Horticulture major pursues sweet bloom of success

More than 300 varieties of water lily were grown there, imported from Europe, Japan, South Korea and Thailand, 30 of which Li hybridized.

With a major in horticulture and landscape architecture, he bred his first new variety in 2012, which he named Detective Erika. It has deep purple flowers.

The flower won the titles of Best Overall New Water Lily and Best New Intersubgeneric Water Lily at the 2016 International Water Lily & Water Gardening Society Water Lily Competition in the United States.

Li resigned from the park in July because he no longer wanted to spend so much time commuting the more than 90 kilometers between home and work. He is now working with like-minded friends, studying and cultivating water lilies at home. He said he also plans to study other aquatic plants.

Qin Yifei contributed to this story.