HARDY HYERID WATER-LILIES. 
297 
intense violet, clear violet, violet-red, pink, &c., that it is possible 
to imagine. But, alas! these charming varieties, which have 
also the advantage of being day-flowering, will only thrive with a 
considerable amount of heat. At Temple-sur-Lot, which has a 
great number of running springs, they are grown all the year 
round in the open by the following means. From the end of 
October to April 15 we pass through their basins a constant 
current of water from the running springs to preserve them from 
the cold, and as soon as the cold is less intense we turn off the 
springs, so that the temperature of the water in the basins 
becomes the same as that of the air. By these simple means it 
is possible to enjoy for five months the flowering of these grand 
plants, which, like some of the Nelumbiums, have a decided 
tendency to acclimatise themselves in the south of Europe. 
As regards the Nelumbiums their position is too important 
amongst decorative aquatic flowers to pass them by in silence, 
and I have not yet given up all hope of obtaining in time 
varieties sufficiently hardy to live without protection in England; 
for it must be remembered that they are nearly as hardy against 
the frost as the indigenous Water-lilies, and that the only 
obstacle against the realisation of this hope is the fact that they 
require, in July and August, a greater degree of heat than 
the Water-lilies for the ripening of their rhizomes, which 
renovate themselves in the heat of midsummer. It is in 
April that the Nelumbiums begin their growth, and when 
their first floating leaves appear, followed shortly by larger ones, 
which stand up 2 ft. or so above the water. They display them¬ 
selves majestically like vast air bubbles hanging from a very 
slender stalk, and the drops of rain or from the waterpot roll off 
them sparkling like diamonds from their concave and velvety 
surface. The flowers have an exquisite perfume, and are of the 
size of large Pseonies, appearing in July, August, and September. 
They are of many very rich shades of pink, white, red, yellow, 
carmine, and lilac. Some double varieties have been obtained 
lately, with about twenty-four petals, which will no doubt still 
further augment the already great fame of the charming 
Nelumbiums, whose temperament it is so desirable should 
acclimatise itself to the climate of England. 
[Nelumbiums have been grown in the open air by planting 
them in tubs whose upper rims were sunk a foot or 18 inches 
