62 ALPINE FLOWERS [PART I. 



water-lilies, the essential thing being to plant in a good depth 

 of mud or soil. There is nothing better than the mud which 

 is washed down by little streams, but any good earth will do, 

 and the result of planting in the soil will be much better than 

 if we had put them in pots or tubs of any kind. The beauty 

 and length of bloom of these water-lilies makes them a very 

 precious aid in the garden, while for the margins of our lakelet 

 we have many graceful plants in the way of Eeeds, Eushes, 

 Arrowheads, and many water-plants, such as Day-lilies, tall 

 Irises, Swamp Lilies, Loosestrife, Golden Eod, Cardinal flowers, 

 and the nobler hardy Ferns, like the Eoyal and Feather Ferns. 

 It is necessary to keep off the common water-rat, which cuts 

 off the flowers and eats them on the bank-side, and also the 

 common water-hen, which picks at and- destroys the flowers ; 

 and, generally, it may be said that it is not possible to have 

 water-fowl and living creatures if we would grow water-lilies 

 well. 



The new kinds, which are now coming out, demand more 

 careful treatment than the well-known ones, and should be kept 

 apart in small tanks. The older and bolder kinds may be put 

 out in the open water with the greatest confidence. I have 

 grown some of them in open ponds fully exposed to storms, and 

 with good results ; but always planting in the natural rnud, and 

 in a good depth of it if possible, and that is not difficult where 

 mud is washed in freely by streamlets. 



For those who desire to go into the question of water- 

 gardening more at length, there is a fuller account in the 

 " English Flower Garden," than we can find room for here. And 

 ther.e are often happy incidents where a natural stream would 

 come near us to give its precious help, and there are various 

 cases in which water either moving or still water may be 

 happily associated with marsh and alpine gardens. 



