The first night of October, with the sun setting, and a delicious foggy darkness falling, we lined up to visit the Bergius Botanical Gardens for their first ever night-time event!
To escape the crowds, we took our torches to the Victoria Greenhouse, where the biggest, most magical, lily pads you’ve ever seen were floating in candlelight.
The Giant Water Lily (Victoria amazonica) is an amazing 8 metres in diameter. It blossoms only for two nights – the first night with white petals; the second in soft pink.
The circular greenhouse – built specially to house the enormous round lily pads – was bathed only in candlelight and the flicker of visitors’ torches.
Water lilies seemed to float in the air, glowing like pearls.
And humble leaves, seeing their lovely reflections in the water,
Gasped in amazement at their transformation into art.
For more amazing slices of life, please visit: Our World.
Lady Fi 
–Lady, Fi,
Poetry. Magic. God on Earth. xx
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What a wonderful, magical experience!
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A magical experience indeed! So colorful and beautiful! Terrific captures as always! Hope you have a wonderful evening!
Sylvia
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Wow.. enchanting for sure. What a great experience and thank you for sharing it with us.
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That sounds like a magical evening. I wouldn’t have wanted it to end. That moon sky is beautiful.
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Girl, you’ve left me gaspin’ for breath here!!! What a magnificent capture of such a rare event…by torch light no less.
You take my breath away again and again!!!
God bless and have a marvelous Halloween Day sweetie !!!! :o)
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Thank you for taking us with you ladyFi 🙂
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Wow! Those leaves! Great pictures.
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I wait for your posts as it transcend me to another world. Love the second shot and the words. 🙂
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what an amazing, magical experience that must have been. thanks for beautifully capturing a few of those moments and sharing them here with us. isn’t it amazing that the first day they bloom in white, and on the second day their bloom takes on a blush? happy day to you Fiona.
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That must have been an incredible experience! I love the last shot, with the candlelight showing both the leaves and their reflections!
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I really like the details in the water lily photos! Very pretty!
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Magical!
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LadyFi: Love your captures, these are really special. I love the sunset.
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Those water lilies are amazing. I can understand why the event was magical since your photographs captured both the beauty and the magic.
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It must have been a really magical evening!
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So amazing! Wow. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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Gorgeous shots from your beautiful world.
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wow these are magnificient….that last shot is art…and that tangerine sky is amazing…
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What a rare thing to witness and take pictures of! What a special evening that was! Thanks for sharing it!!
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Wonderful shots of water lily. The last one is amazing.
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A very good picture, I like those water lilies.
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Why have I always thought that these flower only once every hundred years?
Somebody must have told me a fib.
Amazing to see these pads that a child could stand on.
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Oh my goodness! This has got to be the finest photography I have seen in a long time! Nice work.
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Wow, I have never seen any that big! How amazing that you were able to go and see that. Great photos!
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Monsters! (Is the pie dish there for feeding something?)
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The pie dishes had the little tea lights in them.
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Wonderful capture of an enchanting evening. Those are some lily pads. The lily flowers reminded me of the night blooming cereus. It’s a cactus that its flowers only bloom at night for a couple of days.
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Very interesting and almost unbelievable!
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Most amazing sight my friend, and so wonderfully captured.
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What a magnificent event to experience!
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Amazing!
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The pictures and the description of the event just comes to life on my computer screen. There is an eerie and mystical quality with the lighting in the photos that really adds to the effect of this piece. Another outstanding post.
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Thank you for that truly beautiful gift.
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The detail that you manage to capture with your camera is amazing. I love imagining walking on the water lily pads.
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Perfectly enchanting – the night sky and the amazing pads and the beautiful blooms. I’ve seen these pads (without blooms) in Denver Botanic Garden – they reminded me of large floating trays. Fantastical!
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Small children can sit on the pad of Victoria Amazonica. The reflections in the close-ups create magical atmosphere. Love the Halloween colored sky. Nice shots!
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What a magical night – candle light and these amazing Victoria Amazonica lillies with teir refection on mirror like water – your photos are just gorgeous!
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beautiful!
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Spectacular!
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Those lily pads must have looked so magical by candlelight! Sounds like an awesome Autumn evening experience! Beautiful photos!
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Got me transported to another world….fantastic, magical images!
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That must have been breathtaking !
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To glimpse these gigantic lily pads even for a moment would be awe-inspiring, indeed. How wonderful that someone thought to showcase this lovely expression of nature at night under candlelight.
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What a lovely night! Your photos are magical.
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It’s really magical and a massive water lily. I love the sunset photo as well, you must really enjoy the night.
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WoW Wonderful series, beautiful photos and stunning colors
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I can only imagine the awe and perfection of such a place, how blessed you are to have experienced it. Your images do give us a wonderful flavour of what you saw, for which I am glad!
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Blissful images Lady Fi, would have been a magical experience.
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Fiona, these photos are gorgeous. What a beautiful experience this was. I love the slither of moon in the first shot too.
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Thanks for coming by my blog ~ These photos are awesome! Magical! ~ namaste, Carol (A Creative Harbor)
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Your night captures so magical. The angle shot of the leaves look like butterfly wings! Gorgeous!
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That last one is really a photo to gasp about. Just stunning!
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I just love the Victoria Lily. Would love to spot it in the wild, but have only seen it in greenhouses so far… The photos are wonderful, including the gorgeous orange sunset.
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Absolutely gorgeous. I don’t believe I have ever seen water lilies here in Hawaii.
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How cool!
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Great pics!!!!!!
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Et under av en plante! Ja, det siste bildet er rene kunsten.
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wow, that is gorgeous. Being in there with only torches. And seeing the large WaterLilies. How great! 🙂
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Your photos and words are always so beautifully presented!
Lovely post.
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wow! great post 🙂
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Oh, my goodness. These photos are just stunning!
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Very nice. I particular like the last one of the picture. It’s like a little mystery, a picture full of secrets, with many layers of both graphical elements and rooms for interpretations. The leave reflected in the water almost looks like a giant insect or butterfly. Very gorgeous.
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Your photos are breathtaking, the color of the sky, and the lily’s just gorgeous.
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That looks amazing, you’ve captured the mysterious night feeling perfectly.
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Dear Lord, woman!!! My eyes popped out of their sockets… YOU KEEP GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!!!
You had me saying “Oooohs and Aaaaahsss” all through the post!!
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Magical, and reptilian at the same time….
Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams
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The up close and personal water lily is FANTASTIC!!!!!! So many tiny details I have never noticed before!
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Hi there – great set of pictures of a remarkable plant. Can remember seeing them in a garden in Singapore – they were huge!
Cheers – SM
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Absolutely wonderful photos, especially the last one.
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These are fantastic night shot! They are all artistic looking, and mesmerizing to see.
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Happy Wednesday!
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A beautiful water lily and wonderful lily pads, like something out of a fairy tale, where is the frog prince that should be sitting on one of the pads. They look big and strong enough to hold a person.
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I have only seen photos of these Lily pads..how wonderful for you to have seen them in person..I am very jealous. Stunning photos!! 🙂
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No words can suffice to thank you for taking us on this stunning journey!
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I’ve never seen these gigantic lily pads before-not in person or in photo. Wow!
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How beautiful. It’s really art as you say.
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Just beautiful!Perfect photos and words!
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Wonderful photos and perfect words!
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Beautiful moon and sky!! And, of course, the water lilies are amazing. Mickie 🙂
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I am looking over your various photos, and there are so many great ones, but the fourth one in this post is a stunner (transformation into art).
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