CHAPTER XIV 



AQUATIC PLANTS, HARDY FERNS, AND ORNAMENTAL 



GRASSES 



Aquatic Plants 



Wherever bodies of water occur, whether large or small, 

 natural lakes, streams, artificial ponds, or fountain-basins, 

 their decoration with more or less of the water-loving plants 

 — aquatics — can be made to greatly increase the naturally 

 beautiful effects of such features of landscape. Fig. 146. 

 Much interest has been awakened in the past few years in 

 these plants, and many growers of, and dealers in, aquatic 

 plants are found in different sections of the country. There 

 has been a great increase in the growth of these plants for 

 ornamentation, especially in parks and public grounds as 

 well as on many private places. Many of the aquatics 

 are easily grown in any shallow body of water that is not fed 

 by cold springs or mountain streams, but some of them, like 

 the Victoria regia, require more or less artificial heat, that 

 may be carried to the water by steam or hot-water pipes 

 from some greenhouse or other heating-plant. Many of 

 them are started from seed, while some of them are prop- 

 agated by division of the roots. Full direction for germi- 

 nating the seed and growing the plants may be obtained 

 from the catalogues of dealers in this class of plants. The 

 growth of only the most hardy of these plants should be 

 attempted unless one has a warm shallow pond, or tank, 

 with a sunny exposure, or can in some way apply artificial 



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