WATER GARDENS 51 



life histories of the birds or fish would take away the curse of arti- 

 ficiality, and give the best kind of beauty that which grows 

 out of use. 



In order to realize what glorious opportunites we have for 

 water gardening, give one glance at any good map of the United 

 States that shows what a magnificently watered country we have 

 east of the Mississippi. In my experience, it is hard to go a mile in 

 any direction without meeting some interesting bit of water. 

 Add to this our natural climatic advantage over Europe in water- 

 lilies, and the chance we have for working out an American style 

 of water gardening becomes apparent. The way is even blazed 

 for us, because we have two beautiful American books on water 

 gardening*, which are both inspiring and practical. The wealthy 

 collector will find a mine of delight in the coloured plates of 

 Professor Conard's wonderful monograph on water-lilies, pub- 

 lished by the Carnegie Institute. 



On the whole, I should not be surprised if water gardening has 

 the brightest future of any of the twelve most important types of 

 gardening. It is not so long ago that we had no hardy water- 

 lilies in yellow or red. Before I die I expect to see the gorgeous 

 blues of the tropics transferred to water-lilies that may stay out- 

 doors in the North the year round, and last as long as trees. 



"Water Gardening" by Peter Bisset, and "Water-lilies and How to Grow Them" by Conard and Hus. 



