WATER FLOWERS 243 



has no more than a windowsill as a garden site; 

 or such tub may be sunk into the ground in any 

 sunny spot in ever so large a garden. The rapid 

 growth of the plant is easily overcome by the 

 simple expedient of taking out as much as neces- 

 sary as often as necessary; and for over- winter- 

 ing, a broad bowlful indoors is a most desirable 

 mass of living green for any room. 



Another suitable plant is the water poppy, 

 also tender and needing to be kept in a tub in- 

 doors in winter. Its preferred submergence is 

 under the same depth of water as the water hya- 

 cinth — six to eight inches — and its leaves and 

 flowers also float. The latter are yellow and 

 suggestive of the poppy, and they are abundant 

 and continuous all summer. And a third charm- 

 ing water plant is the water snowflake which 

 has smal? white flowers with petals like an os- 

 trich featht.". This requires water four to eight 

 inches deep, and must likewise be kept in the 

 house in winter. 



When it comes to a consideration wholly of 

 water plants as garden material, separate and 

 distinct from the pictorial contribution of the 

 element in which they grow, the use of tubs sunk 

 into the ground has much in its favor, especially 

 for the small garden. They are easily acquired, 

 for the first thing; each one takes care of one 



