684 NUTTALL1A. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



NYMPH^EA. 



rivers, in company with the Water-Lily. 

 It has a very interesting little variety 

 called pumila or minima, which is found 

 wild in some of the Highland lakes, and 

 which has the same vinous perfume as the 

 type. N. advena is the N. American ally 

 of our yellow Water- Lily, and resembling 

 it, but larger and with leaves which stand 

 erect out of the water, and is a much finer 

 plant. N. Kalmiana, also a N. American 

 kind, much resembles the small variety of 

 N. lutea, and is an interesting plant to 

 grow in company with it. The cultivation 

 is quite simple placing the rootstocks in 

 water 2 to 3 ft. deep, when they will soon 

 root in the mud. 



NUTTALLIA (Osoberry)-N. cerasifpr- 

 mis is a hardy shrub, and one of the earliest 

 to flower. Hardly before winter is past 

 its abundant drooping racemes of white 

 flowers appear, and they usually do so 

 before the leaves. When in bloom it 

 bears a resemblance to the Flowering 

 Currant (Ribes sanguineum), and forms 

 a dense bush, 6 to 12 ft. high, growing in 

 any kind of soil ; is hardy, but not showy, 

 and scarcely pretty. California. 



NYCTERINIA. Pretty half-hardy an- 

 nuals from the Cape of Good Hope. 

 N. selaginoides grows about 9 in. high, 

 forming dense compact tufts of slender 

 stems, in late autumn, covered with 

 small white, orange-centred blossoms 

 fragrant at night. N. capensis is about 

 the same size as N. selaginoides, and is 

 of similar growth, its flowers larger, and 

 not of so pure a white. N. selaginoides 

 and N. capensis require to be sown early 

 in heat, and to be transplanted in May in 

 light, rich sandy loam in warm borders. 

 N. Lychnidea is a small shrubby perennial 

 with yellowish-white blossoms, thriving 

 in warm borders in summer. It should 

 be propagated either by cuttings in 

 autumn, or by seeds in spring. Scrophu- 

 lariaceas. 



NYMPKEA (Water-Lily}. A beauti- 

 ful family of water-plants distributed over 

 many parts of the world, some of the 

 northern kinds hardy. Our own native 

 Water- Lily was always neglected and 

 rarely effective, except in a wild state ; 

 but when it is seen that we may have in 

 Britain the soft and beautiful yellows and 

 the delicate rose and red flowers of the 

 tropical Water- Lilies throughout summer 

 and autumn, we will begin to take more 

 interest in our garden water-flowers, and 

 even the wretched formless duckponds 

 which disfigure so many country seats 

 may have a reason to be. The new hybrid 

 kinds continue blooming long after our 

 native kind has ceased, and from the 



middle of May to nearly the end of 

 October flowers are abundant. 



CULTURE OF HARDY WATER-LILIES. 

 These lovely water flowers are not difficult 

 to manage. A simple way of planting is 

 to put the plants with soil in some shallow 

 baskets and sink these to the bottom, 

 and before the basket has rotted the 

 plant will have fixed itself to the bottom. 

 Or in ponds where there is a rich muddy 

 bottom I plant by tying a drain-pipe or a 

 piece of waste iron to a root and throw 

 it in where the water is between 18 in. 

 to 2 ft. deep. The best season for plant- 

 ing is the spring, and plants put in in 

 April or May make sufficient progress to 

 flower before summer is gone. They are 

 often grown in brick and cement tanks, 

 sunk in the ground to a depth of from 2^ 

 to 3 ft. These, with a foot of soil and the 

 rest water, would grow excellent Water- 

 lilies, and the plants do not want a great 

 depth of water over their crowns. It would 

 be well to arrange that at least a foot might 

 cover them in winter, and then they are 

 virtually safe from frost. I find, however, 

 they grow better in the mud of ponds and 

 lakes than under the more artificial con- 

 ditions of the cemented tank. But if neither 

 ponds nor tanks are available, these Water- 

 lilies can still be easily grown, for, as M. 

 Latour-Marliac wittily observed, like 

 Diogenes, they can content themselves in 

 a tub ; we may even go further than this 

 and say that they find themselves quite 

 at home in half a cask buried in the 

 ground and half filled with soil and 

 water. On lawns the cask or half cask 

 might be sunk level with the surface, 

 thus giving the leaves and flowers of the 

 Water-lilies the appearance of growing 

 out of the ground. 



" The enemies of Water-lilies are water- 

 rats and swans and other water birds, 

 especially moorhens, which often pull 

 them to pieces, but the plants can be 

 protected with wire-netting. Moorhens 

 are very destructive to the flowers, and 

 should be closely watched. There is, 

 however, another enemy. We noticed 

 it first by seeing leaves detached and 

 floating. On the water becoming clearer 

 one could see what appeared to be small 

 bits of stick an inch or so long attached 

 in numbers to the leaf-stalk. It was the 

 grub of the caddis fly with its house upon 

 its back. In the hollow stick it was safe 

 from the fish, and, fastening upon the 

 young and tender leaf-stalk, the grubs 

 fed away until the leaf was eaten asunder. 

 Strong-established plants are not likely 

 to suffer, but a watch should be kept on 

 young plants if rare varieties." The 



