292 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



useful for the decoration of flower-vases in rooms, dinner tables, 

 for church purposes, &c. At first sight one might suppose that 

 their habit of shutting up at night would prevent their being 

 used for such purposes'; but this obstacle'js got over by a very 

 simple remedy, which is to turn back their petals so as to make 

 them convex instead of concave. When they are turned back 

 after this fashion they keep permanently open until they are 

 faded. Thus one sees what glorious opportunities they afford 

 to organisers of festivals and for floral work in general. 



The cultivation of hardy Water-lilies is of the simplest, and 

 in no way differs from that of the common indigenous X. alba. 

 Nevertheless, to carry it out under the best conditions, it is as 

 well to use certain precautions which are easily observed. 



Most of the Nympha?as called "out-door," although nearly all 

 equally hardy, frequently differ among themselves in their early 

 or late blooming, in their standing up above the water or floating 

 on it, in their flowers being many or few, or in their general 

 structure and growth being compact or wide- spreading. Some 

 of them form strong clumps which constantly increase in 

 strength, but do not spread about, whilst others are of a roaming 

 nature, their stolons and interlacing rhizomes wandering over a 

 large space, and quickly spreading across the roots of other 

 varieties. In natural lakes and ponds it is impossible to prevent 

 this undesirable confusion ; but this irregular growth should not 

 be permitted in artificial basins and aquaria, where each object 

 in the collection should remain distinct and thrive indepen- 

 dently ; besides it would not only produce inextricable confusion 

 amongst the plant?, but the weaker ones would be infallibly 

 smothered by the stronger-growung ones. In order to obviate 

 this difficulty it is indispensable that the Water-lilies should be 

 planted separately and at proper distances, or else in pots or in 

 stonework basins of which the sides and bottom have been 

 carefully cemented. 



The form and extent of the basins of water matter little : it is 

 optional, according to the taste of the individual grower. Still 

 a diameter of over thirty feet will be detrimental to perspective, 

 as it will be too far for a clear view. 



It is very important that the basins should be divided into 

 several compartments by partitions, which should not be higher 

 than three-fourths of the depth of the water, in such a way that 



