WATER GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA. 17 



HARDY WATER LILIES. 



Nymphaea odorata, the common wild variety of the east, is too well 

 known to need description. Nymphaea odorata Caroliniana is a variety 

 producing flowers of a delicate flesh color tinted with salmon. They 

 are equally as fragrant as the white, and the plant blooms for a longer 

 time. 



Nymphaea Brakeleyi Rosea. This is a hybrid from the best form 

 of X. tuberosa crossed with N. odorata rosea. It originated from plants 

 grown by the late Kev. John H. Brakely, D. D., of Bordentown, N. J., 

 and is named in his honor. It is a very vigorous grower, increasing 

 rapidly by branches from the main rhizome. The original plant pro- 

 duced leaves sixteen inches in diameter and flowers eight inches across. 

 The latter are of a beautiful shade of pink, and possess the richest and 

 most powerful fragrance of all hardy varieties, surpassing even N. odor- 

 ata in this respect. The plant flourishes in any rich soil, and is desirable 

 for the water garden, or for deep water in natural ponds. 



Nymphaea Candidissima is a large-flowered form of the native water 

 lily of England. Its waxy white flowers, six inches across, are of 

 exquisite form, and are freely produced both early and late. 



Nymphaea Marliacea Carnea is a vigorous variety ; flowers, soft flesh 

 pink. 



Nymphaea Marliacea rosea bears large fragrant flowers of a rich, 

 deep pink color, and is one of the most desirable varieties. 



Nymphaea Marliacea Chromatella. A variety of free growth and 

 easy culture, blooming from early spring till late autumn. Flowers 

 lemon-yellow, with bright orange stamens. Leave blotched with brown. 



Nymphaea Robinsoni. The large floating flowers of this French 

 hybrid are of the most brilliant orange-red color, and quite as showy 

 as the tropical varieties. 



Nymphaea Aurora. In their early stages, the flowers of this remark- 

 able variety are of a beautiful copper-yellow color, similar to the rose 

 "Beauty of Glazcnwood," and later they change to deep orange-red. 



Nymphaea Pygmaea. From Siberia and China. Tins is the small- 

 est-flowered species in cultivation, with white lemon-scented blossoms 

 about the size of a silver half-dollar. 



THE LOTUS. 



I now come to the lotus, botanically known as Nelumbium, a plant 

 of such remarkable interest and beauty that it must be given more thf 

 a passing word. Writers who have made its history a study state that 

 it no longer grows wild in the Nile, and perhaps was not a native of 

 Egypt. It seems to have been revered in India as well as Egypt, from 

 the dawn of history; and it is not impossible that it traveled from the 



