WATER FLOWERS 249 



about it. Regardless of the conventional, and 

 of the advice of well meaning but unimaginative 

 people who are unable to see such a condition as 

 anything but a low, unhealthy, miserable place, 

 consider well the possibility of overcoming all 

 the drawbacks of it by simply adopting its sug- 

 gestion and going it several better. 



The task of draining and filling a bog is one 

 of the most thankless as well as most uncertain 

 that can be undertaken; for there are as likely 

 as not springs at the bottom — literally — of the 

 whole thing. If you proceed in the other direc- 

 tion however, it is practically impossible to go 

 wrong; for the deepening of the lowest portion 

 will inevitably drain into this the moisture from 

 the higher ground around, and whether the 

 water is from springs or from the surface only, 

 it will be provided with a limited basin into 

 which it will settle and remain. And this in 

 turn will provide your garden with a most un- 

 usual and altogether delightful feature, with the 

 accompanying opportunity of growing plants 

 and flowers denied to the commonplace site lack- 

 ing this element. Even if the water disappears 

 during midsummer, you may still have most of 

 the things here listed; for all save the aquatics 

 themselves will accommodate to temporary lack 

 of water. For of course wheal this lack occurs 



