122 GARDENING FOR PLEASURE. 



in diameter, some of its leaves two feet across, and its 

 milk-white flowers twelve inches across ; there is the 

 grand JV. rubra, Avith its immense cups of glowing car- 

 mine; and there, queen of them all, is N. Devoniensis, sur- 

 passing in brilliancy of flower, if not in size of leaf, the 

 famous Victoria regia. Then come groups of these same 

 Lilies, planted more thickly; and though the flowers are 

 smaller, yet they are more numerous and just as brilliant. 

 Yonder, a little bay is filled with Egyptian Lotus, its 

 pink and white flowers, on stalks three feet above the 

 water, looking like immense tulips. Next is a mass of 

 the American Lotus, with its sulphur-yellow flowers ; 

 some of its floating leaves have strayed out into an open 

 space, and are thirty inches in diameter. Let us descend 

 and walk along the border of our little lake. Here is a 

 plantation of the lovely blue iV^. scutifolia; you per- 

 ceive its fragrance before you come near it. Next is the 

 beautiful Yellow Lily from Florida; and our own sweet 

 Water Lily is not forgotten, for it is here in masses. As- 

 sociated with it are its charming new, rose-colored vari- 

 ety, N. odorata rosea, and the delicate pink-tinted one. 

 Here are N. candidissima and N. alba rosea, with their 

 waxy petals, similar in color to some of the others, but 

 having their own distinctive merits and attractions. The 

 favorite Calla of our winter gardens lifts its white trum.- 

 pets towards the sky, and numerous smaller flowered 

 aquatics are found in profusion along the edge of the 

 water. Coming around to the Lotuses again, we find 

 growing near them, in shallow water, great clumps of the 

 Egyptian Papyrus, with its plumy heads on stalks six feet 

 high. Now let us look at some of the plants which as- 

 sociate well with water, and help form a background for 

 our picture. Scattered along the margin we find groups 

 of ornamental grasses, Eulalias, Erianthus, and Pampas 

 Grass. Yonder, on our little peninsula, stands a noble 

 Banana (Musa Ensete), twelve feet high. Farther on is 



