I love water lilies. Any color or size will do. Lily pads are the stuff of childhood. I'd watch them like a hawk for any little sign go the tiny green frogs in my mom's garden. On a good day, I'd catch one and force it to submit to a little froggy scalp massage, never realizing that to the frog, it must have been the equivalent to an alien abduction. As it slowly hopped away, its life changed forever, I'd wonder where they’d go in winter when the lily pads go away.  My mom said they go to sleep the mud. As I waited all winter, watching daily, I'd notice another plant begin to take over that was different, but just as lovely. Among my favorites were Aponogeton distachyus, the water hawthorn.  Our place was shady and cold. It would perform clear up to late April sometimes and it smelled like candy of some sort, to my little kid nose.

So, as it turns out water hawthorn is also the stuff of childhood, maybe not as ubiquitous as lily pads and freaking out little froggies, but they still definitely apply.