Water lilies flourish in Nevada desert

Glenn Puit

Friday, Sept. 15, 2000 | 4:53 a.m.

Jean Womack is the water lily lady.

In her back yard on the city's southeast side and at her family's three-acre farm on Sunrise Mountain, there are, simply put, some of the most brilliant water lilies one could ever imagine seeing.

Beautiful, incredibly fragrant water lilies in the dusty Southern Nevada desert.

There is the Sunrise. The Pink Perfection. The Colonel A.J. Welch. The Peach Glow. The Colorado. The Red Spider. Pink Sensation. James Brydon. The Panama Pacific.

They are all types of water lilies. Some blossom during the day, others only at night. Some are annuals while others - the tropicals - have to be replaced each year.

For each one, Womack knows all the particulars.

"None of my neighbors complain because I'm promoting beauty," Womack said.

It started roughly 13 years ago, when Womack and her husband, Larry, a retired airline pilot, moved from Hawaii to Las Vegas. Womack wanted a water lily for her backyard orchard pond, but soon realized that finding a water lily in Las Vegas was like, well, trying to find water in the middle of the desert.

"I called a couple of places and they said they would have to order one, and that it would take six weeks," Womack said. "I wanted my lily right away."

Eventually, she was able to satisfy her craving for the aquatic plant by getting a friend to donate her one of his two water lilies. Within days the passion was born, and it has since evolved into a flourishing family business.

Womack, with the help of her husband and daughter, Kelli Ponce, run Nevada Water Gardens. Like several other businesses in Southern Nevada, Nevada Water Gardens installs backyard ponds and sells fish and other aquatic ornaments.

But as far as Womack knows, she is the only Las Vegan who actively grows as many as 1,000 water lilies a year for wholesale. Last week, she sent by mail lilies to as far away as Jamaica, and several sites on the East Coast.

"It lowers the blood pressure," Womack said.

On a daily basis, water lily lovers peruse through her back yard near McCarran International Airport.

"They are pretty, and it's very therapeutic," said lily lover and Las Vegan El Requa as she strolled through Womack's back yard recently.

Womack admits that through her hobby, she has developed a sort of lily and fish following.

People show up at her door at all hours, as someone with a sick pet might visit a friend who is a veterinarian.

"I'm standing in my robe with a glass of wine, and they are holding a bucket of water, saying, 'What's wrong?"' Womack said.

By some accounts, the water lily dates back to Egypt in 1225 B.C. Others have their origins coming from Peru in 2500 B.C.

By far, the most dramatic water lilies are the giant ones that grow in the backwaters of the Amazon in South America. Their flowers can be as wide as 18 inches, and can stretch out for miles.

Overall, the family of aquatic plants has about 90 species located in fresh waters throughout the world.

Womack said when she first started mass producing the lilies, "it was pretty much by trial and error." In her first year, she lost about 35 percent of her crop, which to her was devastating.

Now, however, Womack has lily production down to a science. At the family's Sunrise Mountain farm, the lily starts with a mere tuber-born "pup." In the spring, the pup is placed in about 2 inches of dirt in pots that are submerged at the bottom of large, 2-foot-deep ponds on the farm.

The surfaces of the pots are also topped with stones. The lilies require a lot of fertilizer, but within weeks, the lily pads are surfacing from their foot-long stems. Eventually, the colorful flower appears. They are covered by wet newspaper and transferred to the Womack home by trailer and truck.

Womack has also attempted to grow the related Lotus, but she has not had a lot of luck in the dry winds of Las Vegas.

For those who want to grow their own lilies, all that's needed is water, some dirt and the flower. Womack sells each flower for about $40. At least one other business in the Valley, Tranquility Ponds, sells the pup, or bud, that blooms into the water lily.

At a minimum, a water lily can be grown in a large pot on a balcony, but ideally, it's nice to have a backyard pond to foster true lily love.

"It's meeting all the people that is so neat," Womack said. "It has now become year-round work, but it really is a fun thing to do."