Celebrating the Life of a Water Gardening Pioneer
Charles Brosius Thomas passed away in the early hours of December 7, 2020, at York Hospital in Pennsylvania. Surrounded by his loved ones, his passing was peaceful. He was beloved by each community he touched: his kindness, mirth, and vitality profoundly impacting all those who had the good fortune to know him.
Charles was the founder of the International Water Gardening Society and played a great role in popularizing water gardening internationally. At the Water Gardening Symposium in the year, 2000 Ken Bernard, owner of Garden Ponds had the pleasure of sitting next to Charles on a two-hour bus ride to an excursion (both ways). Ken’s water gardening mentor, Betsy Sakada, was hopeful, even mentioning that they should sit together on the bus ride if the chance arose. It just so happens that it did! Ken recounts how friendly, open, and willing to share Charles was, ‘a fountain of knowledge’. Interestingly, the pair kept in contact and Ken sent Charles a photo of a yellow water-lily he was trying to identify. The lily was brought over to Kaua’i from Japan by a man in the 1950’s and it was never known what it was called. Charles was able to positively identify the water-lily as ‘Chromatella’ – the first yellow water lily hybridized by the famous Latour-Marliac Nursery in France.
This is what the famous nursery has to say about this variety:
- Classic variety. Without a doubt, the world’s most famous water lily. ‘Chromatella’ was Latour-Marliac’s first big success, and to this day what people mean when they talk about yellow water lilies is this lily (no yellow water lily has ever grown naturally in the wild in Europe). It has large cup-shaped yellow flowers, which seem to bloom non-stop, and which sit over heavily mottled pads. It is easy to care for, and rarely disappoints.
Ken was able to visit Latour-Marliac in 2019 with his wife Jan. You can read more about that adventure here. We are fortunate to stock this beautiful hardy variety here at Garden Ponds thanks to the breadth of knowledge that Charles Thomas spent his life accumulating, and most importantly, sharing. Thank-you Charles Thomas. Until again. If you had an experience with Charles Thomas, the man or the water lily, feel free to post a story below.
