WATER PLANTS 



Water in any form greatly increases the attractions of 

 the wild garden, whether it be a noble lake, a modest 

 pool, a stream, or only a little rivulet trickling through 

 boggy ground, and demands a class of vegetation, for 

 floating on its surface, standing in its shallows, and 

 spreading over its damp verges, totally distinct from that 

 which thrives in dry ground. Of this there is happily no 

 lack, but discretion should be used in making a selection, 

 for there is no greater error than overburdening a pond 

 and its surroundings with a too varied collection of 

 species and forms. This advice has already been given 

 with regard to the wild garden in general, but it applies 

 with particular force to ponds, especially if they be 

 small. In a botanical garden there is a reason for grow- 

 ing every sort of water-plant amenable to open-air culture 

 in our climate for the information of those visiting it in 

 search of practical illustration, but if we study Nature, 

 as we should do in the wild garden, we shall find that in 

 the arrangement of her water-gardens, above all if they 

 are of small extent, she is content to limit her materials. 

 One often sees little ponds and circular, artificial basins, 

 in which several varieties of hardy Water Lilies are 

 growing that crowd each other and hide the water. 

 Needless to say, the basin, never artistic except in formal 

 courts, is entirely out of place in the wild garden. When 

 the added beauty of water is vouchsafed to the pleasure 

 grounds it is of the first importance that it should remain 

 a clear mirror, reflecting the varied forms of trees, the 

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