266 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



The edges of the pool need not go bare. Some pieces of 

 rockery stone may be placed round them, as advocated for tubs, 

 and plants grown in the soil between them. 



The Water Lilies will throw up successions of flowers through- 

 out the summer. The leaves will float on the water, and between 

 them the large blue, white, pink, or yellow flowers will appear. 

 They like sunshine, and may only partially open, if indeed they 

 attempt to do so at all, on dull days. But in warm, sunny 

 weather they will be glorious, and they will remain open until 

 nightfall, when they will close, to reopen again on the next sunny 

 day. The number of flowers which half-a-dozen plants will throw 

 up is enormous, and if the blossoms get smaller as autumn 

 approaches, they will still be beautiful. 



The plants will give no trouble. They will flower incessantly 

 for several months, and make no demands on the cultivator. True, 

 if they are growing in small tubs it may be well to throw some 

 litter over them in severe weather, as the water is so shallow, and 

 might get frozen through ; otherwise nothing need be done. Even 

 in a hard winter the plants will not take any harm in thirty inches 

 of water, and that is a very suitable depth for a pool. 



A few rushes may be planted among the Water Lilies, to rise 

 above the water. 



