THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



269 



have smaller flowers — three to seven inches. 

 Both are pale blue. 



The tender night bloomers range from 

 white through pink to red, but lack yellow, 

 blue and purple. They open about 7 or 8 

 p. M., and the best hybrids do not close until 

 1 p. M. the next day, so that they are worth 

 growing outdoors. Any business man who 

 is at home only at night and can afford a 

 small greenhouse can get an immense amount 

 of pleasure by growing these indoors. They 

 make a brilliant scene if well lighted. These 

 water lilies are all derived from two species, 

 the Egyptian and the Indian lotus (Nym- 

 phasa Lotus and N. rubra), which can be 

 distinguished only by color, the former being 

 white, the latter red. These two prototypes 

 are worth growing for their art and historical 

 associations, but their flowers are open only 

 from 8 p. m. to n A. m., and although they 

 range from five to ten inches in diameter 

 they are generally smaller than the hybrids, 

 which often attain ten to twelve inches. Of 

 these the most famous and oldest is Nym- 

 phcea Devoniensis, which is still the best 

 pure red variety of this group. At its best 

 a single plant of this has been known to 

 cover two hundred square feet and to bear 

 thirty-six flowers and buds at one time! We 

 now have about thirteen distin'ct shades 

 between white, pink and dark red, and of all 

 modern hybrids in this group the most popular 

 seems to be Nymphtza O'Marana, which 

 often bears flowers a foot or even fifteen 

 inches across and is generally considered the 

 best red water lily of them all. 



APPROPRIATE PLANTS FOR FIFTEEN TYPES 

 OF WATER GARDEN 



i. For a general collection in an artificial 

 pond — anything except Victorias. Better be- 

 gin with Marliac's hybrids. Lotus and 

 other rampant kinds should be restrained 

 by masonry. 



2. For tubs and for the smallest ponds 

 — Laydeker's hybrids. Others too rampant. 



3. For a sunny brookside garden — hardy 

 water lilies and Japan iris. 



4. For a large body of water where water 

 lilies may be naturalized on a large scale — 

 the sweet-scented water lily (AT. odorata), 

 Indian and American lotus. 



5. For a bog garden — no water lilies, but 

 splendid colonies of marshmallow, cardinal 

 flower, wild rice, and forget-me-not. 



6. For a brook that dries in summer — N. 

 odorata, var. minor (N. Union). Dam and 

 make a reservoir or water with a hose. 



7. For deep water and to be planted by 

 itself, because so rampant — the tuberous 

 water lily. 



8. For water that is too cold for other 

 water lilies — Swedish rosy water lily (AT. alba, 

 var. rosea, known to the trade as N. sphczro- 

 carpa) . 



9. For swift-running streams — any hardy 

 water lily that you can anchor down in some 

 way. 



10. For the home conservatory — the tender 

 species, particularly the night bloomers, be- 

 cause people who haven't greenhouses can't 

 enjoy these in winter. 



11. For the South and California — the 



350. The beginning of a brooKside garden. The country has thousands of featureless streams that could be 

 made interesting at no expense by starting colonies of native plants. New YorK Botanical Garden 



Victorias and the most tropical water 

 lilies, because the North can never grow 

 them so well, no matter how much money 

 it spends. 



12. For the rich man — Victoria regia, the 

 most magnificent plant in the vegetable 

 kingdom and the only one worth lavishing 

 money upon for artificial heat in summer. 



13. For the brightest men who live in a 

 line with Washington or Philadelphia — 

 Tricker's Victoria, the only one that can be 



grown outdoors without artificial heat in the 

 Middle States. 



14. For curiosity, because the smallest — 

 the pygmy water lily (N. tetragona). 



15. For a formal garden with fountains 

 and statuary — Heaven only knows. Can 

 they be combined artistically? I should 

 like to make a good - natured challenge 

 to the owners of formal water gardens. 

 If they can produce photographs of success- 

 ful ones I will recant. 



Save (he wild flowers on the margin ! The pond would not be half so pretty with a mere grassy banK. 

 Let the goldenrod, Joe-Pye weed and boneset stay where they belong I 



