64 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



way of affording extra protection and warmth, so that the 

 blue varieties may be flowered, is to put the tub in a frame. 

 If desired the hardy kinds may be forced by placing them in 

 a warm frame or greenhouse in the spring. 



Arranging the Tubs and Water Plants. Much might be 

 written about the arrangement of the tubs and their surround- 

 ings. They should, if possible, be grouped together with wet, 

 boggy ground between them, and it would perhaps be neces- 

 sary to obtain the bog by means of additional tubs containing 

 constantly wet soil, either covered with water or not. In the 

 bog could be planted the common Reed Mace ( Typha latifolia), 

 Marsh Forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris). Primula rosea, P. 

 japonica, Japan Iris (/. K&mpferi), and similar moisture-loving 

 plants, which would almost hide the tubs. In some of the 

 tubs, in addition to the Nymphaeas, grow the fragrant Cape 

 Pond Weed (Aponogeton distachyori), the Flowering Rush (Bu- 

 tomus umbellatus), Sagittarias or Arrowheads, Calla palustris, 

 Ranunculus Lingua (the Great Spearwort), and the native 

 yellow Nuphar. The Nymphaeas will appear to greater 

 advantage with this framework of moisture-loving flowers. 



The Selection. Our first choice, after the beautiful wild 

 Water-lily of our stream-sides and back waters, would be Nym- 

 phwa pygmsea Helvola, which is quite a pigmy kind, and there- 

 fore especially suitable for a tub or tank. The flowers are 

 yellow, with stamens of a deeper shade, and when fully 

 expanded measure about three inches across. It is so free 

 that a single plant, with a width of not more than eighteen 

 inches, will have expanded upon a warm July day twelve and 

 even more flowers. The leaves, too, are pretty, being little 

 larger than the flowers, and marbled with reddish brown. A 

 tub eighteen inches across provides ample room for this 

 variety. It was raised by M. Latour Marliac, and increases so 

 readily that it is more easily obtained than its parent Pygmaea, 

 a small white Nymphaea, which is quite worthy of a small 

 tub, fountain, or tank. 



Another white Lily worth growing in tubs is the white 

 form of N. caroliniana. It has a very pretty, moderately- 

 sized flower of refined shape, and is not of rank growth. The 

 only other hardy yellow-shaded Nymphaeas are N. chroma- 

 tella, which is the yellow form of N. tuberosa, and N. odorata 

 sulphurea. They are noble Water-lilies, but too vigorous for 

 tubs. The former should be chosen in preference to the 

 latter, and should succeed well, but the result would be dis- 

 appointing to those who know the plant in an open pond or 

 lake, where it has space to extend. N. flava, the Mexican 

 yellow Nymphaea, should be avoided ; it is not hardy, and 



