DENVER — How much weight can a lily pad hold?
That's the question Botanic Gardens across the world are answering in a viral social media challenge issued by the Denver Botanic Gardens this year.
They're not your typical pond lily pads, either. They're the Gardens' power players, the Victoria cruziana, Victoria Amazonica and Victoria 'Longwood Hybrid.' If you've been to the Denver Botanic Gardens, you've seen them. They look like massive floating cake tins, with raised sides like short walls.
Denver started the challenge, which spokeswoman Erin Bird said they "soft-launched" last year. It was inspired by an idea the Gardens came up with two years prior.
"In 2021, we were just curious how much our massive water lily leaves could hold," Bird said. "So, we just did an experiment and filmed it on social media as more of an educational video."
In 2023, there were a few entries in the competition, but it exploded in 2024. Bird said Denver and the New York Botanical Gardens' TikTok videos went so viral that people were leaving comments on their posts this year, saying that they'd been waiting all year for the return of the competition!
> Watch Denver's viral video below:
This year, the Water Lily Weigh Off 2024, or #WaterLilyWeighOff24 as it's known by its hashtag, went global, involving Gardens from around the world.
Aside from Denver, participants include:
- New York Botanic Gardens and Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in New York City
- Atlanta Botanical Garden in Atlanta, Georgia
- Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Garden in San Marino, California.
- Toldeo Zoo in Toledo, Ohio
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland
- New England Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts
- San Diego Botanic Garden in San Diego, California
- Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Florida
- Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri
- Kew Gardens in Surrey, United Kingdom
Bird said Denver's been seeing how much weight their lilies can hold for a couple years now. Last year, a leaf held 45 pounds, and the first time they tried in 2021, the leaf held 89 pounds. This year, they weighed in at 65 pounds.
Each time Denver weighed in, they used different plants because they have to start their plants from seed each year, Bird said. Why? The species is tropical, so the lilies can't live outside year-round, and it’s not feasible to move them to the indoor greenhouse.
"We have a bit of a challenge because our outdoor pools are not heated," Bird said. "Each year we start them inside from seeds, and then bring them outside once the last frost has passed. So they're still kind of babies at this size... they're not to their full potential."
In the end, though, it’s all friendly competition. Challenge participants are posting videos with ear-catching sound effects and getting creative with what kind of 'weights' they put on their lily pads.
In Edinburgh, botanists used cases of Irn-Bru, a Scottish soda. In Brooklyn, where botanists said they valued brains over brawn, they built a house of cards on top of their water lily. After sinking their lily pad, Toledo let some baby flamingos take float on it. And in New England, they used a much smaller lily species, weighing it down with acorns rather than sandbags.
Right now, Edinburgh has taken the lead: Their lily held 105.8 pounds (or as they measure across the pond, 48 kilograms). The lucky winner will take home the grand prize – a water lily trophy.
You can join the fun and follow the Gardens as they weigh-in around the world using #WaterLilyWeighOff24 across TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).