NUTTALLIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



705 



which has the same vinous perfume as the 

 type. N. advena is the N. American ally 

 of our yellow Water- Lily, and resembling 

 it, but larger and with leaves which stand 

 erect out of the water, and is a much finer 

 plant. N. Kalmiana, also a N. American 

 kind, much resembles the small variety of 

 N. lutea, and is an interesting plant to 



Notospartium Carmichaelioe. 



grow in company with it. The cultivation 

 is quite simple — placing the rootstocks in 

 water 2 to 3 ft. deep, when they will soon 

 root in the mud ; but they are apt to 

 increase too rapidly, and may prove 

 troublesome to get rid of. 



NUTTALLIA {Osoberry).-N. cerasifor- 

 mis is a hardy shrub, and one of the earliest 

 to flower. Hardly before winter is past 

 its abundant drooping racemes of white 

 flowers appear, and they usually do so 

 before the leaves. When in bloom it 

 bears a resemblance to the Flowering 

 Currant (Ribes sanguineum), and forms 

 a dense bush, 6 to 12 ft. high, growing in 

 any kind of soil ; is hardy, but not showy, 

 and scarcely pretty. California. 



NYCTERINIA. — Pretty, half-hardy 

 annuals from the Cape of Good Hope. 

 N. selaginoides grows about 9 in. high, 

 forming dense compact tufts of slender 

 stems, in late autumn covered with 

 small white, orange-centred blossoms 

 fragrant at night. N. capensis is about 

 the same size as N. selaginoides, and is 

 of similar growth, its flowers larger, and 

 not of so pure a white. N. selaginoides 

 and N. capensis require to be sown early 

 in heat, and to be transplanted in May in 

 light, rich, sandy loam in warm borders. 

 N. Lychnidea is a small shrubby perennial 

 with yellowish-white blossoms, thriving 

 in warm borders in summer. It should 

 l)e propagated either by cuttings in 

 autumn, or by seeds in spring. Scrophu- 

 lariaceje. 



NYMPH^A ( Water-Lily).—Kh&2M.i\- 

 ful family of water-plants distributed over 

 many parts of the world, some of the 

 northern kinds hardy. Our own native 

 Water- Lily was always neglected and 

 rarely effective, except in a wild state ; 

 but when it is seen that we may have in 

 Britain the soft and beautiful yellows and 

 the delicate rose and red flowers of the 

 tropical Water- Lilies throughout summer 

 and autumn, we shall begin to take more 

 interest in our garden water-flowers, and 

 even the wretched formless duckponds 

 which disfigure so many country seats 

 may have a reason to be. The new hybrid 

 kinds continue blooming long after our 

 native kind has ceased, and from the 

 middle of May to nearly the end of 

 October flowers are abundant. 



Culture of hardy Water-lilies. — 

 These lovely water flowers are not difficult 

 to manage. A simple way of planting is 

 to put the plants with soil in some shallow 

 baskets and sink these to the bottom, 

 and before the basket has rotted the 

 plant will have fixed itself to the bottom. 

 Or in ponds where there is a rich muddy 

 bottom I plant by tying a drain-pipe or a 

 piece of waste iron to a root and throw 

 it in where the water is between 18 in. 

 and 2 ft. deep. The best season for plant- 

 ing is the spring, and plants put in in 

 April or May make sufficient progress to 

 flower before summer is gone. They are 

 often, grown in brick and cement tanks, 

 sunk m the ground to a depth of from z\ 

 to 3 ft. These, with a foot of soil and the 

 rest water, would grow excellent Water- 

 Lilies, and the plants do not want a great 

 depth of water over their crowns. It would 

 be well to arrange tliat at least a foot might 

 cover them in winter, and then they are 

 virtually safe from frost. They grow 

 better in the mud of ponds and lakes 

 Z Z 



