McKee Botanical Garden and its leafy denizens were ready for their close-ups last Saturday at the beloved garden’s 14th annual Waterlily Celebration. And hundreds upon hundreds of close-ups were there to be had. Never mind the heat – it was a glorious day.

A diverse crowd wandered the lush paths – young and old, couples and families, longtime residents and newcomers – all sharing a love of nature and McKee. While visitors regularly snap photos of the irresistibly photogenic garden, the Waterlily Celebration attracts photographers by the hundreds, along with artists and horticulturists from all over Florida.

The stars of this much-anticipated event, the waterlilies, put their best petals forward, taking center stage and punctuating the myriad ponds and winding waterways with brilliant fuchsias, lavenders, crimsons, whites.

These healthy beauties have been McKee’s most glamorous plant collection, the divas of the garden, since its creation in the 1930s on a then-80-acre tropical hammock by visionary friends Arthur McKee and Waldo Sexton. Called McKee Jungle Gardens, it was home to monkeys and the occasional alligator as well as gorgeous flora and fauna. Today, McKee’s waterlily collection numbers more than 80 species.

Not to be outdone, the non-waterlilies – more than 300 potted and 100 free-range plants – also brought their ‘A’ game, jockeying for position as photographers snapped away. McKee at its very best.

“The rain we had last week sure helped everything look its best,” said Christine Hobart, McKee executive director.

Visitors received warm welcomes and maps from smiling volunteers before heading into the garden beneath the vine-swathed pergola. A lemonade stand was set up in the grassy oval; a welcome feature on the summer-hot day. Here three young ladies – Molly Rummel, 11, Aerin Russell, 10, and Carrie Jane Fykes, 10 – enthusiastically volunteered their Saturday to assist and support McKee.

Standing knee-deep in a beautiful, shaded pond, Nikki Stoltze, a McKee gardener, demonstrated the proper method of repotting a waterlily. Reaching into the water, she lifted out a muddy, dripping, dangling clump and began gently pulling it apart, explaining that just last March these were tiny little tuber babies and were now ready to leave their mother. “Come on,” she coaxed a little strand, finally freeing it from the bunch.

Across the path, at the edge of a large pond, artist Ellen Fischer had set up her easel and was painting the serene scene before her of shimmering water, lilies and the old stone bridge.

“We come to the Waterlily Celebration every year. I’ve been coming to McKee since I was a little girl,” said Kiersten Hope, who currently attends college in Pennsylvania and was home for the summer. “I love the waterlilies, but my personal favorite is the lotus.”

She was there with her grandfather, Richard Hope, and pointed out the family bench donated in honor of her late grandmother, Lucy Hope. “She would have loved this,” said Richard Hope.

McKee members Chris and Alyssa Hiser were enjoying the day with their 7-month-old daughter Josie, peacefully snoozing in her stroller. “We like it here; it’s relaxing,” said Alyssa Hiser. “We like to garden and I take pictures here; try to get our plants to grow like the ones here. It’s nice to have a place like this nearby.”

Dozens of entries submitted in the four categories of the Waterlily Photo Competition were displayed in the Hall of Giants, a wonderful cathedral-like structure of native wood. This year’s first place winners: Youth, John Hepp; Color, Skip Murphy; Black and White, Susan Vaughn Grube; Manipulated, Arlene Willnow.

Behind the scenes, a dedicated army of volunteers and staff nurture and sustain the precious ecosystem that is McKee, for today and for generations to come.

For more information, visit mckeegarden.org.