Ubu Origins

Ubu Lotus is a pandemic passion story. In the spring of 2020, I left my home base in New York City to live with relatives for what I hoped would be just a few months. Well, we all know how that one panned out. Days became weeks. Weeks became months. And months eventually became a new, gooey metric where time warps and loses all meaning. We each found our own personal ways of coping that year. For me, it was water gardening.

On the property where I was staying, was an old in-ground hot tub, long out of use which, nonetheless, still retained a bit of water and a raucous community of frogs. I could tell this muddy puddle was destined for something greater, so I patched up the cracks, filled it with water and started planting.

That year I got my first lotus and an obsession took hold. I've known a lot of collectors, and never considered myself to be one. But as soon as I had one lotus...I wanted MORE! That one, and that one, and OHHHH THAT ONE! In 2022, I ran out of space in my make-shift pond and began growing lotus in containers on the patio. Suddenly, instead of one water garden, I had dozens! My frog population exploded too, and on rainy nights the back yard sounded like an amphibian street bazaar. 

When I started growing lotus I knew next to nothing. I prepared myself for a steep learning curve and lots of failed starts. What I found, however, is that lotus WANT to grow. There are good ways to do it and better-than-good ways to do it. But it's pretty hard to completely botch the thing.

Why then doesn't everyone have a lotus? Maybe they think you need lots of space (you don't!). Maybe they think you need fancy supplies (you don't!). Maybe they think you need a tropical climate (you don't!).

Or maybe, people just don't see enough lotus around, they don't know what it is, and they don't know where to buy it. 

If that's the case, then I refuse to sit idly by! I started UBU to spread the word about this remarkable plant and to make sure people have a place to buy new and established lotus cultivars from a company that is committed to the success of its customers. Because, the best way to learn the splendors of the lotus is to pop on in the ground yourself.

Thanks for coming and see you in the garden.

Morgen