CHAPTER XI 



WATER-LILIES 



As the rose to the flower garden, so is the Lily to our 

 lakes and ponds. In the summer stillness of some reed- 

 fringed backwater, the crowning note of beauty will be 

 found in a fleet of Lilies moored by hidden cables. Who 

 can forget the sight of the creamy cups sparkling with 

 the morning dew, as the sun scatters the dawn mists from 

 the surface of some placid lake ? Or in the blue mystery 

 of night, when the folded flowers shine like silver lamps 

 to guide our boat through the shadows. If water gardens 

 existed but for the sake of this one flower, they would 

 be worth all the love and labour in our power to bestow. 



And yet Water-Lilies are much neglected. For them 

 it is worth clearing and cleaning the hundreds of weed- 

 grown ponds, which at present disfigure numberless 

 English gardens. Small tanks and tubs might be prepared 

 for their reception : the possession of even a few square 

 feet of water surface should be an excuse for growing 

 plants of the hardy kinds. 



Perhaps the fallacy that Water-Lilies, as a family, are 

 extremely delicate, is difficult to explode. The fact that 

 they flower freely in lakes and ponds, which in winter 

 are thickly covered with ice, should in itself be sufficient 

 to dispel any such prejudice. Certain of the American 

 varieties require warm and sheltered quarters, but even 

 in exposed situations the available list is by no means 

 small. 



No doubt, years ago, variety of colouring was lacking 



