ON AQUATIC PLANTS. 



869 



Water, whether in the shape of a lake, pond, river, or stream, 

 has ahvays formed an important feature in landscape gardening, 

 but up till the past few years the cultivation of hardy Aquatics 

 has been a branch of horticulture very much neglected ; in fact, 

 there are numerous instances where scarcely any regular attention 

 has been bestowed on the embellishment of the surface or sides 

 of lakes or ponds, by establishing the choicer kinds of Aquatics 

 that are so suitably adapted for this purpose, and which impart 

 to them so much additional interest and pleasure. There are, 

 however, indications that the merits of water gardening, with 

 its charming and beautiful effects, are better appreciated, and in 

 many leading establishments the cultivation of Aquatics is being 

 deservedly made a special feature. Doubtless, this has to a 

 great extent been brought about by the introduction of the many 

 beautiful hybrid Water Lilies raised by the skilful operations of 

 M. Latour-Marliac, to whose successful labours we are so greatly 

 indebted for many exquisitely-coloured novelties. In these lovely 

 hybrids we get great variation in size, shape, and colour of the 

 flowers, and their loveliness is considerably enhanced by the 

 freedom with which they are produced and the delightful fragrance 

 of many of them. Some of these hybrids are also as hardy 

 and as vigorous in habit as our own well-known common 

 Water Lily {Nymphcea alba\ and the conditions under which 

 the native plant is found to flourish best are those in which 

 these likewise may be expected to succeed equally well. The new 

 hybrid Water Lilies raised by M. Marliac have been referred to 

 in terms of high appreciation as forming an important and 

 welcome addition to collections of Aquatic Plants. They are 

 already rather numerous, and will doubtless be supplemented by 

 more from the same raiser as well as from others ; and this antici- 

 pation gives rise to the opinion that only such new productions 

 as are distinct, or superior to those already in cultivation, should 

 be selected for distribution, for a multiplicity of varieties possessing 

 a too close resemblance to others is to be deprecated. 



In gardens where a natural lake or pond exists, provided it 

 has an ample supply of water and an efficient outlet to prevent 

 stagnation, a water garden might be formed, which, when 

 judiciously planted, would become permanently interesting and 

 pretty, and in addition to providing a new feature, would impart 

 additional beauty to the surroundings. It is not unusual to see 

 a stagnant pond overgrown with rank vegetation that yearly 

 adds to the decomposing mass of vegetable matter in its bed, 

 and the effluvia arising therefrom cannot be expected to form a 

 very pleasing feature in any garden, yet there would probably 

 be no great difficulty in converting a pond of this description 

 into one of enduring prettiness. 



The margins and banks of streams afford excellent opportunities 

 for establishing without much difficulty many plants that, in the 



