WATER GARDENS 
By WILLIAM TRICKER 
( Concluded ) 
T HERE are many inconspicuous plants 
which thrive in water and modestly 
beautify it, but the lily is the most remarkable 
of all fresh water plants, and, therefore, the 
best known. In a variety of forms and 
colors it is found in all parts of the world, 
and has excited the admiration of travelers, 
explorers and all lovers of nature. No plant 
can equal the chaste form, the purity, loveli¬ 
ness and exquisite fragrance of pond or water- 
lilies in the quiet early morning, when every 
living thing is refreshed by Nature’s rest and 
wet with dew. Schomburgh describes with 
enthusiasm his emotion on first discovering 
the Victoria Regia, when exploring in British 
Guiana. At a distant glimpse of it, during 
his laborious progress up the River Berbice, 
his curiosity was awakened; and upon a 
closer view, all the calamities which contend¬ 
ing Nature threw 
upon his path were 
forgotten in his ad¬ 
miration of the won¬ 
derful foliage and the 
luxurious flowers. 
Something akin to 
this the writer has 
experienced, coming 
unexpectedly upon 
the water-lily in its 
native haunts as well 
as in places where it 
has been naturalized. 
The United States 
is most fortunate in 
possessing a large 
quota of species and 
varieties of water- 
lilies. Chief among 
them is the fragrant 
water-lily, Nymphcea 
odorata, the well 
known pond-lily of 
the Eastern States, 
with its lovely pink 
companion, Ny mph<ea 
odorata rosea. Then 
there is the giant 
form of the Nymphaa odorata gigantea, the 
lily of the Southern rice-fields, the large 
white western lily, Nymphcea tuberosa , with 
many variations, and the unique Florida 
lily, Nympfuea flava, the only known yellow 
species in existence. These water-lilies are, 
as distinct types and without any modifica¬ 
tion, surprisingly beautiful, but like other 
groups of flowers, they have attracted the 
hybridist’s attention and the result of the 
cross fertilization that has been encouraged 
is marvelous to behold. 
Perhaps the greatest impetus to the cultiva¬ 
tion of aquatics in the United States was cre¬ 
ated by the introduction ot the Victoria Regia , 
in 1852, by Caleb Cope, of Philadelphia, 
under the skilful management ot the late 
Thomas Meehan. In those days the Victoria 
was an expensive luxury,and only a tew others 
indulged in its culti¬ 
vation. In 1887, B. 
E. Martiac of Tem- 
ple-sur-Lot, France, 
introduced hybrids 
of hardy nymphaeas, 
embracing all shades 
of color save blue. 
The exquisite new 
forms of flowers in¬ 
creased the interest 
in all groups of 
water-lilies and made 
them popular in all 
parts of the world 
where horticulture is 
practiced. 
Our climate favors 
the cultivation of 
water-lilies, both 
hardy and tender 
varieties, including 
also the Oriental lo¬ 
tus, theAfrican, Aus¬ 
tralian and Indian 
water-lilies, the Vic¬ 
toria of the Amazon 
and also the recently 
introduced Victoria 
THE VICTORIA REGIA GROWN WITHOUT 
ARTIFICIAL HEAT AT SALEM, N. C. 
337 
