The Livable House 



cardinal flower, ferns, purple iron weed, tall marsh mallows, and 

 the rosy Joe pie weed. It is surprising how at home these plants 

 are in the garden proper among their more aristocratic com- 

 panions, and how much of real charm — a charm which is due to 

 their appropriateness — thev lend to the water near which they 

 grow. 



If the pool is to have a really friendly feeling, the planting 

 should extend in places to the water's edge. Nothing is colder 

 and less inviting than a stone-rimmed pool set in the midst of 

 gravel. It has a harsh, ungracious look, that just a few leaves 

 bending over the edge would mitigate, or a stray vine soften. On 

 the other hand, it is bad to surround a pool entirely with flowers 

 and shrubs so as to make it inaccessible. Places for planting near 

 the border should be incorporated in the design in some such way 

 as to provide walks to the water's edge, and intervals between, for 

 iris or ferns or grasses. 



Planting for the surfaces of the water itself needs care and 

 thought for appropriateness, as well as regard for scale. More 

 often than not pools too small to warrant such huge leaves are 

 planted with lotus, or tall cat-tails, or both, when their size really 

 demands the smallest of the nymphaeas and the fine leaves of spike 

 rush or Scirpus. Most aquatics grow rapidly and unless they are 

 constantly thinned out they cover the entire water surface and 

 leave no mirror to reflect bending purple flags, and white clouds. 

 With a little taste and care in thinning, the groups of lily pads 

 and grasses may be made into compositions interesting and pleas-, 

 ing in themselves. 



[104] 



