THE POND 177 



time, and he has vanished. Anacharis alsinastrum 

 from Canada must also be avoided. It will speedily 

 become a pest, and give pleasure to nothing but your 

 water-snails. Of other foreigners I have pontederia 

 cordata, which was sent to me by a friend from 

 America. One cannot look a gift plant in the 

 flower, but the blue inflorescence of this pickerel 

 weed leaves me cold. It is an excellent thing to 

 receive from a friend, but not to purchase. Thalia 

 dealbata is handsomer, though perhaps not so hardy. 

 Sagittaria variabilis is a beautiful aquatic, and increases 

 rather too rapidly with me. It thrusts its arrow-shaped 

 foliage and panicles of white-petalled, golden-anthered 

 flowers from two feet of water, or out of the mud at 

 the pond edge, indifferently. Sagittaria Montevidensis 

 is more beautiful still, but not so strong. This has 

 a dark crimson patch on each of the three petals. 

 Scirpus zabrina must go. He is handsome, but takes 

 up too much room ; while eulalia zabrina in the 

 marsh hard by is choking my marsh irises, and will 

 also have to be despatched elsewhere. The various 

 meadow-sweets also under conditions of moisture 

 soon get out of hand. Observe Spiraea gigantea. 

 He comes from Siberia, but I doubt if he goes ten 

 feet high there. S. venusta, S. palmata, and S. 

 palmata elegans are all good. Astilbe rivularis must 

 be dragged off to a less luxurious position ; but A. 

 Davidi is worthy of a good place. Gillenia trifoliata, 

 too, prospers with the spiraeas. Of reed-maces, typha 

 angustifolia is mine. It prospers well, flowers freely, 



and does not interfere with its neighbours over much, 



M 



