114 ALPINE FLOWERS AND ROCK GARDENS. 



of reeds and roots of Nymphaeas \\dll be interwoven 

 into an inextricable tangle, and it is not worth while 

 to attempt to separate them. The clumps may be 

 reduced by cutting away a good deal of the outside and 

 reducing the withered shoots of the reeds to stumps. 

 Afterwards the masses may be re-attached to the 

 stones and again placed at the bottom. 



The opportunity may be taken of cleaning the sides 

 of the pool of the green sHme which will have accumu- 

 lated on them, and of overhauling the rockery margins. 

 Crowfoot loves to estabUsh itself here, and will pene- 

 trate the smallest crevices. It seems able to exist 

 with scarcely a particle of soil if its roots can keep in 

 contact with moist stone or concrete. Every scrap 

 of it should be pulled out, and any vacant spaces 

 filled with tufts of water Forget-me-not (Myosotis 

 palustriSj Rock Cress {Auhrietia) and other pretty 

 moisture-loving things. 



There will not be much room for anything but half- 

 a-dozen Nymphaeas and a few reeds in a small pool, 

 but in a larger basin, or as a substitute for Water 

 Lihes if they are not cared for, other aquatics may 

 be grown, such as Water Hawthorn {Aponogeton 

 distachyon) which is not quite hardy, but often thrives ; 

 the Water Violet (Hottonia palustris), the water 

 Soldier {Stratiotes aloides), the Marsh Trefoil (Meny- 

 anthes trifoliata), the narrow-leaved Reed Mace (Typha 

 angustifolid)y flowering Rush (Btitomus umbellatus), 

 water flag (Iris Pseudacorus) the Arrowhead (Sagittaria 

 sagittifolid) and the Loosestrife {Lysimachia thyrsi flora). 

 In a sheltered, sunny place nothing is more delightful 



