Of the day-blooming varieties, we find the Capensis with flowers of rich sky blue. This planted in contrast with the Ovalifolia, a new variety from East Africa, produces flowers eight to ten inches across of deep creamy white, faintly tinged with blue that deepen until the tips are a light corn flower blue with sulphur yellow stamens. The charm of this flower is its petals which are long and narrow, giving it a pretty star shape.
For the night blooming Nymphæas, why not use the Dedoniensis, which throws out large, pure red flowers often showing from twelve to eighteen blooms at a single time, also the Dentata whose white flowers measure from eight to twelve inches in diameter and open out horizontally.
Do not forget in your collection to include the Royal Water Lily. Of these, the Victoria Regia is a well-known species. While the plants are expensive, the seeds can be bought for a much more reasonable price and are more interesting as one can watch them from their start until blossoming. The Victoria Trickeri is also desirable. In good condition its leaves are from four and a half to five and a half feet across, a single plant having from twelve to fifteen leaves and producing three or four flowers in a single week. These flowers are picturesque, being white at the time of opening and changing to deep rose pink, admitting a strong fragrance not unlike that of a ripe pineapple.
In addition to water lilies one should plant different aquatics, to make a variety. There is the Sagittaria Montevidensis, which attains gigantic proportions, growing four or five feet high with leaves fifteen inches long, the flower towering above, the foliage white with dark blotches at the base of each petal. Then there is the Butterfly Lily, a tender sub-aquatic plant that forms a dense clump three to six feet high bearing masses of pure white fragrant flowers that look like large white butterflies borne in large terminal clusters.
The Water Poppy must not be forgotten. It is a very pretty aquatic plant with floating leaves and large yellow poppy-like flowers, and a continual bloomer.
The border of the lily pond is of almost as much importance as the flowers themselves. Iris makes a good setting. Of these, the Iris Hexagona, or Blue Flag, is interesting from the fact that it is a hardy Southern kind, showing rich purple and blue with yellow markings three to four inches across and resembling the costliest and rarest orchid flowers. The Dalmatica is one of the finest of the German type. It grows four feet high with exceptionally large flowers of fine lavender, the falls shaded blue. The Japanese Iris is the grandest of all the hardy ones and the best are the double varieties with six petals. Kokinoiro, a rich royal purple with white veining is very satisfactory in growth. Combine it with the Sano-Watashi, which is white with canary yellow center, and the Tokyo, a magnificent large, white flower, and you will find one of the best combinations possible.
Ornamental grasses are very effective for this use. Of these, there are so many varieties it would be impossible to name them all. One of the most ornamental kinds is the Zebra grass, which has long, narrow green leaves, striped white and feathery plumed. Mix it with the Pampas grass and you will note the artistic result. This grows very rapidly from seed planted in the spring and is useful for decorative purposes. The Feather grass, growing two feet in height, fits into this scheme as does the Tricholæna Rosea, which is rose tinted, making a color scheme when massed with the other ornamental grasses that is most fascinating.
The form and surroundings of the pool, carefully thought out, make it a most desirable feature for both small and large gardens, and everyone, no matter how limited their means, can indulge in one if they wish.