Originating from a land of mystical culture, the Lotus Flower has always been a part of lives in India. For the Indian psyche, it symbolizes purity which comes out from the dirt.
Ganesh Kumar Anandhakrishnan is an aspiring tropical Lotus hybridiser from the Kerala State of Southern India. He has been breeding and hybridising Lotus for the past six years, learning from Dr. Daike Tian. For the first time ever, he writes about his passions, here on the Mr Plant Geek website!
“Looking back at my childhood days, offering beautifully-made lotus garlands to Lord Vishnu was a part of the rituals at our Hindu temple, and we believed this would make our wishes come true. The power and magnetism of this flower is so intense that I completely fell for it, even after maturing enough to differentiate myth and science.
The diversity of Lotus in Asia is so extensive that more than 2000 cultivars have been developed, ranging from micro to large. The majority were created in China and Thailand. The Indian native Lotus was not really focused on much. This took me on a quest to discover the diversity of the Lotus genus within my country. This would give me an opportunity to understand the plant, and to learn about it’s diversity of lotus, ranging from temperate to tropical ecotypes.
Aquatic gardening is a relatively new concept to the Indian gardeners. We hardly ever see Lotus plants for sale in garden centres or nurseries. Since it was always considered to be a sacred flower, bound to temple ponds or lakes, it was rare to see this plant in Indian home gardens. Many believed that Lotus, the queen of flowers, is hard to tame and could be grown only in specific conditions.
Lotus requires full sunlight for more than 6 hours a day, and a temperature range of 25-30 degrees celsius. Almost all native Lotus are large cultivars and will be reluctant to bloom in a confined space.. The rapid urbanization and desire to install greenery in a limited space made me think of creating a type of hybrid that would grow in small to medium containers, and would be adaptable to all climatic zones of the country.

Urban Lotus plants
As the tropical Lotus has better adaptability towards the Indian climate, then a cross between the temperate and tropical Lotus would produce hybrids with highly desirable characteristics. The first hybrid I created was a small to medium cultivar, being named in 2015 after my mother, Nelumbo ‘Ala Melu’.

N. ‘Ala Melu’
Breeding has brought some exciting variations to the genus. I have created more compact plants, characterised by increased petal counts and dazzling colours!
Here are a few more of my creations:
- ‘Candy Cone’ is a long-petalled, single flowered type, which keeps changing colour and pattern from the first to fourth day
- Small Lotus ‘Little Princess’
- ‘Twinkle’ is absolutely charming with a purple blush on the tip of each white petal
- The glistening white petals of ‘Full Moon’ are produced in profusion!
- This sterile seedling selection, ‘Arun’ is a fully double bloom, and micro in habit.
- ‘Red Salute’ is an incredibly rich coloured hybrid
To say the least, my whole journey with one of the most beautiful specimens on earth, the Lotus, has been equally beautiful. It is a journey which I believe everyone needs to take at least once in a lifetime, especially you, as you are reading this right now! After all, I believe the Lotus have their own ways of sending signs to blessed souls whose lives they want add beauty and colour to.

Ganesh in his Lotus garden
Ganesh maintains a Facebook Group called Nymphaea and Nelumboan, along with his friend Somnath Pal, an avid water lily collector and aspiring hybridiser from Mumbai. Together, their wish is to promote water gardening to the enthusiast as well as the beginner. You can also find more information by following Ganesh on his blog.
tonytomeo
Flowers have a way of doing that to us; getting us to grow and hybridize them.
Sharath pochareddy
Awesome….glad to know u n Somnath….wish u achive many more…
MyPottingBenchBlog
I saw my first lotus in Melbourne botanic garden last year. Michael, is there a compact variety suitable for the UK climate? If they can grow in Melbourne we should have some luck in Devon right?
Gavin
Where in Kerala can we find this guy?we’d love to visit when we go to Kerala next week
Mr Plant Geek
I will check with him and let you know 🙂
ganesh kumar
Hi GAVIN , Glad to know that you wish to meet us. Please note that present breeding process are carried out in Tripura state (North Eastern Indian) . Due to winter here all lotus are in dormant state. It will sprout back only by march and flowering will start by June. I will be available in kerala from 15th December. Love to meet you if possible. But you may not able to see lotus.
Sivalal
incredible….!
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Anand
Ganesh..amazing work..
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Chandralekha
Sorry, really fond of growing lotus at. Home, tried twice. . But. . Failed… I need good quality of seeds, which used to blooms.into lotus …
Please. Share me the details so that I can purchase
Rana Varghese
Can u have contact details of Mr. Ganesh?
I wanted to purchase Lotus plants for my garden
Mr Plant Geek
Yes! I can pass you on. Please email your details to michael@mrplantgeek.com
Sreelatha U
From where in Kerala, can i get planting materials of these varieties of lotus?
Amar
Can u please the location in tripunathira , and can I get ( buy )tubers in case don’t mind , and start in containers , I am enthusiastic. Oh number please
Paresh
I am planning a lotus pond in Goa and want advice on the same. Can you help?
sonia kapoor
can i have contact information specifically mobile number for ganesh please
J patra
Sir you are a great man.is it possible I get tubers of lotus from you.
Brinda Takley
Really loved this initiative of Mr Ganesh. Could I have his email and mobile# since I want to grow lotus in my garden.
Good luck to them on their mission to promote India’s national flower.