September 27, 1883 ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
265 
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COMING EVENTS 
27 
th 
28 
p 
29 
s 
Meeting of the Essex Field Club. 
SO 
SUN 
19X11 SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 
1 
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2 
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3 
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WATER LTL1ES. 
HE summer that is now rapidly closing has been 
an unusually favourable one for most plants, 
and especially so for the Water Lilies both in¬ 
doors and out. The bright warm weather 
experienced in the spring and early summer 
caused Nymplneas to make a vigorous start, 
instead of the weak, slow, and unpromising 
beginning they make in a dull and cold spring, 
such as we too frequently experience nowa¬ 
days. If Nymplneas have been properly wintered and re¬ 
planted in the early spring in a rich lasting soil in large- 
enough pots, such a spring as we enjoyed this year is bound 
to do all that is necessary to make them strong and healthy 
in foliage and prolific in blossoms, given, of course, the other 
conditions essential to the welfare of aquatic plants. To 
many the possession of proper convenience for the cultivation 
of Nymptueas, and especially of the tropical species, is denied; 
and although it is possible to grow some of them and flower 
them fairly well in tubs, the plants never look at home, nor 
are they so attractive as when surrounded with something 
like what we find naturally associated with Water Lilies. 
It is only in such tanks as Kew, Chatsworth, Oxford, and 
several other large gardens possess that the indoor cultiva¬ 
tion of Nymphaeas on a large scale can be successfully carried 
out. 
Where, however, only a few, or perhaps a solitary 
plant, can be grown in a stove with other plants, a little 
difficulty should by no means deter amateurs and others 
from a trial of their skill, as it furnishes an additional 
source of interest, and when in flower will vie with the 
most beautiful occupant of such structures in attractiveness. 
For this purpose the less vigorous forms are the most 
suitable. 
There is much to be done in the way of establishing 
Water Lilies in our lakes and streams where they would 
grow, and especially in establishing some of the exotic 
species, the hardiness of which is beyond doubt; for in 
addition to our own white Water Lily we have the North 
American N. odorata and N. tuberosa, both robust large- 
flowered kinds and as sweetly scented as our native one. 
These would prove perfectly at home wherever the water is 
deep enough and sweet enough for them, and so would the 
rose-coloured variety of N. alba, of which we know little at 
present, but which is destined to become a beautiful orna¬ 
ment among hardy aquatic plants. N. odorata var. rosea is 
yet another recently introduced Water Lily of the most 
delicate grace and beauty, and is well adapted for cultivation 
out of doors in this country. Of all Nymphaeas the last is 
perhaps the most beautiful, its well-formed flowers, delicate 
flesh tint, and delicious scent being of the most exceptional 
excellence even amongst the many beauties of its kind. At 
present it is so rare that few, if any, of its possessors have 
ventured to place it out of doors altogether; and yet, judging 
from its native habitat, there can be no doubt of its hardi¬ 
ness. Lastly there is the yellow-flowered species, N. flava, 
whose debut at Kew was so complete a success two years 
ago, and its distinct colour and well-formed flowers have 
won for it universal admiration. Hardy enough it is, but 
so precious that—as is the case with the rose-coloured 
odorata, so it is with this—we like to keep it in a pot under 
our eyes for fear of an accident. At Kew several plants 
have been planted in the lake and in the pond, and these are 
doing very well. Deep planting is necessary for this species, 
and, in fact, for all Nymphaeas out of doors. The tubers 
should be safe from the severest frost, and then all fear of 
death in the winter is at an end. 
An interesting fact in connection with these plants, and 
the readiness with which they adapt themselves to altered 
conditions as regards temperature and light, may be observed 
in their thriving well in a tropical tank, and that for year 
after year, without any apparent debilitating effect. At Oxford 
the whole of the hardy ones are grown in the warm tank 
along with the tropical kinds, and at Kew some of the former 
are perfectly at home along with natives of the Nile and the 
Ganges regions. A knowledge of this accommodating nature 
enables us to understand the wide geographical distribution 
of many of the species of Nymphaea, and although the charac¬ 
ters of the species may be slightly modified or altered under 
different conditions, the general resemblance is always mani¬ 
fest. It is very desirable that the skill of the hybridiser 
should be brought to bear on these plants with a view to 
procuring some of the blues, purples, and reds of the 
tropical kinds into the hardy ones. There seems no reason 
why by a careful selection such work might not be accom¬ 
plished, and that it is worth doing will be apparent to those 
who are acquainted with the bright colours of the tropical 
Nymphaeas. 
Of the species the requirements of which can only be 
met in a tropical house with specially constructed tanks it 
would be easy to fill pages in praise of their beauty, and in 
descriptions of the characters and requirements of each. 
Few plants reward careful cultivation and observation more 
fully than these. From the pure white sweetly scented and 
gigantic flowers of N. Lotus var. dentata to the blues and deep 
purples of N. stellata and its vars, which include the new 
N. zanzibarensis, down to the small button-like flowers and 
Frog-bit like leaves of the little Indian N. pygmaea, we have 
almost every shade and form. Some of the forms of N. Lotus 
have been crossed with each other, and have yielded the large 
flowered, deep-scarlet forms known as N. devoniensis, N. 
Ortgiesiana, and N. Boucheana—magnificent Water Lilies, 
large-leaved, strong-growing, and very floriferous. The 
sturdy character of hybrids is shown in these as in almost 
all other hybrid plants, and points the way to much greater 
results from skilful hybridising than any reached hitherto. 
N. zanzibarensis is the latest fine introduction to cultivated 
Water Lilies. It is beyond question the handsomest of the 
blue-flowered forms, surpassing the giant blue N. gigantea 
from Australia in its thriving much more satisfactorily under 
ordinary cultivation than that species. 
N. stellata is a very variable species, including those 
plants known as coerulea, capensis, versicolor, cyanea, 
scutifolia, micrantha, and the Zanzibar variety, the pre¬ 
vailing colour in the whole of which is blue in its various 
shades. It is remarkable that the flowers of the whole of the 
N. stellata forms open wide about noon and close in the 
evening, whereas the forms of N. Lotus open late in the 
evening and remain fully expanded until noon of the follow¬ 
ing day. It may be noted that the flowers of the Victoria. 
Water Lily also open in the evening at about six o’clock, and 
remain open until the evening of the day following. 
There is always some difficulty in keeping Nymphaeas 
through the winter. Some cultivators prefer drying them 
off in the autumn and preserving the tubers in sand until 
the following spring. This treatment often results in dry 
rot, similar to what occurs to Caladiums and other tuberous- 
rooted plants when treated in this way. My experience 
leads me to prefer keeping the plants in the water the whole 
winter through—a much safer method than the former, but 
