Waterlilies!

We finally made it to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens today!

It was a chilly drizzly day, but the sight of acres of waterlilies made it worth it. We loved the flowers, but we were even more interested in the giant lotus leaves.



If you've never seen them, the leaves are shaped like graceful green soup dishes. In wet weather, they collect shimmering drops of silver that can be swirled about and hover and dance in time to your footsteps.


It turns out that the lotus leaves repel water because they are covered with microscopic bumps. The bumps are small enough to support the water without breaking the surface tension. Scientists replicated the bumps to create waterproof surfaces for umbrellas, raincoats and medical scrubs. Evidently, if water won't stick to it, not much else will either.

I must also admit that these are pictures from the web since I wasn't too sure about taking my camera out into the rain while keeping Oob and Choclo out of the ponds!