It’s not a niche sport, but it is a niche competition. Did you know that botanical gardens are currently challenging each other to see whose Lily pads can hold the most weight? Let’s check out the competition. This started on August 19th with the Denver Botanical Gardens. I think they are the originator of the competition, and they get major points for video production quality. Are the Lily pads so strong? Somebody standing on it? No, they’re just silly. Horticulturalist, is that the right word? Are Victoria Lily pads. The diameter, 38 inches. The weight, 65 pounds. That’s stiff competition from the start. Let’s see what the competitors up. New York Botanical Gardens. This Lily pad looks huge. Diameter of 45 inches. This thing held 84 pounds. Take over the first place spot. They are gonna be a tough act to follow. Let’s see who’s next. Two days ago, the Toledo Zoo. Wade in. Get it? Wade in. The diameter of their Lily is 27 inches, so the smallest one so far. And it held 38 pounds, which, while not beating the two in the competition yet, there’s a new PR for them. Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Diameter of theirs is 42 inches, so it is the second biggest one so far. Something I admired about their strategy is they went big from the beginning. The first weight that they put on was this giant bag right here, 40 pound. Their total weight, 70 pounds. That puts them in second place. Next up, Is Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. The diameter of their Victoria Lily pad is 31 inches, and it held 32 pounds. Bonus points for the cute frogs. Rookies this year. Brook Green Gardens, and they weighed in at 43 pounds, putting them in fourth place. Just hours ago, Missouri Botanical Gardens, they showed up to play. Diameter of their Lily is 60 inches. That’s 5 feet tall, five inches shorter than me. And they weighed in at a whopping 142.1 pounds. Held up by this water Lily. They attributed the growth to heated ponds and warmer temperatures throughout the year. We’ll see if more contestants weigh in, but this is gonna be hard to beat. There is an honorable mention. Honorable mention goes to Brooklyn Botanical Gardens because they built a card castle on theirs. Did I miss any? Let me know. Follow along for more niche competitions.