HOUSE AND GARDEN 
August, 
1915 
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Water lilies require a water space three and a half to four times that which the plant needs for its support. No plant covers less than the area a half-barrel would 
furnish; therefore, unless the pool is approximately four times this size, it were belter to choose a plant of less expansive character 
of water to plant below the standard of three to one, which it is 
desirable to maintain. 
There are no water lilies that will cover less space than the 
area a half-barrel would furnish. Therefore, unless the pool is 
approximately four times this size it will make for better results 
if some other plant of less expansive character is chosen. Reduced 
to figures, this means an area of from fourteen to sixteen square 
feet to a plant, the plant itself occupying about four square feet. 
Thus one-quarter of the water's surface being covered, only three- 
quarters remain in sight. The number of plants which any pool 
of greater size can effectively support may, of course, be very 
easily calculated on this basis, allowing one to each such unit of 
space. 
Very few water lilies accommodate themselves to so modest 
a portion as the half-barrel circumference, however. The majority 
require surface area of from twenty-five square feet all the way 
up to one hundred; so the variety must be chosen with care and 
understanding. 
The plants commonly grouped as water lilies are of two distinct 
kinds, known botanically as Nelumbos —or Nelumbiums, as com¬ 
mon usage has made it—and Nymphaeas. Nelumbiums are “bold 
plants, suitable for large ponds and for masses,” which puts 
them out of consideration at once for the small water garden, 
while Nymphaeas are “royal, gorgeous and diversified.” 
Never choose a water lily of the Nelumbium division for an 
artificial pool — unless it is a “natural” artificial pool, made by 
damming a stream or developing springs or a bog into an actual 
little lake with all the features of Nature’s landscape; or unless 
the plant, and not the pool, is the thing. 
Among the Nymphaeas there are perhaps half a dozen of the 
smaller sort from which to choose; and these are all hardy. Of 
them Nymphaea odorata minor is a small form of the common 
white water lily of the eastern parts of the United States—sweet 
smelling, lovely and familiar to everyone, but none the less de¬ 
sirable for all that. This form has the disadvantage, however, 
of being sparing with its blossoms sometimes — not always. Be¬ 
cause of this, however, Nymphaea pygmaea with dainty white 
blooms a little smaller — averaging two inches in diameter, where 
the others are three — is probably a better choice, for it always 
blossoms abundantly. The leaves or “pads” of this are from 
three to four inches across, and it has the advantage for a small 
pond of not spreading sidewise at the root, as most others do. 
