Lotus Season

Lotus flowers are having their annual moment. This is the season for these stunning blooms to hover on stalks above their platform of floating leaves. Lotus plants are a rare sight in New Zealand but the Land of the Lotus near Whangarei was purpose built a few years ago to grow, show and share lotus plants, flowers and seedpods.  

Early last year I visited this wonderland to write an article for NZ Gardener magazine on this inspirational project and its creators Pauline and Hugh Rose. While I was familiar with the beauty and symbolism of the lotus, this was the first time I'd seen them live, up-close and personal. I was also familiar with their sculptural woody seedpods sometimes used in floral decorations. 

But that day I learned that there is a funky stage between the legendary lotus flower and the woody seedpod - and that this is truly other-worldly. Only someone growing lotus would be witness to this spectacle because their carnival colours and live-looking eyes are short lived. Once the pods bow their heads and release their seeds into water to the mud below, they quickly become the familiar brown woody skeletal vessels.

On leaving the lotus garden, I was gifted several lotus seed pods each at a different stage of maturity. These multi-eyed curiosities had me smitten and the next day I started painting. It was just as well, because within days their bizarre colours had faded to dull brown.

The first painting, Lotus Pod Family, shows a family of young, maturing, and woody lotus seed pods aloft on their elegant stems.

And the second one Lotus Eyes Looking at You shows the pods close up at their audacious best. I rarely paint anything in its literal colours…but these seed pods say it best just as they are. 

 

This rain soaked summer has caused devastation on our shores and for some of our people. My heart goes out to those who are suffering loss and struggling to cope. Even the water-loving lotus plants have had a hammering this year, but they bring with them their eternal message of hope. They symbolize strength, resilience and rebirth. The beauty of their blooms is born from mud and silt. 

"No Mud, No Lotus." Thich Nhat Hanh