The Water Garden. 



CHAPTER I, 



INTRODUCTORY. 



'ATER LILIIiS, or Pond Lilies, have existed through the 

 ages. The native species, Nymphsea wdorata, the white 

 fragrant Pond Lily, was introduced into England in 

 1786. The English species, Nymphsea alba, also white, 

 was recognized long before; these two species have 

 become widely known and the general impression has 

 been that all Water Lilies were white, hence the 

 expression of surprise when one sees a red, yellow, or 

 blue Lily for the first time. 



Aquatics are associated with the ancient Egyptians 

 in their literature. Mention is made of the Lotus or 

 Water Lily, the name being applied both to Nelumbiums 

 and Nymphfeas, and, in fact, to several other plants in 

 different parts of the Old World. Three distinct 

 species are represented on many Egyptian monuments and are known to 

 botanists and gardeners of the present day as Nelumbiuni speciosum, 

 Nymphaea Lotus, and N. coerulea. Nelumbiums were not only known to the 

 Egyptians, but were common in the East and West Indies, China and Japan, 

 Persia, and Asiatic Russia. The United States can also lay claim to one Lotus — 

 Nelumbium luteum — the well known yellow American Lotus. 



Amongst the many plants now grown for the embellishment of our 

 gardens, public parks, and cemeteries, are hardy herbaceous plants, bulbs, 

 annuals, tender plants known as bedding plants, sub-tropical plants, and last. 



• ^- State Coll, 



