Two days later is the winter solstice solar term, and from this day on, it also enters the coldest "number nine cold days" of the year. However, in the past two days, I have frequently seen the news of lotus flowers that belong to the "summer limited".
On December 2nd and December 9th, there were orange friends in the lotus area at the entrance of the Xinxin Hotel, photographed the "Winter Lotus", just a few months after the other companions went offline, the lotus here is still stubborn and blooming, and it is beautiful alone.
The delicate lotus flowers are in stark contrast to the withered yellow lotus leaves around them, and people can't help but wonder, are these lotus fairies "frozen age"? Why do lotus flowers bloom in winter?
Sun Jian, Chief of the Landscape Architecture Section of the Hangzhou West Lake Water Management Office, answered our doubts. It turns out that this lotus flower that blooms in winter is a kind of "winter lotus" called "West Lake Autumn Rhyme".
This winter lotus flower has a longer flowering period than other lotus varieties, and can last from summer to mid-to-late November.
Sun Jian said that the "West Lake Autumn Rhyme" was planted in 2018 in the West Lake, the first to be planted in the waters of Maojiabu, and this year began to try to plant five or six hundred pots of "West Lake Autumn Rhyme" in the lotus area along Beishan Street, so that the lotus viewing period has been extended to more than November.
Photo by reporter Xia Yang
Generally speaking, the temperature suitable for the survival of "winter lotus" is about 10 °C, because at the end of November and early December this year, there is a period of high temperature, and many flower buds will form and even bloom.
As the weather gets colder and colder, there is not much time left for "Winter Lotus" to grab the C position. Especially in the past few days, when the minimum temperature drops below 0°C, the individual buds formed in the early stage may not be able to bloom, and they will soon wilt if they can't hold on.