran the business from their home in Bordeaux and the daily tasks were taken care of by the family les Maurel. In that period of time, there were 8 new cultivars, one of them is Chateau le Rouge, named after the house.
Nymphaea Lac des Cygnes
It goes without saying that the original ponds were in a very bad shape at that time. In 1991 the nursery was sold to Stapeley Water Gardens. Ray and Barbara Davies had a lot of work to do, first they needed to repair the ponds. During that time they named 7 new cultivars, but most of the money and energy went into renovating, adjusting and improving of the beautiful nursery that once was. They also put in a fair amount of time to sort out the collection.
In 2007, Robert Sheldon, bought the whole domain. At this moment they have a collection of 243 hardies and 33 annuals.
You can admire them in the original but renovated ponds from 1875. There is also a museum, a greenhouse, bamboo nursery and Japanese pond and of course a restaurant,…
Since he took over, the nursery is getting better every year and he’s doing a really great job. So if you are ever in South France, it’s worth the detour.
Please browse through the list of all the Latour-Marliac-waterlilies below.
1875-1911 Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac
- Nymphaea Marliacea Chormatella 1877
- Nymphaea Marliacea Albida 1879
- Nymphaea Marliacea Carnea 1879
- Nymphaea Odorata Sulphurea 1879
- Nymphaea Pygmaea Helvola 1879
- Nymphaea odorata Exquisita 1880
- Nymphaea Marliacea Rosea 1887
- Nymphaea Odorata Sulphurea Grandiflora 1888
- Nymphaea Pygmaea Purpurea 1888
- Nymphaea Marliacea Rubra Punctata 1889
- Nymphaea Laydekeri Rosea 1892
- Nymphaea Caroliniana Nivea 1893
- Nymphaea Caroliniana Perfecta 1893
- Nymphaea Laydekeri Fulgens 1893
- Nymphaea Laydekeri Lilacea 1893
- Nymphaea Marliacea Ignea 1893
- Nymphaea odorata ‘Rosacea 1893
- Nymphaea Robinsoni 1893
- Nymphaea Seignoureti 1893
- Nymphaea Fulva 1894
- Nymphaea Laydekeri Purpurata 1894
- Nymphaea Lucida 1894
- Nymphaea Marliacea Flammea 1894
- Nymphaea Sanguinea 1894
- Nymphaea Andreana 1895
- Nymphaea Aurora 1895
- Nymphaea Eburnea 1895
- Nymphaea Ellisiana 1896
- Nymphaea Gloriosa 1896
- Nymphaea Odorata Suavissima 1899
- Nymphaea Speciosa 1899
- Nymphaea Arc-en-ciel 1900
- Nymphaea Atropurpurea 1900
- Nymphaea Caroliniana 1900
- Nymphaea Colossea 1900
- Nymphaea Formosa 1900
- Nymphaea Gracillima Alba 1900
- Nymphaea Laydekeri Floridunda 1900
- Nymphaea Laydekeri Punicea 1900
- Nymphaea Le Vésuve 1900
- Nymphaea Mosaique 1900
- Nymphaea Stella Alba 1900
- Nymphaea Atro-sanguinea 1901
- Nymphaea Pulva 1901
- Nymphaea Graziella 1904
- Nymphaea Chrysantha 1905
- Nymphaea Paul Hariot 1905
- Nymphaea Pygmaea Alba 1905
- Nymphaea Pygmaea Rubis 1906
- Nymphaea Solfatare 1906
- Nymphaea Lactea 1907
- Nymphaea Caroliniana Rosea 1908
- Nymphaea Comanche 1908
- Nymphaea Fabiola 1908
- Nymphaea Léviathan 1908
- Nymphaea Masaniello 1908
- Nymphaea Odalisque 1908
- Nymphaea Phoenix 1908
- Nymphaea Rosita 1908
- Nymphaea Sioux 1908
- Nymphaea Somptuosa 1908
- Nymphaea Virginalis 1908
- Nymphaea Darwin 1909
- Nymphaea Escarboucle 1909
- Nymphaea Galatee 1909
- Nymphaea Livingstone 1909
- Nymphaea Méteor 1909
- Nymphaea Phoebus 1909
- Nymphaea Spectabilis 1909
- Nymphaea Splendida 1909
- Nymphaea Albatros 1910
- Nymphaea Attraction 1910
- Nymphaea Conqueror 1910
- Nymphaea Hermine 1910 (1880)
- Nymphaea Mrs. Richmond 1910
- Nymphaea Murillo 1910
- Nymphaea Newton 1910
- Nymphaea Sultan 1910
- Nymphaea Venusta 1910
1912-1974 Madame and monsieur Maurice Laydeker
- Nymphaea Esmeralda 1912
- Nymphaea Eucharis 1912
- Nymphaea Goliath 1912
- Nymphaea Indiana 1912
- Nymphaea James Hudson 1912
- Nymphaea Lusitania 1912
- Nymphaea Nobilissima 1912
- Nymphaea Sylphida 1912
- Nymphaea Gloire du Temple sur Lot 1913
- Nymphaea Margurite Laplace 1913
- Nymphaea Picciola 1913
- Nymphaea Sirius 1913
- Nymphaea Gonnère 1914
- Nymphaea Neptune 1914
- Nymphaea René Gérard 1914
- Nymphaea Amabilis 1921
- Nymphaea Madame Julien Chifflot 1922
- Nymphaea Souvenir de Jules Jaquier 1922
- Nymphaea Tulipiformis 1922
- Nymphaea Madame Wilfron Gonnère 1924
- Nymphaea Pumila Rubra 1925
- Nymphaea Maurice Laydeker 1927
- Nymphaea Colonel A.J. Welch 1929
- Nymphaea J.C.N. Forestier 1930
- Nymphaea Charles de Meurville 1931
- Nymphaea Baroness Orczy 1935
- Nymphaea Madame de Bonseigneur 1935
- Nymphaea Bory de Saint Vincent 1936
- Nymphaea Jean de Lamarsalle 1936
- Nymphaea Madame Bory Latour Marliac 1936
- Nymphaea Madame Maurice Laydeker 1936
- Nymphaea Elysée 1940
- Nymphaea France 1940
- Nymphaea Grésilias 1940
- Nymphaea Princess Elizabeth 1940
- Nymphaea Un Marechal 1952
- Nymphaea Senegal 1965
- Nymphaea Bateau 1969
- Nymphaea Gresille 1969
- Nymphaea Chateau le Rouge 1972
- Nymphaea Labeaugere 1974
- Nymphaea Larroque 1974
- Nymphaea Marechal Petain 1974
1991 – 2007 Barbara & Ray Davies from Stapeley Water Gardens
- Nymphaea Jean Laydeker 1990
- Nymphaea Lac des Cygnes 1992
- Nymphaea Philippe Laydeker 1992
- Nymphaea David 1993
- Nymphaea Pam Bennett 1993
- Nymphaea Temple Fire 1993
- Nymphaea Yellow Enigma 2003