68 WALL AND WATER GARDENS 



Sweet, the double garden form of the wild Spircea 

 Ulmaria, and again beyond it, quite out of sight of 

 the Forget-me-not, others of the herbaceous Spiraeas, 

 ^. palmata, S. venusta, and S. Aruncus — all moisture- 

 loving plants. Drifts of these might spread away 

 inland, the largest of them, which would be of Spircea 

 Aruncus, being placed the furthest from the stream ; 

 they are plants of bold aspect, showing well at a little 

 distance. 



I should be careful not to crowd too many different 

 plants into my stream-picture. Where the Forget- 

 me-nots are it would be quite enough to see them 

 and the double Meadow- Sweet, and some good 

 hardy moisture-loving Fern, Osmunda or Lady Fern. 

 The way to enjoy these beautiful things is to see 

 one picture at a time ; not to confuse the mind 

 with a crowded jumble of too many interesting 

 individuals, such as is usually to be seen in a water- 

 garden. 



Close by the stream-side and quite out of view of 

 other flowering plants should be a bold planting of 

 Iris Icevigata, the handsome Japanese kind, perhaps 

 better known as Iris Kcenipferi. It is in varied 

 colourings of white, lilac, and several shades and kinds 

 of purple ; but for this stream, where it is desirable to 

 have the simplest effects, the single pure white alone 

 will be best. There are double varieties, but in these 

 the graceful purity of the form is lost and the char- 

 acter of the flower is confused. The best way to 

 grow them in England is in the boggy margin, not in 



