146 



the purer and brighter azures, they are 

 charming in near foregrounds. Nor 

 must we forget the little creeping Peri- 

 winkle (Vinca minor), the fine effect of 

 which when well massed has been re- 

 cently dwelt upon in our columns. It 

 is useful as an evergreen carpet for bulbs 

 and other plants and of fine colour dur- 

 ing its season of bloom. 



Where soils are suitable and people 

 are patient, many of these plants maybe 

 readily increased and some come freely 

 from seed, but the trade might help more 

 to the attainment of beauty in gardens 

 by offering them more generously in 

 quantity in their catalogues. All who 

 know anything about such things know 

 that they are very easily grown, and, 

 offered in quantity by the wholesale 

 houses, the public ought to get the bene- 

 fit of this and so be able to realise their 

 wondrous[beauty without much loss of 

 time. * * ** 



THE NIGHT-BLOOMING 

 WATER LILIES. 

 Various forms of tropical Water Lilies, 

 such as the Blue Water Lily (Nymph tea 

 zanzibariensis) and its splendid varie- 

 ties, are now known in cultivation, but 

 the section of night-blooming kinds is 

 little known in European gardens, save j 

 the very few where some space is given 

 to tender water-plants. In America they 

 are better known, and growers have 

 raised crosses and varieties, of which the 

 flower shown life-size in our engraving 

 is one of the noblest. 



N. George Huster is a variety of 

 N. rubra, sent out some years ago by 

 Dreer, of Philadelphia, as an improved 

 N. C? Mar ana. It is a fine flower of rich 



deep crimson, variously shaded with 

 purple sheen, and exceedingly vigor- 

 ous and free. Its bold leaves of bronze- 

 green, spread in a broad, floating tuft of 

 many feet, with massive flowers borne 

 upon stout stems some 12 or 14 inches 

 above the water, remaining in beauty for 

 three or four days after opening. Though 

 usually expanding towards night, and 

 closing early in the forenoon, it is easy 

 to enjoy this noble flower while in per- 

 fection, for when cut the petals remain 

 open throughout the day , lasting longer, 

 indeed, than if left upon the plant. Also, 

 when the weather is overcast the flowers 

 remain open, so that it is not necessary 

 to sit up half the night to see the plant 

 at its best. 



Culture. — The cultivation of these 

 night-flowering kinds is the same as for 

 other Nymphaeas; that is to say, a bed of 

 9 inches of soil and an equal depth of 

 water, in shallow tanks heated to about 

 70 or 80 degrees,butwith means of free 

 ventilation at either side. No manure 

 is given at Gunnersbury to any of the 

 Water Lilies there, experience showing 

 that with plants of such naturally strong 

 growth it tends rather to coarseness and 

 leaf-spot than to good results. Seed of 

 this kind is offered by several of the lead- 

 ing American houses, so it would appear 

 to come fairly true when so raised. 



Other Kinds. — The night-flower- 

 ing Water Lilies are divided into two 

 groups. The first are Old World kinds, 

 found in the south of Europe, Asia, and 

 tropical Africa ; the second, of which 

 few are in cultivation and many hardly 

 known, are plants from tropical Ame- 

 rica. To the first group belong^all the 



