Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. I St. Louis, Mo., July, 1913 No. 7 
WATER GARDENS. 
To the uninitiated the cultivation of the water lily seems 
rather difficult. These plants bear magnificent flowers, both 
as to size and color, and rather naturally give the impres- 
sion that it requires long experience and a considerable 
outlay of money to grow them. It is the purpose of this 
article to give some idea of what has been done toward the 
growing of water lilies in the Garden this summer, and to 
encourage, if possible, the construction of similar gardens 
on a smaller scale in private places. 
- Location.—Up to the present year the area in the Garden 
devoted to the growing of water plants consisted of six small 
pools. Three of these, formerly located to the northwest of 
the main entrance, were wrecked this spring to make room 
for improvements. The other three, just south of the 
Linnean house, still remain. One of these, the central one, 
is of concrete; the other two, one to the east and one to the 
west, are puddled or clay pools. The latter, on account of 
their peculiar form, are known as the “Horseshoe Ponds,” 
The west horseshoe pond is used for growing the hardy 
water lilies, while the east one is reserved mostly for the 
growing of seedling water lilies. The concrete or Victoria 
pond, so called because in it are grown the large-leaved Royal 
or Victoria water lilies, is artificially heated in order to pro- 
vide a sufficiently high temperature for these tropical plants 
during the cooler months of spring. A portion of the old 
parterre was this year converted into a water garden. This 
pool, rectangular in shape, is seventy by one hundred and 
forty feet, and is the largest single pool in Saint Louis given 
over to the growing of water lilies. It is this pool that is 
known as the “Water Garden.” To the south of this garden 
and extending along the stream, are four small pools, known 
respectively as pools one, two, three and four. 
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