American White Waterlily (Nymphaea odorata)

Also known as: fragrant waterlily

Quick Facts

• Type: wildflower
• Size: floating, pads 4-10 in
• Sun: full
• Water: high
• Soil: Still, fresh water 6-24 in deep
• USDA zones: 8-11

Fragrant white blooms open each morning among floating pads all summer.

Needs still water and full sun; plant rhizomes in submerged pots of heavy soil, no potting mix.

In the Landscape

The signature plant of ponds and water gardens. Its floating pads shade the water, cooling it for fish and discouraging algae.

Care & Propagation

Place the pot so the crown sits 6–18 inches below the surface in full sun and still water — moving water and deep planting both reduce blooms. Trim yellowing leaves and spent flowers, and divide every year or two to keep flowering strong. Aquatic fertilizer tablets in summer help if blooms slow down.

Divide rhizomes in late spring, ensuring each section has a growing tip, and plant in a wide, shallow pot of heavy loam — never potting mix. Seeds need scarifying and germinate only in shallow water.

Wildlife Value

Bees and beetles are its main pollinators, and waterfowl and small mammals eat the buoyant seeds and other parts of the plant.

🌱 Fun fact: Each fragrant flower opens in the morning and closes by early afternoon, and after blooming the stalk coils downward so the seed capsule ripens underwater.

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🌴 In Florida

Needs still water and full sun; plant rhizomes in submerged pots of heavy soil, no potting mix.

🌿 Keep exploring

More Florida natives worth meeting:

• Alligator Flag (Thalia geniculata)
• Anisescented Goldenrod (Solidago odora)
• Apalachicola Wild Indigo (Baptisia megacarpa)