1 84 WATER-LILIES (NYMPffsEA) [CH. 



CHAPTER XV 



WATER-LILIES 



HOW often do we see an ungainly pond disfiguring 

 the neighbourhood of some villa or country house, which 

 with but a very little skill and contrivance might be 

 made positively beautiful and attractive ? All that is 

 needful is to replace the squalid duck-weed with a few 

 plants of our native Water-lilies, and to add to the 

 collection, where we can, some of the Eastern and North 

 American varieties, with their soft and lovely colours. 

 The new hybrid kinds will be found to prolong their 

 bloom for months after our native sorts have ceased to 

 flower, so that the attractions of a water garden may 

 easily be sustained all through the year, from May until 

 October. Hardy water flowers are not really difficult to 

 manage. The plants when procured may be fixed in soil, 

 encased in a wooden box 36 x 1 5 X 8 inches, and sunk to 

 the bottom, where the roots will often lengthen out into 

 the sandy mud around. The best time for planting is 

 spring, and plants put in in April or May often bloom 

 during the same summer. 



The two things which Water-lilies require in the 

 British Isles are, ist, full exposure to the sun, and 2nd, 

 such conditions of water as will ensure a comparatively 

 high temperature ; for this reason running water is, if 

 possible, to be avoided, and the tank should be kept pure 



