The most double of all the white water-lilies (Nyimphaea Richardsoni) . It does best The sweet-scented w&te 

 in about three feet of water. The flowers are not odorous ana here shown is n 



■lily has good garden varieties or hybrids. Nymvhaea Luci- 

 iy pinK and twice as large as the common while ones 



The Hardy Water-Lilies Worth Growing— By Henry s. Conard 



NUMBER VI OF THE "LITTLE MONOGRAPHS" OF GARDEN GENERA— A SERIES OF ARTICLES SUPPOSED 

 TO BE JUICIER AND RATHER MORE ACCURATE THAN THE OLD - STYLE BLOODLESS BOTANY 



Baltimore. 

 Md. 



A POND of water-lilies is a possibility for 

 anyone who can give two square feet 

 of water surface in a sunny spot. 



If you do. make a water garden have it 

 near at hand so you can see the flowers when 

 at their best, and with all hardy water-lilies 

 we must count on enjoying them in the morn- 

 ing or early afternoon. The flowers close at 

 specific times for each kind, varying from 

 noon to four or, at least, five o'clock. 



A GARDEN IN A TUB 



Water-lilies in tubs are better than 

 nothing at all. A kerosene barrel sawed 

 in half will furnish two tubs, each big enough 

 for one plant. The tubs should be well 

 washed out and soaked for some time in 

 water, in order to remove as much as possible 

 of the oil and the glue which is put on to 

 render the vessel tight. Three or four days 

 to a week will suffice for this. 



It will be better, though not essential, to 

 have the tub sunk about half its depth in the 

 earth, so as to keep the roots cool. For 

 though the leaves and flowers love sunshine, 

 the black ooze in which the roots naturally 

 live is always cool. 



MAKING THE COMPOST 



Fill the tub half or two-thirds with a 

 mixture of equal parts good garden soil and 

 well-rotted cow manure. When setting out 

 the plant spread out the roots well, and after 

 filling in the soil cover with an inch of sand 

 Fill up the tub with water and our little 

 water-lily pond is complete. The addition 

 of a little water every day or two, to replace 

 what is lost by evaporation, is all the fur- 

 ther attention that will be needed until winter 

 sets in. 



If old cow manure is not available use 

 ground bone — a small double handful is 

 enough for such a tub as is described. The 

 sand for covering is not a necessity, but it 

 serves to keep in place the earth and manure. 



One caution — do not use mud or swamp 

 muck in the water garden. 



If I am to choose one water-lily only for 

 such a small effort, I will take the little 



Chinese pigmy water-lily, Nymphcea tetra- 

 gona. It is the most satisfactory, because it 

 will quickly cover the water with its small 

 horseshoe-shaped leaves. These are dark 

 green, with faint and picturesque brown 

 blotches on the upper surface, dull red be- 

 neath, and the combination is rich in color. 

 Then again, it is a good plant for flowering — 

 a good specimen will keep up a continuous 

 succession of its little star-like flowers 

 throughout the season, from June to Sep- 

 tember. Often two or three flowers will 

 be open at once. The eight or ten snowy 

 petals surround a group of stout golden 

 stamens, and in the centre is a broad, yellow, 

 basin-shaped stigma. The flower opens 

 each day about noon and closes again at 

 five in the afternoon, repeating this on three 

 or four successive days. It exhales a delicate 

 fragrance, like that of a tea rose. 



If a change from the pure white is wanted 

 we may choose one of the smaller hybrids 

 of the pigmy water-lily. For bright yellow 

 take the yellow pigmy {Nymphcea tetragona, 

 var. helvola), similar in size and in habit of 



An artistic water garden. Notice the grassy 

 margin, instead of concrete; the flowing, graceful 

 outline, instead of the unnatural circle or square; 

 and the interesting hardy plants in the border, instead 

 of the everlasting canna, castor oil and agerstum 



279 



growth, but the flower is bright yellow and 

 the leaves are very heavily blotched with 

 distinct reddish-brown patches. It gets these 

 characteristics from the native Mexican 

 water-lily (N. Mexicana), which is found in 

 Florida, Texas and Mexico. This is a very 

 peculiar species, scarcely hardy as far north 

 as Philadelphia, and certainly cannot be 

 classed as a hardy garden plant. For, 

 though it will exist in water of a depth of 

 three feet, it will not bloom if left continu- 

 ously out of doors. It is a shy bloomer even 

 at its best. 



For those who prefer pink there is the 

 Laydeker's pink pigmy (Nymphaza Laydekeri, 

 var. rosea), another hybrid of the Chinese 

 water-lily. It resembles its Chinese parent in 

 size, habit and character of leaf. The flowers, 

 however, which are produced in great num- 

 bers, are more cup-shaped. When the 

 flower first opens the petals are of a delicate 

 shell pink. On subsequent days the inner 

 petals change to rose, and finally to a deep 

 carmine rose color, with two or three 

 flowers of different ages open at once. 



These three pigmy varieties are neat 

 enough in all surety, but will only be chosen 

 for a small tank or a Japanese garden, where 

 everything is done on a miniature scale. 



FOR GARDENS OF FOUR FEET SQUARE 



In the next sized garden, where four feet 

 square or perhaps more can be given to a 

 plant, a very wide choice presents itself. 

 We may now have white, yellow, pink, 

 orange or deep-red flowers, and, whereas 

 the very small gardens we have to be 

 content with flowers about two inches, 

 we will now be able to grow some six or 

 eight inches across. And we can use the 

 half barrels, sunk bodily in the tank or pond, 

 for tubs in which to set the plants. Still 

 better will it be to have tubs three to six feet 

 in diameter for the plants, and set three 

 stocks of a kind in each tub. This insures a 

 continuity of bloom. 



For the smaller spaces, of say two to four 

 feet square, Marliac's yellow (Nymphcra 

 Marliacea, var. chromatella), the N. Laydekeri 



