22 



A PLEA FOR HARDY PLANTS 



charming rock roses, the noted edelweiss, the dainty trailing arbutus, 

 and scores of other lovely but difficult plants will try one's ingenuity 

 and patience to the utmost. In gardening, as in other pursuits, the 

 greater the labor the greater the reward. 



I have almost overlooked the water garden,* which of all gardens is 

 perhaps the most interesting and charming. What possibilities here of 

 lovely and artistic arrangements with all the great variety of aquatic and 



PO\D LILILS, II nil HARDY IIYDILI.\Gi:.IS l.\ THE BACKGROUND 



semi-aquatic plants! What can be more lovely than the nymphasas, now 

 obtainable in a score of shades and colors, or grander than the stately 

 nelumbiums, with their splendid pink, white or yellow flowers? How 

 charming the water garden can be has been shown by Mr. Wilson, of 



*Since this lecture was delivered, Miss Jekyll's charming book, "Wall and Water Gardens," has 

 been published. It describes and illustrates two very interesting phases of gardening in an exhaus- 

 tive way, and is altogether a delightful hook, with some of the best gardening pictures that have ever 

 been published. 



