WATER PLANTS 



7i 



blue sky and fleecy, drifting clouds, that the little breezes 

 should ruffle its face, gauzy-winged dragon-flies double 

 their images in the still surface, and swallow's wing ever 

 and anon stir it into widening rings, but if water vegeta- 

 tion is allowed to spread and cover the pond these 

 felicitous incidents can no more be witnessed. It must 

 not be imagined that the foregoing words have been 

 written with any wish to discourage the planting of 

 Water Lilies, which are among the loveliest of our hardy 

 flowers, but which, like other good things, are capable 

 of being overdone. Sheets of water of sufficient size 

 may well contain all the known varieties, but small pools 

 are better with but one or two of the best. In planting 

 the surroundings of a lake or pond crowding should be 

 strictly guarded against. A sheet of water with bare 

 banks, on which not a tree, shrub, or herbaceous plant 

 grows, loses much of its possible loveliness, but one 

 entirely surrounded by high vegetation is in worse case, 

 since, near at hand, the water is hidden from sight. 

 Open spaces should be allowed, with, here and there, 

 groups of water-loving plants disposed naturally about 

 the margin. The spot from which the full extent of the ~* 

 sheet can be most easily viewed should remain unplanted. 

 Running water is especially charming, and is met with 

 under varying conditions. The placid river between flat 

 banks, gliding gently along its course without a murmur 

 may be benefited by trees, fronted by tall-growing, 

 moisture-loving subjects, being planted at intervals along 

 its course, but does not afford such scope as a more 

 rapidly-running stream, with banks of varied height, for 

 being the central object of an attractive wild garden. 

 Some streams lend themselves naturally, from the confor- 

 mation of the land through which they flow, to the 

 establishment of all manner of hardy plants in their 

 immediate vicinity. The course of such an ideal stream 

 will run through a deep glen on whose steep sides 



