120 The American Flower Garden 



best to use. Don t plant Colorado blue spruces on the north bank 

 of your pond if you live in Massachusetts, nor dwarf Japanese maples 

 of brilliant reds and yellows, nor shrubs with variegated leaves, nor 

 other exclamation points, in what should be a reposeful, naturalistic 

 composition. In any case, don t set out tall growing trees where 

 they will shade your pond, which needs all the sunshine possible. 

 You may plant much or little on the gently sloping banks, but the 

 real test of the artistic treatment of any water garden is the soft 

 ening or effacing of the line where land and water meet. Grindling 

 Gibbons spent two years carving a frame for a mirror. Nature 

 bestows her most deft and delicate touches upon water margins. 

 She has a large class of exquisite amphibious plants for her mirror 

 frames the flowering sedges, irises, marsh marigolds, rushes, 

 meadow-rue, forget-me-nots, fringy ferns, the white-blossomed 

 arrow-head and the blue spiked pickerel weed, water-clover, the 

 great blue lobelia, next of kin to the gorgeous cardinal flower, jewel 

 weed, boneset, elm-leaved goldenrod, eupatorium, a swamp wild 

 rose (R. Carolina), and a host of others. Whoever possesses an old 

 pond, with its own precious edge fringed with the luxuriant growth 

 that springs out of alluvial soil, has more done for him than he 

 who need not attempt to imitate it can realise. Although he may 

 add to nature s list of plants for his special section the decorative 

 Eulalia grasses, erianthus, the stately Japanese irises and aquatic 

 plants from the five continents, it is doubtful if he add thereby to 

 the artistic result. Only where the pond adjoins a garden do the 

 ordinary garden flowers look well about it poppies, foxgloves, 

 larkspurs, and their familiar associates, boldly planted. Just as 

 in the Latin language an adjective must agree with its noun in 

 gender, number, and case, so must a garden, aquatic or otherwise, 

 agree with its environment. It would be as futile to attempt a 



