Our very first waterlily sneak peek experience
You’ve probably heard about a “sneak peek” before. You might know it from movies, books or even museums… Literally it means that you can watch something before it’s officially open to the public. It’s as you’ve been chosen to be the first to see a newborn. Because that is how artist call their creation, their “baby”. Mostly this regards creative try-outs, because a sneak peek is a way for the artist to show his “baby” to relatives without having to face criticism from the big audience.
I am not sure if we were chosen, or if we weren’t supposed to criticise but we definitely were asked to come and check out Mathieu and Nick’s little one, before the official inauguration.
The idea was just to stop by their place, but it turned out a little bit different. Our gps made our heads spin and Nicolas had to come pick us up. How challenging it was to get there, it was even tougher to leave. We ended up staying a day longer in the Concoules paradise and if it were up to me, I might have put up my tent there.
Where, what, who? You probably have no idea what we are talking about. So, we will try to answer all your questions here below, because frankly speaking, we had no idea ourselves and were very curious, to go and meet Titus Nymphaeas.
Mathieu, Nicolas and Titus
Mathieu Egidio, born in Dourdan, a small village of 30km2, not so far away from the main city, Paris. He was born in 1980 and studied horticultural production and landscape. I was a bit surprised to hear this, I thought he was a designer for sure. His designs are amazing, as you can see on their website.
Nicolas Long, born in Toulon, in 1978. He is an engineer, specialized in scientific imagery. His scientific knowledge is a big help in this industry for sure.
Titus, born in 2017 at Concoules, brand new nursery that grows Nymphaea, Colocassia, …
Concoules is situated 90 km above Nîmes, in the national park Les Cévennes, a mountain range in the French Central Massif. Yes, a nursery in the middle of the mountains, we had to get used to it too. Mathieu and Nick are very proud of the unique location of their nursery, near Mont Lozère. Unexpectedly we seemed to have some things in common.
Although Titus is located 1.000 kilometer more south than us, both our seasons are rather short, compared to our colleagues in the Southern and flatter part of Europe. Of course it’s not very flat in the mountains and that’s why Mathieu and Nicolas had to be a little bit more creative in designing their garden. We realised straight away that they did a hell of a good job in altering that natural ‘disadvantage’ into a big benefit. Their ultimate solution was to work with different levels, which gives the nursery a less classic and more modern look and feel. It also gives you as a visitor the opportunity to wander around and not have to follow the laid out path.
The best example of their creativity, is without a doubt, the pond beyond their house. In stead of putting all the effort in shifting the enormous rock, they just built their pond around it. What a wonderful idea to keep this natural element and adjust your design. You can even sit on the rock amidst the waterlilies. I can definitely see myself up there, on a Sunday morning, eating a croissant…
Before the sneak peek
Let’s start with the beginning of their story. You would not be able to guess, but it all started with a waste bin of 90 liters. I’m starting to wonder that there is something in the muggy France air… It seems to be a thing, starting your first pond in an unexpected object. Remember Yann Mumber and his hull?
Anyway, in Mathieu’s case it was a waste bin and the first waterlily to reside there was the Nymphaea Peach Sunrise, bought at Latour-Marliac.
If you know Mathieu a little bit, you know this will be his first and last waterlily to ever end up in a waste bin. We both have the same disease, you NEVER ever throw a waterlily away, no discussion here!
That Nymphaea Peach Sunrise had to make room though for Nymphaea Chubby, Mathieu’s all time favourite waterlily. Knowing Mathieu a little bit, this comes as a surprise.
Chubby is a non peach hardy … not what you would expect from him, so why?
“It’s a waterlily with a beautiful refined and elegant silhouette. But at the same time it’s stubby, it represents one of the most ideal silhouettes of hardies and it’s an amazing bloomer.” says Mathieu.
I also thought it was a non fragrant one, but Mathieu corrected me on this. Apparently it has a very pleasant and sugary smell…
We don’t have this waterlily in our collection yet, but we will definitely add it in 2019. Just hearing him talk about it, makes us curious.
Of course we also asked about his very first lotus. He bought the beautiful Nelumbo Perry’s Giant Sunburst from Yann Mumber and it is still his favourite one.
Since we are on this subject, we also asked him his favourite botanical garden. It’s not a surprise it turned out to be our European treasure, Kew Gardens. Nick and Mathieu visited this garden a few times already. It is of course the place to meet Carlos Magdalena and also, you can always get up close with the Nymphaea thermarum… n’est-ce-pas?
It is no suprise that his favourite hybridizer is Dr. Robert Kirk Strawn, who else? He is a big fan because of his huge perseverance in selecting his hybrids with those typical Strawn characteristics. But also because of his known kind personality.
Titus garden
Titus Watergardening just began their story and of course the garden will be a very important chapter of it and while writing this article I know they already added and changed some things at Titus.
We think they will have a bright future as a nursery and are happy with these two new young and enthusiastic waterlily-nerds. Especially because it’s so obvious they want to do this with love for the plants and the urge of doing it right.
We asked them what they wanted to achieve with Titus and liked their answer a lot. First of all, they want to educate enthousiasts but also people in the water gardening business. Second, they find it very important to help preserve waterlilies, marginals,…
And of course let’s not forget, they also want to show people what a wonderful collection of waterlilies they have and probably they also want to sell some :-).
Titus bear
Starting with something new is always a little tricky and in those times you can use someone to stand by you. Mathieu and Nicolas were well aware of that and it reflects in the name Titus.
Titus was the first one to stand by Mathieu and give him courage and support. We all had that one, the big plush bear.
When Mathieu talked about his plush bear, I thought he was the reason for the bear that you see everywhere on their website,…
There is a little bit more to it though. The bear is also a reference to “Smokey Bear”, the mascot of the fireman in the wooded regions of The United States of America.
Their love for conservation and protecting wildlife is visualised by choosing this “Smokey Titus” as their “carte de visite”.
But it also explains why they fell in love with this piece of wild nature in Les Cévennes. This garden, surrounded by trees and mountains but with enough sun to let the waterlilies shine, was the perfect choice for their little paradise.
What we loved the most about their garden? The rocks that just lay their throughout the whole garden, just for free…combined with the beauty of waterlilies of course.
And yes, the cats also seem to love their new home….
Nymphaeas
Second part of their name and if I’m not mistaken, that’s what it’s all about. Mathieu and Nick already have around 150 hybrids of Nymphaea. A lot of classic beauties and we couldn’t be more pleased about that. We see more and more nurseries that are interested in the basics. But of course, they will also add the hottest and newest waterlilies to their collection.
Nymphaea Perry’s Autumn Sunset is definitely on Mathieu’s wish list and I’m quite certain he will add some more each year. It is easier to start than to stop, those two will certainly experience that the coming years.
The ideal waterlily, in Mathieu’s opinion, has to have beautiful mottled leaves and of course a mesmerising smell. Mathieu has something I’m quite jealous of, an incredible accurate sense of smell. Can you imagine, closing your eyes and just knowing what waterlily is in front of you… just by the fragrance? I can only dream of it…and I do….
Last but not least, I have a real sneak peek for my readers. In the near future we can expect some Concoules-made waterlilies.
We do expect something with a magnificent leaf colour and an enchanting odour. Get to work boys.
