June  3,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
475 
STYLOPHORUM  DIPHYLLUM. 
THE"t/elandine  Poppy  (fig.  93),  though  it  has  been  in  cultivation  in 
this  country  for  about  forty  years,  is  still  an  uncommon  plant  in  our 
gardens.  It  is  a  hardy  herb  with  a  perennial  rootstock,  and  has  a  con¬ 
siderable  resemblance  to  Chelidonium  majus,  to  which,  however,  it  is 
much  superior.  It  attains  a  height  of  1  foot  or  18  inches.  The  foliage 
is  deeply  pinnatifid,  soft  in  texture,  greyish-green  above,  and  glaucous 
beneath.  The  flowers  are  freely  produced  in  May  and  June  ;  they  are 
about  2  inches  in  diameter,  and  of  a  deep  yellow  colour.  The  plant  is 
quite  hardy,  and  will  thrive  in  any  light  garden  soil.  It  is  easily  raised 
from  seed,  and  can  be  increased  by  division  of  the  rootstock.  It  is  a 
native  of  North-west  America.  S.  japonicum,  the  only  other  species  in 
cultivation,  is  sometimes  confounded  with  S.  diphyllum,  but  it  is  quite 
distinct.  It  is  a  native  of  Handschuria  and  Japsn. 
PRECEPT  AND  PRACTICE. 
Picturesque  Gardening — Water, 
( Continued  from  page  428.) 
Comprehensively  briDgiDg  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  water 
formation  under  one  head  for  adornment  by  planting,  the  subject, 
for  this  purpose,  roughly  resolves  itself  into  two  sections — viz  , 
marginal,  and,  if  we  may  so  term  it,  body  planting.  Apart  from  any 
purpose  of  the  planter  to  cultivate  certain  plants  successfully  with¬ 
out  consideration  of  ulterior  effect,  so  far  as  the  water  is  concerned, 
the  fundamental  rule  upon  which  to  base  ideas  is  to  regard 
water  a*  the  piece  de  resistance ,  and  its  planting  as  a  garniture, 
hence  the  cautious  rather  than  the  lavish  hand  is  essential,  whilst 
discretion  as  to  suitable  plants  is  equally  important.  Circumstances, 
however,  considerably  alter  cases,  and  with  comparatively  deep 
water  the  danger  of  overcrowding  may  never  present  itself  so  far 
as  the  body  planting  is  immediately  concerned.  He  who  has  seen 
that  most  perfect  picture  of  its  kind,  where  here  and  there 
Nymphasa  alba,  the  white  Water  Lily,  floats  to  adorn  but  not  to 
hide  the  bosom  of  some  fair  lake  ;  and  who  has,  per  contra,  seen 
that  yellow  buttoned  vagabond,  Nuphar  lutea,  absorbing  the  whole 
surface,  will  observe  how  one  enhances  and  the  other  obscures  the 
lineaments  of  beauty.  So,  too,  in  a  degree  with  marginal  planting, 
which  may  briefly  claim  our  attention  ere  proceeding  further. 
Here  a  passing  glance  must  be  given  to  those  grand  oppor¬ 
tunities  presented  for  the  introduction  of  our  noble  foliage  or 
gorgeous  flowering  plants  on  the  scene,  some  of  which  are  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  position.  One  needs  but  to  mention  a  massive 
group  of  Gunnera  manicata  or  a  bold  planting  of  Tritoma'Uvaria 
grand  i  flora— the  first  on  a  promontory,  the  latter  on  the  flat  face  of 
an  island  or  other  coign  of  vantage,  to  illustrate  our  text,  for  there  is 
a  host  of  plants  suggesting  their  suitability  to  the  purpose,  accord¬ 
ing  to  local  conditions  of  climate,  shelter,  or  space.  Coming  to 
those  things  which,  like  the  boys,  love  to  dabble  at  the  edge 
without  getting  out  of  depth,  our  theme  has  fascinations  which 
tempt  me  to  digress,  and  detail  a  number  of  varieties  for  which, 
indeed,  there  is  no  present  need,  and  very  possibly  it  may  be  that 
in  certain  instances  their  employment  should  be  severely  limited. 
Here  we  want  no  impenetrable  barrier — just  a  clump  or  two  of 
golden  or  red  Willows,  or  the  same  of  Dogwood,  to  brighten  up  a 
winter  scene,  and  form  a  note  in  the  harmony  without  unduly 
obtruding,  and  these,  of  course,  according  to  scale. 
Our  young  designers  will,  doubtless,  grasp  the  meaning  of  much 
that  can  be  merely  hinted  at,  and  from  that  avoid  all  pettiness  of 
detail  in  this  as  well  as  in  other  phases  of  picturesque  gardening. 
Common  things  will  not  be  despised  as  means  to  an  end,  although 
their  aggressive  character  may  necessitate  their  limited  use,  with 
provision  to  keep  them  within  reasonable  bounds.  Our  common 
Water  Flag,  Iris  pseud-acorns,  is  to  my  mind  so  inseparably 
associated  with  water  scenery,  that  it  is  practically  indispensable  ; 
but  there  are,  I  know,  hundreds  of  pools  and  ponds  encircled  by  an 
unbroken  broad  band  of  this  plant  during  the  season  of  growth,  which 
wholly  detracts  from  the  general  effect.  Isolated  clumps  nourished 
into  those  proportions  they  are  able  to  assume — viz.,  some  7  feet 
high — are  very  beautiful,  and  tolerably  easy  to  keep  within  bounds 
by  a  little  excavating  around  them,  for  this  plant  loves  not  the 
deep  water.  One  other  plant  only  need  now  be  mentioned  for 
marginal  planting  on  the  larger  scale  (on  the  smaller  scale  it  may 
take  a  more  prominent  place) — this  is  the  common  Calla,  the  so- 
called  Lily  of  the  Nile.  It  is  seldom  seen  thus  used,  hence  the 
reason  for  including  it  here  ;  but  it  is  so  satisfactory  that  it  Bhould 
be  free  to  enter  every  piece  of  ornamental  water  in  the  kingdom. 
Respecting  its  hardiness  (sometimes  questioned),  I  have  seen  it 
planted  in  a  fountain  2  feet  deep,  and  stand  the  ordeal  of  being 
frozen  into  a  solid  block  of  ice  without  injury. 
Apropos  of  the  main  planting  in  deep  water,  the  highest  type 
of  beauty  that  we  can  imagine  in  natural  water  scenery  was  that 
witnessed  by  Sir  Richard  Schomburgk,  who  with  his  Indian  guides 
paddling  down  the  warm  waters  of  the  Berbice  entered  an  open 
lake  to  find  themselves  among  groups  of  that  glorious  natural 
triumph,  the  Victoria  Regia.  From  this  picture  with  its  high 
tropical  tone  we  descend  but  slightlv,  if  at  all,  in  the  scale  of 
beauty  to  bring  in  our  beautiful  native  Water  Lily,  N.  alba, 
already  alluded  to.  It  is  par  excellence  the  plant  for  our  purpose, 
and  when  in  the  days  to  come  M.  Marlia’s  beautiful  hybrids  occupy 
the  same  position  nothing  more  can  be  desired  in  this  direction. 
With  water  exceeding  5  or  6  feet  in  depth  stations  can  be  made  for 
the  purpose  of  planting,  and  such  things  as  old  crates  or  hampers 
weighted  with  stones  and  packed  with  turves  about  the  rhizomes  of 
FIG.  93  —STYLOPHORUM  DIPHYLLUM. 
the  Lilies  is  an  admirable  method  of  introducing  them  to  their 
permanent  home. 
Hardy  aquatics  are,  in  a  measure,  limited  to  a  few  suitable 
plants,  but  for  obvious  reasons  that  is  not  a  matter  for  regret. 
Amongst  bog  plants  we  have  a  greater  variety,  many  of  which  are 
beautiful,  and  all  interesting  from  the  particular  features  pertaining 
to  their  culture.  Little  difficulty  will  be  found  necessary  to  give 
certain  classes  of  plants  that  treatment  in  which  they  delight  with 
variations  to  suit  their  requirements  according  to  season. 
There  are  few  objects  more  charming  than  a  bold  group  of 
Iris  Ksempferi  displaying  their  soft  satiny  blossoms  of  many  hues 
amongst  the  sword-like  foliage.  One  such  glorious  planting  I  saw 
where  the  wants  of  these  plants  had  been  catered  for  by  a  trickling 
vein  of  water  admitted  to  them  from  the  main  artery  of  a  stream 
during  the  growing  season,  which  was  again  shut  off  at  the  approach 
of  winter,  keeping  them  dry  and  snug  during  the  season  of  rest. 
How  different  this  to  the  common  method  of  dotting  these  plants 
through  a  hardy  border,  possibly  only  to  exist  on  sufferance,  and 
in  any  case  never  attaining  the  effect  described  above,  which  was 
indeed  a  revelation  in  picturesque  planting.  Under  nearly  similar 
