j4 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. 



on this great work of world-wide import, impelling upward not only 

 the destinies of tribes and nations, but the broader destinies of all 

 mankind ? 



Santa Rosa, Gal. 



WATEK GARDENING IN CALIFO-RNIA. 



BY EDMUND D. STURTEVANT. 



If the citizens of our "Golden State" who are to the manor born 

 should pay their first visit to the Atlantic Coast region during midsum- 

 mer, they might, perchance, from a car window or during a ramble in 

 the wildwoods, come upon a sight which would be a mystery to them. 

 The sheet of water lying . before them in the sunshine is apparently 

 frozen over, and a thin covering of snow has fallen upon its glassy sur- 

 face. Upon closer inspection, the seeming snowflakes prove to be the 

 fresh and fragrant blossoms of the native white water lily, Nymphsea 

 odorata, the queen of North American wild flowers. How delightful 

 is the memory of scenes like this, to those whose early homes lie on the 

 eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, when, rowing our boat through 

 acres of pond lilies, we gathered them by the armful ! Kissed by the 

 morning sun 



The lilies open. Gleaming white, 

 Their fluted cups like onyx shine; 



And, golden-hearted in the light, 

 They hold the summer's rarest wine. 



Having first formed the acquaintance of this beautiful native flower, 

 how great is the wonder and joy of the enthusiast to find that there have 

 been gathered from many climes and continents water lilies of almost 

 every shade and color red, pink, purple, blue, and yellow. Then, there 

 is the monster-leaved Victoria regia, the venerable Egyptian lotus, and 

 a great number of interesting, though less important, aquatic plants, 

 all of which tend to give the water garden almost as great a variety 

 as the ordinary flower garden. Twenty-five years ago, when the writer 

 first began to make a specialty of growing water lilies, scarcely more 

 than a half dozen varieties were in cultivation. Three or four tropical 

 species were grown under glass; our own wild lily was cultivated here 

 and there, and in Europe their native species was found in gardens. 

 The discovery of the fact that the tropical kinds could be grown in the 

 open air in summer in the eastern states, and that exotic species of the 

 lotus or Nelumbium were hardy in temperate latitudes, gave a great 

 impetus to water gardening. Perhaps you will pardon me if I quote a 

 few sentences which I wrote just twenty years ago- 



