CHAPTER XX 



WATER-LILIES 



It would be impossible to over-estimate the value of 

 the cultivated Nymphaeas to our water-gardens. These 

 grand plants enable us to compose a whole series of 

 new pictures of plant beauty of the very highest order. 

 Their now great variety of colouring, as well as their 

 diversity of size, allow us to make a wide choice so as 

 to suit all purposes ; the largest, hybrids of the great 

 American species, for the larger ponds, those of 

 medium size for pools and tanks, and the smallest 

 for those of us who have to be content with a few 

 tubs or small cemented basins. 



But certain plants, and especially those that, like the 

 Water-Lilies, have a very clearly defined character, 

 seem able to give us their highest beauty in just 

 certain circumstances. We have to find out the right 

 kind of environment. Beautiful they are and must be 

 in all ways, but one of the things most needful in good 

 gardening is to study the plants and provide them with 

 the most suitable sites and surroundings. Thus, de- 

 lightful as the Water-Lilies are in the margin of a 

 wide lake, they are still better in a pond of moderate 



size, or even in one that has more the character of a 



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