58 ROCK AND WATER GARDENS 



pink are very distinctive. It has the merit, too, of being 

 sweetly scented. The well-known Arrowhead (Saggi- 

 taria) is another useful plant for shallow water. Even 

 the single variety, with its tall spikes of white flowers, 

 is not to be despised, though it is surpassed by some of 

 the double forms. Ranunculus aquatilis needs no plant- 

 ing ; it will establish itself if merely thrown upon the 

 water. The foliage is feathery, and the flowers, a pure 

 white, are produced in great abundance. 



For the simplest form of stream garden, one which is 

 but a modest endeavour to gather into small compass 

 the best of English native plants, the above list is quite 

 sufficient. There is more beauty in a single plant well 

 grown than in twenty which are overcrowded. Such a 

 garden will afford endless pleasure during the summer 

 days ; its very simplicity will bring the flower-lover very 

 close to the heart of nature. Beside it, the tawdry 

 blaze of colour, which is the outcome of the carpet- 

 bedder's efforts, will seem a blatant vulgarism, a travesty 

 of a pure and beautiful art. 



The planting of trees and bushes near a native stream 

 or pool should cause a moment's consideration. As a 

 rule, we find that a mixed collection of evergreen 

 shrubs, especially Rhododendrons, is considered fitting 

 in such localities. A greater mistake could not possibly 

 be made. The most unobservant cannot fail to notice 

 that the class of trees growing beside meadow streams 

 and broadland meres is of a totally different character. 

 In place of ponderous masses of sombre foliage we have 

 the graceful shoots and twisted trunks of the Willows, 

 the lines of spiry Poplars, Dogwoods, Silver Birch, and 

 the handsome Spruce. All these exhibit a special 

 beauty of outline, always a consideration near water, 

 where reflection is such a powerful aid to picture- 

 making. Our own deciduous trees furnish sufficient 

 variety for waterside planting, and only in special cases 



