Famous lily in flower

Visitors to the garden at the moment may see the famous Amazon lily flowering in a pond in the tropical section of the modern display greenhouse at Chatsworth.

The famous Amazon lily

It is flowering intermittently over the next few weeks, and visitors can get a clear view of the magnificent flower through the glass walls. Grown from seed each year, the lily was first brought to England in the 1840s. Joseph Paxton, head gardener at Chatsworth from 1826 to 1858, was the first European to make it flower, in a specially constructed lily house at Chatsworth, and had the honour of presenting a flower to Queen Victoria, after whom the lily was named.

The Lily flowering in a pond in the tropical section of the modern display greenhouse at Chatsworth